TORRENTIAL rain caused complete chaos at a bike race in Yorkshire – with one cyclist faceplanting the road after trying to ride through a giant puddle.
A number of heavy crashes were recorded in the Under-23s time trial at the Road World Championships, where heavy rain and thunderstorms made conditions almost impossible.
One of those to suffer was European champion Johan Price-Pejtersen.
The Dane was trying to hug the inside corner of a bend when he cycled into a pool of water that sent him crashing to the ground.
Cameras caught his shocked face as he lay on the concrete, almost submerged by rainwater.
Hungary's Attila Valter was one of the first to suffer in the time trial course.
The 21-year-old Hungarian, who rides for the CCC development team, went hurtling to the ground in an almost never-ending crash while riding through Harrogate.
Valter hit a bump in the road then seemed to take an age to finally collide with the road, sliding around 30 yards when he hit the deck.
He rose to his feet and gingerly walked back to his bike while giving the camera crew a thumbs-up to show he was OK.
American rider Brandon McNulty cycled straight through a puddle but was able to remain upright in conditions that were described as "atrocious".
Yorkshire is hosting the first UCI Road World Championships to be held in Britain since 1982.
Denmark's Mikkel Bjerg won gold in the time trial.
It appears all riders were lucky to avoid serious injury.
Young cyclist Bjorg Lambrecht tragically died "on the operating table" at the age of 22 after crashing at last month's Tour of Poland.
Team Lotto-Soudal, who he rode for, confirmed the shocking loss in a tweet.
The Belgian rider crashed into a concrete culvert around 60 miles from the finish line of the third stage from Chorzow to Zabrze.
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