French cyclist Maxime Roger was in the middle of a time trial as part of the Tour de Moselle over the weekend when his handlebars appeared to break, causing him to lose control and skid across the pavement.
A cyclist’s handlebars snapped off going 35 mph and he’s somehow OK
Here’s why it happened.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
It’s difficult to see what happened at full speed, but in slow motion we can see Roger realize after going over a bump that his handlebars were no longer connected to his bike. He had no control and was traveling over 35 miles per hour, which meant that all he could do was let go of the bars and crash.
How does this happen?
The big question the internet has is how the bars of an incredible expensive race bike could break when hit with the slightest of bumps? The issue isn’t anything about the bike’s construction: It was happenstance.
Roger was using aero bars — which are low-drag, carbon fiber handlebars which don’t physically bolt to the frame of the bike. Instead, they clip into a housing which is mounted on the frame itself.
When Roger went over the bump, it pushed the bars in the precise direction required to release them from their mounting, which then caused them to lift out of the housing when he came down from the bump and led to the crash.
Thankfully he’s OK and is expected to return to cycling soon.
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