Early celebration cost Riley Sheehan the win on stage two of the Deutschland Tour as Jhonatan Narvaéz pipped him to the line at the last moment.
The American, who rides for Israel-Premier Tech, looked to have what would have been just his second professional victory in the bag, but sat up before the line, allowing his Ecuadorian rival to win instead.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and Sheehan escaped with Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) after the latter attacked with 7.8km to go. They held off the chasing peloton after collaborating well together.
Sheehan launched first from the back of the group, attempting to catch the others by surprise inside the final 300m, but just as it looked like he might have the win, Narvaéz rounded him. Wærenskjold finished third.
Wærenskjold had the consolation of stepping into the race lead after Friday, however, taking over from Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The prologue to the race was won by Wærenskjold by just half a second over Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), before Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) took his 10th pro win of his debut season on stage one.
It is far from the first time that riders have made the mistake of celebrating too early, with others affected in the past including Lorena Wiebes, Tobias Halland Johannessen, and Wout van Aert.
Celebrating early, especially with the line in sight, and losing is the cycling equivalent of dropping the ball once over the the goal line in rugby, or taking a wicket on a no-ball in cricket. It feels so avoidable, should never have happened, but it does. Sheehan will likely never take his hands of his handlebars next time he is in a position to win.
Watch Sheehan's mistake below.
