Feb 13, 2007
Horse on the Course
The year is 1997, the race is the Criterium International. 20km from the finish a horse decides to join the race.
Cyclingnews.com had this to say about the stage.
Frenchmen Claude Lamour and Laurent Pilon led the day’s main breakaways but the
star of the stage was a horse, who left his field with 20 kms left to join the
bunch, causing havoc among the riders. However, he could not hold the pace.
Looked like the horse had a nice breakaway, but he got off course when he missed a turn.
I had an almost similar experience a few years ago as a horse wanted to join our club’s Wednesday Night ride. I was a bit slower than I am now and was behind the main fast guys. The horse was riding parallel to me in his field, but as he came up to the fence at the end of his field he jumped it clean. The horse was loose and galloping all around and was unpredictable. I decided to stop so I would not spook the horse any more than he was already. I was a little bit behind everyone and found myself alone. The horse trotted around and finally ran into a farm area across the street. I remounted my bike and took off thankful that I did not get trampled by the horse.
[...] One four-legged bystander at the 1997 Criterium International wouldn’t settle for just watching the race. I think it’s fair to say this entrant was running on one horsepower. [...]