Mad Mechanicals! | The Worst Equipment Failures Of 2023

You hate to see it, but sometimes mechanical maladies play a big role in the outcome of some of the calendar's premier cycling events and stages. All that hard work, dedication and training can be undone by an unfortunate incident, faulty equipment or simply too many watts! We've compiled a 2023 round-up of the most notable upsetting mechanicals faced by the pro peloton this year... did we miss any out? Let us know in the comments.
⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
0:00 - Intro
0:36 - Rui Costa's Tour De Romandie
1:07 - Sepp Kuss at the Giro D'Italia
1:43 - Primož Roglič's Giro D'Italia
2:28 - Eduard Prades Tour of Hellas
2:55 - Derek Gee's Paris Roubaix
3:41 - Hugo Hofstetter Breaks 2 Pairs Of Bars in 1 Race!
4:04 - MVDP's Handlebars At Le Samyn
4:28 - Nils Politt at the Tour De France
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Which mechanical made you have your heart in your mouth?!🫣
Let us know in the comments below!💬
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📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency
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[@gcnracing]

Which mechanical made you have your heart in your mouth?!🫣

[@keihnungm2011]

1:18 correction: DO try this at home. ideal place to try it

[@helloweeny]

The pollit bike change was one of the funniest things I've seen, he's just so tall! Strange they don't sort the bikes on the rack by size!!

[@seattlegrrlie]

How about this one? No Maybe this one? No This one? Sure I'll give it a... No

[@jBurn_]

and he shouts at the mechanic in that moment: "This is KEO!" "Meine Fresse! (something like "bloody hell" or "bugger me" as he throws the bike on the floor) "Und das ist speedplay mein Freund!" ("and this is speedplay mate" or "my friend" in an unfriendly way)

[@DM-jh5rs]

The worse mechanical of the year was GCN+ getting axed.

[@FT__Cool_Stuff______-of5pi]

@5:00 LOL the neutral shimano boy gave the extra large man an extra small frame size 😀

[@krishnansrinivasan830]

Great list! This year felt like a real one for untimely punctures for me :) Very relatable content :)

[@David-qx8jm]

A rear derailleur dead battery. Lololol now who coulda seen that coming. Haha.

[@a1white]

You’d think they’d recharge before every stage? Maybe it was a faulty battery. I’m sticking with cables anyway!

[@simonwilton3546]

I like to see a clip showing people riding on flat tubulars in recent editions of Roubaix, i see it live but never gets repeated.

[@SpaceJunk72]

Don't think you missed any major ones. But maybe Lachlan Morton's Rear Derailleur whilst doing the Great Divide gets an honourable mention.

[@AllahDoesNotExist]

De Lie one leg win?

[@MichaelWitzel]

My worst failure was the breaking of the bottom bracket axle which leads to a complicated Atlas fracture.😕

[@ulrikmortensen9426]

That is bad 😢😢😢

[@MichaelWitzel]

@@ulrikmortensen9426 yes, even more than bad. 😐

[@oreocarlton3343]

Carbon axle?

[@MichaelWitzel]

@@oreocarlton3343 no, Shimano Ultegra.

[@jascollinscork]

Another one was a Ineos tri spoke front wheel collapsing 😬

[@johnwedlake5543]

Just a collection of SRAM equipped bikes then 😂

[@hangoverdrive5660]

I liked the one where someone swears at *insert groupset brand* because of mechanical issue

[@Xhadp]

Its not from the peloton but wasn't there a MTB start where someone's BB structure completely went to the deck leaving a gaping hole where the BB should be?

[@Xhadp]

Found it! A YT short from GMTB Racing titled "We've NEVER Seen A BB Shell SNAP Like this?! 😳" you can see the crankset resting on the ground.

[@BoonBreyne]

kzbin.infoXUUZY2PuLmg@@Xhadp

[@Trimate02]

What about the worlds when poor junior fella tightened his front wheel while racing

[@michaelsklivas9606]

Does the heli shot on the outro card remind anyone else of Alright on the Night 1996?

[@yannnique17]

I wonder if it would have been faster for the last guy if the neutral mechanics had the tools to repair the chain.

[@declanfaughey8471]

Eduard Prades is now saddled with making an arse of himself. I think this joke just went off the rails.

[@andrasszabo1570]

I think it's quite unlikely that all the major mechanicals happened in the last 3 years. "Ever" doesn't mean the very recent past, does it? Would've been better if you only listed the ones of 2023, like the title says.

[@WerdnaLiten]

Punctures aren't mechnicals.....Not sure why cycling views them as such. In motorsport, you'd never call a puncture a mechnical.....it's a tyre issue, not mechnical.

[@Joshuavoice29]

Wouldn't it have been faster to swap the chain?

[@BigBeezyBtown]

Why haven't they switched to Gravel bikes for the Roubaix? It seems like common sense to me.

[@kotelettschweiss7811]

I once broke my top tube...

[@alaingastebois]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@BLITZKRIEG1]

That last guy what a joke. Just slams a bike onto someone's van. "nah he's allowed, it was in the heat of the moment"🙄

[@johnnycab8986]

brat

[@lojeda]

No one ever takes the bikes from neutral services =(

[@germanlondono8700]

That Hugo Hofstetter failure is exactly the reason why now having the hoods turned inside is forbidden. Probably he was putting charge in the wrong place of the handlebar, where is not supposed to have one, and thus it broke. Twice.

[@johnjuan6698]

These failures were caused by carbon components. This types of failures dont happen on ordinary commoner bicycles.