Cyclists Throw Down in Street During Portugal Stage Race

Professional cyclists are generally a peaceful and practical people.

They wake up at ungodly hours, ride through a seven-layer dip of pain on the road and generally keep to themselves.

Trouble strikes often, but they usually don’t have the time or energy to do more than give a “What the hell?” hand wave.

Rider rage, however, is a very real thing, and viewers watching the sixth stage of the Volta a Portugal were treated to the rare sight of cyclists throwing down on Tuesday.

For The Win’s Nate Scott spotted video of Italian rider Enrico Rossi and Spanish rider Vicente de Mateus mixing it up in the streets after a crash (Author's note: For The Win has Denmark's Asbjorn Kragh as the man attacking de Mateus, but this appears to be inaccurate.)

Angry words escalated into shoving, and all of a sudden...there was...

A cyclist fight!

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After the race, Rossi told Danish television channel TV2 (h/t The Guardian) that de Mateus failed to check himself after wrecking himself.

“I was going over the line and then he ran into me, so we overturned,”Rossi said. “Then he stood and shouted at me so I hit him.”

Bingo bongo. No more explanation needed here.

If you run your mouth on Rossi’s watch, you’re fixing to catch a beating—or an awkward neck-pushing.