A tumble from Orica-GreenEdge sprinter Caleb Ewan resulted in just nine riders contesting the sprint at the second stage of the Tour of Poland on Monday.
The young Australian bumped shoulders with Lampre-Merida's Sacha Modolo causing him to pinball into Trek's Giacomo Nizzolo on the other side of him. Of the two, only Ewan came down, but he brought the whole peloton to a halt in the process.
The mass of bodies sprawled across the tarmac meant that no riders could pass and many, in fact, ended up on the ground as they skidded to miss the accident.
Unfortunately, for many riders, crashing was unavoidable as dozens of them flipped over their handlebars and onto the pile of cyclists. Race organisers say there are no reports of serious injuries.
IAM Cycling's Matteo Pelucchi won the stage, with race leader Marcel Kittel claiming second place and retaining the jersey.
Because the crash happened in the final three kilometres, all riders held up were given the same time as the winner, meaning Ewan stays in second overall.
