The victim, Maxime Roger of Chambrey CF Cycling Club, was travelling at around 60km/h when his TT extensions became detached from the base bars, according to an interview on French cycling website directvelo.com.

While at first it appears the fall was as a direct result of Roger's TT bars coming away from their mounts, road.cc's own Jo Burt pointed out that his tyre also appears to blow, which further knocked the rider's balance and ability to possibly save himself by quickly grabbing onto the base bars. Talk about getting all your mechanicals out the way in one go.

Roger painfully skids along the floor before coming to a stop near a grass verge, ending his day and his participation in the multi-stage event.

Edit: It appears the rider wasn't very seriously injured after the fall, explaining in the interview with DirectVelo that he has very sore knees but hopes to be racing again at the end of the month at the Trophy of Champions event.