Team GB star suffers horrific crash in men’s madison as fuming fans convinced Dutch star ‘HEADBUTTED him’
TEAM GB’s Oliver Wood was involved in a crash during the men’s Madison final in Paris.
The 28-year-old was taken out by a dutch rider, damaging his chances of a medal and causing him to struggle in the remainder of the race.
Fans labelled the collision as a “headbutt” with the Dutch star seemingly leading with his head as he hit into Wood.
The incident ultimately saw Team GB miss out on a podium place.
Wood still had some 40 laps of the velodrome left when Dutch star Jan-Willem van Schip tried to overtake him on his right side.
Van Schip appeared to cut off the Brit and knock him off balance with his head in the process.
With riders travelling at immense speeds a small knock can send them over with ease.
That’s exactly what happened to Wood, who slipped over and slammed to the ground.
Van Schip had full focus on remaining in the race and cycled off as Wood lay on the floor following the collision.
Fans fumed at the incident online, angry that Wood had been robbed of his chances of a second medal of the games.
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One wrote: “Did our guy just get head-butted out of the Madison by the Netherlands?”
While another added: “Didn’t know headbutts were allowed in cycling? How can the Netherlands get away with that manoeuvre?”
And a third asked: “That looks deliberate from the Dutch rider there?”
Fortunately Wood was okay after the fall and was quick to get back on his feet to continue the event.
However, after taking such a hard tumble he was a shadow of his usual self and had to rely on teammate Mark Stewart to do most of the work.
Stewart was already a late call-up to the event after Ethan Hayter withdrew from the Madison this afternoon due to a thigh muscle strain sustained during Wednesday’s team pursuit final.
Ultimately GB placed 12th after the crash, some five places behind the Netherlands in seventh.
Portugal earned gold with 55 points, with Italy taking silver and Denmark snatching the bronze medal.
Wood will be disappointed to have missed out after the controversial moment, but still leaves Paris as a silver medal winner thanks to his efforts in the Team Pursuit on Wednesday.
Wood wasn’t the only star to crash during the Men’s Madison with the event causing absolute chaos in the velodrome.
In fact, four crashes took places in the space of around 20 laps with Belgium, Italy and Spain all seeing riders hit the deck.
Spain’s Albert Torres was involved in one of the most shocking crashes as he came off his bike after a horror collision with Belgian rider Fabio Van den Bossche.
Thankfully everyone involved was okay too.
Fans were loving the drama of the Madison and asking for more events to throw up such unbelievable moments.
On social media, one wrote: “WOW, that men’s Madison was all kinds of nuts. I hope Torres is OK. That crash was terrifying!”
While another added: “Italy crash now. I love the chaos. Wish there were more events like the Madison races.”