Dion Smith narrowly escaped a run-in with an Albanian goat on stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia, after the animal ran into the road and jumped at his back wheel on the 160km route that started and finished in Vlorë.
The New Zealand rider was forced into evasive action, however, forced into some mid-May cyclocross and a ride onto the grass, while the riders behind him braked and also avoided the goat, which escaped the bizarre incident similarly unscathed.
Smith rolled across the finish line in 124th, some 15 minutes after Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) had claimed victory in the south of Albania, before humouring the questions from waiting reporters.
“I didn’t have too much time to think,” said Smith at the finish in Vlorë. “I could see it 10 seconds before, the policeman was trying to keep them all in, and then one or two started coming across. Luckily, I stayed up.”
Thankfully, there was no need for the Giro’s official medical bulletin to mirror what had happened at last year’s Vuelta a España, when a “Fall, being hit by a roe deer” was attributed to Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Txomin Juaristi (Euskatel-Euskadi) on stage 8.
As a Kiwi, hailing from Taupaki on the North Island, Smith would probably be more accustomed to meeting sheep on the roads, admitting jokingly that it was the “First time with a goat for me”, but that the humorous incident happened too quickly to properly take it in.
“I mean, what can I say? I didn’t know which way I was going to go, and everyone else went left. I chose right, but in the end it was fine,” continued Smith.
“I think it hit me a little bit. I have to watch the replay, you know, it all happened so fast. I was sort of just focusing on staying on my bike, but I might have just brushed it.
“I probably more expected maybe a wild dog or something, but I guess there’s a lot more goats down here.”
The Intermarché-Wanty rider had no bad words for Albania, however, after there had been worries about the road surfaces, potholes and unknown locations, amounting to issues. But aside from the goat, Smith had little to report and simply enjoyed the three-day Grande Partenza.
“It’s been great, and it’s beautiful down in the south here, can’t complain,” he said. “They’ve done really well, I’ve definitely enjoyed it and it was a different experience, but… Just watch out for the goats.”
It’s far from the first run-in with animals at Grand Tours, with former examples including the aforementioned deer incident and Remco Evenepoel being taken down as a result of a dog running into the road.
Luckily, the goat at Sunday’s Giro stage only brought with it a number of Pogačar, Merckx, Vos and Thibaut Pinot-related jokes on social media, and a smile to the near-victim Smith’s face at the finish line.
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