Breakaway riders trying to win a stage, is among the toughest tasks in cycling.
Riders need to work together in a bid to try and keep the chasing peloton at arm's length. It's a difficult enough task, without man-made objects getting in the way.
On Saturday, Stage 2 on the inaugural Ladies Tour of Norway was disrupted by a bridge just outside the town of Fredrikstad. With five kilometres to go in the Stage, a breakaway group of four riders were stopped in their tracks by a moveable bridge over the river Glomma.
Kataryzna Pawlowska, Mieke Kroger, Leah Kirchmann and Rosella Ratto were about 30 seconds clear of the peloton, before the railings closed on the road, to allow a yacht pass through.
With cycling races regularly crossing bridges and rail tracks, rules are in place to make sure the riders at a disadvantage can regain their time on the chasers.
On this occasion, the quartet were not allowed recoup the time, as they were just inside the permissible gap. Only 30 seconds or more can allow any cyclist the change to regain their time.
The race will be started all together as the gap was less then 30sec is reported from the commisars #lton17
— Tour of Scandinavia - Battle of the North (@Battlenor) August 19, 2017
Once the yacht passed through, the bridge lowered and the barrier was raised, the race turned into a five kilometre sprint. The stage was won by Australia's Chloe Hosking.
Of the four riders who were unfortunately caught, Pawlowska finished highest in 40th place.
