Jonas Vingegaard crashed into a photographer after the finish line on stage 16 of the Tour de France on Mont Ventoux.
The 28-year-old finished sixth on Tuesday's stage, two seconds behind Tadej Pogačar, when he hit a photographer in the finish line area.
"A photographer just ran out straight in front of me, straight after the finish line, I went down," Vingegaard said. "People in the finish area - they should use their eyes a bit more."
He complained of shoulder pain, but there were not any signs of serious injuries, with the Dane able to remount and speak to television cameras.
It was a bad end to a day which promised so much more, with Vingegaard on the attack repeatedly, hoping to find a crack in Pogačar's armour, which was not forthcoming.
"I was feeling very good today, so I'm happy with the feeling today, happy with the attacks I tried to do," Vingegaard, still 4:15 down on Pogačar, explained. "Of course I didn't gain any time but I take a lot of motivation today."
"He [Pogačar] followed me every time I attacked, I followed him when he attacked so, I don't know if I could see any weaknesses today," Vingegaard continued.
"But at least it gives me some motivation about how good I felt and I'll keep trying."
Ultimately, for all Vingegaard's efforts, it was the Slovenian who finished ahead, with Pogačar attacking in sight of the line and putting a further two seconds into his Danish rival as they ended the stage 43 and 45 seconds behind French winner Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) respectively.
It did see Vingegaard put a further minute between him and the closest rider behind him, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and he now leads the young German by a comfortable 4:48. Lipowitz does however retain the young rider's white jersey.
That Vingegaard was apparently uninjured by his encounter with the finish-line photographer is a good thing, not just for him but also for the race – as too is the motivation he seems to have gained from today.
On both counts it means we will see him continue to hold Pogačar to account in this week's coming mountain stages, rather than walk off with what might be the greatest victory margin seen since, well, Vingegaard himself in 2023, perhaps.
