Nic Dlamini applauded across the line as he battles injury to finish Tour de France stage nine over 40 minutes outside the time cut

Crashes results in injuries, and often a rider will hop into their team car to end the pain and misery if it's too much. Not Nic Dlamini, though.

The Qhubeka-NextHash rider crashed hard in the early part of stage nine of the 2021 Tour de France, and the 25-year-old then spent the rest of the day at the back of the race.

Although it is not yet known what injuries he suffered, they were clearly not damaging enough that he couldn't continue, but equally they hindered him to the point that he wasn't able to keep pace with anyone else.

He never took the easy option and climbed into a team car, though, instead valiantly battling through the succession of mountains determined to finish in Tignes.

At just after 7pm local time, more than 80 minutes after Ben O'Connor had soloed to a magnificent stage win, Dlamini crossed the line.

He finished the stage more than 40 minutes outside of the time cut meaning that he will no longer be able to participate in the race.

But finishing the stage was his objective and he did just that.

At the line, he was greeted with applause and cheers by media and logistics staff of the Tour who appreciated his efforts. Further down the road, videos emerged on Twitter of fans staying out to clap him home.

Dlamini was riding his maiden Tour de France and he was making history, becoming the first black South African to do so.

>>> Five talking points from stage nine of Tour de France 2021

Used in a domestique role by his team, his best result was 98th on the opening stage.

He has been with his team since he turned professional in 2016 and has previously ridden the Vuelta a España twice.

At the 2018 Tour Down Under and Tour of Britain, he won the King of the Mountains classification in both races.

Finishing stage nine of the Tour, though, will go down as one of his more memorable achievements, and one that all cycling fans will appreciated.