On Tuesday, a motorcycle crashed early in stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia, sending several riders to the ground.

The vehicle belonged to the race convoy and was riding alongside a dense peloton.

Several riders were following the bike, but the bike fell into the pack, causing several riders to fall and forcing many others to stop.

The accident caused about 30 riders to drop out of the back of the pack.

Roger Kluge (Lotto-Soudal) was riding behind the bike and appeared to have collided directly with it. Video replays show that the German rider was hit hard on the ground and stayed there while the other riders picked up their bikes.

The German rider stood upright and appeared to have escaped serious injury. Many riders were unharmed, but several, including two Bardiani-CSF riders, needed mechanical assistance to repair their broken bikes.

The crash was the second in a row to occur as the Giro was aiming for its first summit finish on Mount Etna. Simon Yates, second overall and winner of the stage 2 time trial, was also involved and visited the race doctor's car.

Miguel Angel Lopez also abandoned the race shortly after the crash, but it appears that he was not involved but was suffering from a persistent hip injury.

The video below shows how the motorcycle accident unfolded.