A spectator kicks a can back at the peloton and causes a crash

There are scenes that are difficult to understand even after watching the replay. One of them occurred in the first stage of the Giro d’Abruzzo 2026, when a spectator kicked a bottle back onto the road that one of the riders had just thrown. The bottle returned into the peloton, causing several evasive maneuvers, and the sequence ended with Peyton Burckel (EF Education-Aevolo) on the ground.

A spectator kicks a bottle into the peloton and causes a crash in the Giro d’Abruzzo

It all happened about 25 kilometers from the finish, during the stretch leading up to the demanding finale in Casalincontrada. The peloton was moving through an ascending area when one of the cyclists threw a bottle towards the right side of the road, where a spectator was located.

Not like this.

A spectator kicks a bottle and ends up causing a cyclist to crash#IlGirodAbruzzo | #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/5BXlB03GWC

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 15, 2026

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Getting rid of bottles in this manner is a common sight in professional cycling, but this time the bottle took the opposite route. The spectator stuck out his foot and hit the bottle, which returned directly towards the group. The images show how the bottle enters among the bicycles while several riders react to avoid it. None seem to go directly over it, but in a compact peloton, it is enough for several cyclists to suddenly change their trajectory for the problem to shift backward.

That is precisely what happened. While one of the EF Education-Aevolo riders gestured in disapproval at the spectator, a few meters back Peyton Burckel touched the wheel of the cyclist in front of him and went down.

Fortunately, the 19-year-old American was able to get up, remount his bike, and continue in the race without any serious consequences initially apparent.

The images also do not reveal what the spectator intended to do. It is unclear whether he deliberately tried to return the bottle towards the riders or if he simply reacted to seeing it come without considering where it might end up after hitting it. The only evident result of his action is that a bottle re-entered a moving peloton and ended up triggering a crash.

The incident did not subsequently alter the development of a stage that was to be decided in the demanding finale of Casalincontrada. Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) was the strongest in the decisive meters. The Italian launched his move about 300 meters from the finish and managed to maintain his lead until the arrival to claim the first stage of the Giro d’Abruzzo.

The victory also allowed him to become the first leader of the general classification of a four-day event.