Footage from the final mile of the Tour of Britain’s second stage shows a woman crossing a closed road seconds before the peloton passed.
Video further below 👇
The clip was filmed by local photographer Barry Robinson and has been shared widely since Thursday.
What the Footage Shows
Stage two of the Lloyds Tour of Britain ran 112 miles from Boston to Skegness, on the east coast of England, and was won in a sprint by Tim Merlier.
Inside the final kilometer, after the lead group had passed, a woman began crossing at a junction with no barriers, pulling a shopping trolley. Spectators shouted at her. She waved her arms and continued across.
A race motorbike passed sounding its horn, and less than a second later a large group of riders led by Netcompany Ineos came through. She was still in the road as they went by. No crash was reported.
Robinson posted the clip captioned “Well stupid or what?” Commenters divided between criticism of the woman and questions about the course. “Why was she even able to cross?” wrote Stephen Whitley. “That’s why we needed barriers!” wrote Angela Gooch.
Rolling Road Closures
The Tour of Britain runs under rolling road closures, in which police outriders close junctions ahead of the race and reopen them behind, rather than sealing the route for the day. Most races outside the Tour de France use the system because full closure costs considerably more.
The approach has drawn scrutiny this summer. Adam Hansen, president of the CPA professional riders’ association, has said: “There is a hole in rolling road closures and we have to fix this.”
Organizers have not commented publicly on the Skegness footage.
Footage below, filmed by Barry Robinson.
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