Engaged in the mixed relay, Bauke Mollema was targeted by a seagull after having already suffered, like other runners, the attack of a cassican flute, the “Australian magpie” in training
Big favorite of the event given the line-up, with Mathieu van der Poel, Bauke Mollema and the cannibal Annemiek van Vleuten as headliners, the Dutch team finally had to settle for fifth place, Wednesday, in Wollongong. Blame it on an incredible series of incidents.
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Only a few meters after the start, the time trial world champion went to the ground, violently hitting the sidewalk, visibly the victim of a mechanical problem on her bike. Later, it was Bauke Mollema who in turn experienced a mechanical incident. But the Trek-Segafredo rider was not at the end of his troubles.
It’s terrifying, it really scares me
The winner of the Tour Lombardy in 2019 was indeed attacked by a seagull, which did not hesitate to rush at him, forcing him to protect himself. And the Dutchman definitely seems to attract birds since the day before, he had been hit in the head by a flute cassican, the “Australian magpie”. This weekend, Remco Evenepoel was the first to be targeted by this belligerent magpie.
#Replay ? / #Wollongong2022 ?
A magpie attacks ?? Bauke Mollema ??Imagine running ?pic.twitter.com/HOOswqfHmb
— Renaud Breban (@RenaudB31) September 20, 2022
« Suddenly, a bird of very respectable size approached me and kept following me. It was terrifying. It scares me. But that’s how it is in Australia apparently “, had confided the recent winner of the Tour of Spain in a press conference. The phenomenon is not new and the organizers had taken care to warn the participants in these worlds.
September-October indeed marks the the ” swooping season“, that is to say the season of diving descents. Determined to protect their nests, the birds, in the forefront of which the black currant, do not hesitate to attack anyone who gets too close to their offspring or who moves too quickly…
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