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The Santos Tour Down Under in Australia marks the official start to cycling’s annual UCI world tour calendar. But this year’s event didn’t come without a bit of drama, and one of the weirdest things you’ll ever see in a race.
Now, cycling itself is often prone to strange happenings. Last year’s Tour de France route had to be altered on the fly due to a rare cattle disease in the area. And earlier in the season, two different races in the span of a month were decided by members of the field, not knowing which direction the finish line was in.
So, as longtime fans of the sport will tell you, nothing is out of the ordinary.
That is, until what happened Sunday.
Kangaroo Crossing Road Takes Out Eventual Winner Jay Vine At Tour Down Under
Why did the kangaroo cross the road?
We’ll likely never know the punchline to that joke. But the answer almost cost 30-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider the victory in his home race.
Vine, who was born in Queensland, Australia, has a number of big wins to his resume, including four stages in the legendary Vuelta A Espana and the overall classification of the 2023 Tour Down Under.
This year, thanks to a resounding victory in Stage 2 of the five-day race, Vine entered the final stage likely just needing to finish to claim the overall victory.
However, thanks to an overeager kangaroo, that almost didn’t happen.
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
With just under 100 kilometers (62 miles) remaining in the race, a kangaroo decided to cross the road right in the middle of the peloton, sending several riders, Vine among them, tumbling to the ground.
Thankfully, Vine was able to get back on his bike and finish the race without significant damage. Unfortunately, teammate Mikkel Bjerg was not so lucky, fracturing his hand and collar bone in the crash.
“Everyone asks me what’s the most dangerous thing in Australia, and I always tell them it’s kangaroos,” Vine said afterward. “They wait and they hide in the bushes until you can’t stop and they jump out in front of you. Point proven today.
“Two of them blasted through the peloton when we were doing probably 50 kph [30 mph], and one of them stopped and went left, right, left, right, left, right, and I ended up hitting its backside.”
So if you ever go cycling in Australia, beware the dreaded kangaroos.