When in Australia, you have to anticipate wildlife interference. The Tour Down Under had a major crash caused by a kangaroo.
Only in Australia.
The Tour Down Under began its final stage on Sunday, meaning the pressure was on. This was the race that would determine the winner. This was the race everyone had trained their whole life for. It all came down to this. Well, sometimes life doesn't go according to plan.
Race leader Jay Vine and a few other racers crashed on the peloton after a pair of kangaroos jumped into the group.
Only in the Tour Down Under: Race leader Jay Vine and a few other of the world's best cyclists have been taken down by a kangaroo after it hopped into the peloton. pic.twitter.com/IbwAdtclhg
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) January 25, 2026
You can hear the announcers mentioning "another disaster for the UAE team." Specifically, that team is UAE Team Emirates XRG, and they certainly had a rough go of it this weekend. Although the team boasted Jay Vine as the event leader going into the final stage, the team had suffered a few serious injuries to Jhonatan Narváez and Domestique Vegard Stake Laengen on Saturday which left them with just five racers on Sunday.
Vine and teammate Mikkel Bjerg were two of the racers most affected by the kangaroo debacle. In the video above, you can see Bjerg holding his leg in pain. He would not continue the race.
What did Vine say about the incident?
Vine, who was holding a massive 1:03 lead heading into the final stage, said that everything had gone "according to plan up until that point...The breakaway was well within reach."
Vine said he lucked out, that the kangaroo didn't hit him directly and that Bjerg took the brunt of the hit. "And then, unfortunately, we lost Mikkel, and he knocked the kangaroo into me. So it was just like pinballing inside the group there. But I didn't fall too hard."
Did Vine finish the race?
Not only did Vine finish the race, but he finished alongside the leading group, holding his massive 1:03 lead over the nearest competitor, Mauro Schmid.
The victory gave Vine his second Tour Down Under title in three years.
The final verdict for the 2026 🇦🇺 Tour Down Under. 🇦🇺 Jay Vine takes his second win! pic.twitter.com/GmeytHbAzg
— Domestique (@Domestique___) January 25, 2026
How did UAE Team Emirates XRG finish?
Despite their myriad of injuries and kangaroo encounters, UAE Team Emirates XRG finished in fourth place overall, just 54 combined seconds off the leaders Team Jayco Alula.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kangaroo interference causes crash among leaders at Tour Down Under
Category: General Sports
