'That's bizarre!' – Shock as Van der Poel fires Prosecco cork into his face on podium

There was an unbelievable moment on the podium after Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won Stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia as he fired a Prosecco cork into his face.

But he then marked the victory in a physical and very surprising way as he bent over a huge Prosecco bottle on the podium.

What followed appeared inevitable, yet every onlooker likely assumed he would move out of the way at the last moment. He didn’t.

Van der Poel inexplicably fired the cork straight into his neck and face, much to everyone’s shock.

The Breakaway team following the Eurosport live coverage reacted just as many fans would have done at home.

Orla Chennaoui said: “Oh dear! I’m sorry for laughing. Did he just pop himself in the face with the cork?

“I mean, that man should know how to pop a Champagne bottle by now, shouldn’t he?!

“He may be starting with a black eye in the morning! I don’t even know where that came from – that was bizarre!

“Hopefully, he won’t have done himself too much damage. You just never know what is going to happen in a Grand Tour, even when the racing is over.”

Adam Blythe added: “That was like us this morning – crikey! This is brilliant.”

Hungary has been welcoming the riders for the Grande Partenza at this, the opening Grand Tour of 2022. There are three stages in central Europe before the race heads to Sicily next week.

After what was a largely flat route on Stage 1 from the capital to Visegrad, Stage 2 sees the riders negotiate a very short and sharp 9.2km individual time trial around Budapest.

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