Tour de France rider's toilet lock-in nightmare almost costs him place in race

Nature called at just the wrong time for Kasper Asgreen ahead of Stage 2 at this year's Tour de France. That's after the Dane found himself locked in the loo and almost missed the race as a result. EF Education-EasyPost were preparing for Saturday's run from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer when Asgreen had to visit the little boys' room on the team bus.

But disaster struck when he couldn't get the door open as the second stage was due to get underway. Fortunately for him, a staff member was on hand to stage a break-out just in time. But the incident wasn't without a bit of panic for fear his race had been rumbled in the most comical manner. EF Education-EasyPost posted a video capturing the chaos on their official Instagram account. Team-mates Neilson Powless and Michael Valgren can each be seen inspecting the door, with the former attempting to pick the lock without much success.

Powless fidgeted with the jammed door as he sought to salve his colleague's concerns: "We'll get you out, Kasper! Geez, that's crazy jammed. How the heck did that get so jammed? That's insane."

Asgreen, 30, can be heard taking the hiccup in stride as he said from behind the door: "That'd be something, eh? Missing the start of the Tour de France because I'm stuck in a bathroom!"

In the end, he made it to the start line on time and crossed the line in 71st place reaching Boulogne-sur-Mer. Asgreen was three minutes and 22 seconds behind stage winner Mathieu van der Poel, who held the yellow jersey heading into Stage 4 on Tuesday.

Mechanics and other staff members are used to putting out fires when mishaps occur during any given race. However, having to ride to a cyclist's rescue prior to any pedalling is a much rarer issue.

Asgreen shrugged off any signs of distress to post an improved performance in Stage 3. He finished 19th in Dunkirk following a calamitous race that involved two crashes towards the end of the day's action.

EF Education-EasyPost will be wary of when and where they decide to do their business around race time for the remainder of the Tour. But in the end, they'll hope it's one of their riders sat atop the throne in Paris come July 27.