> Eyewitnesses say 19-year-old Stella took too many risks on the perilous descent. The Italian hit one of the so-called "cat eyes" embedded in the asphalt, causing him to puncture and lose control of his bike. His speedometer must have read well over a hundred kilometers per hour at that point. He took the other two riders down with him.

> Fabio Jakobsen rode more carefully behind them, although he also acknowledged the danger. "I pumped my brakes, which I think you have to do on these kinds of steep and super-fast descents, although I had the impression some riders didn't realize that. My odometer already showed 106 kilometers. Those guys in front of me were going much faster. I'm especially happy and grateful that no one hit that rock face on the side, because then it could have ended much worse," said the Picnic PostNL sprinter.

> Jakobsen's teammate Frits Biesterbos then recounts the insane speed he flew into the valley with about thirteen kilometers to go. "I saw my top speed was 116 kilometers per hour. That's pretty scary," he trembles. "I saw those three guys fall, and that really affects you. At that moment, you hope it's not too serious. You just keep going. Is that difficult? You just do it, because unfortunately, falling is sometimes part of racing. I was incredibly focused on my bike, because one mistake can be disastrous. We saw that," said Biesterbos.

tubeless explosion at 100km/h hitting sharp objects, stuff of nightmares