ONE triathlon cyclist in Dublin had a near miss this weekend as a stag came down a hill in the Phoenix Park and leapt over him.
Speaking on RTÉ's Liveline yesterday, cyclist Shane O'Reilly said he was "pretty lucky" to not have been more badly injured.
"I was coming into the last lap of the cycle on the triathlon course and there were two or three deer running alongside the path. One ran in front of me and I just hit the brakes, and went flying over [the handlebars] and the other just went over my back wheel."
"I was actually pretty lucky," he told Liveline presenter Joe Duffy. "I had a cracked helmet and a sore shoulder and that's about it so I was fortunate enough, it was obviously a bit of an impact but I was relatively ok after."
An eagle-eyed spectator at the race, caught this image just moments before the stags crossed Mr O'Reilly's path.
Scroll down to see the pictures....
The moment just before the deer knocked a cyclist off his bike @DublinCityTri #phoenixpark #dct16 #dublincitytri pic.twitter.com/PcbOXrcniu
— Sinead Mackie (@MackieSinead) August 28, 2016
Mr O'Reilly, 30, from Blackrock in Dublin said he was helped to remount his bicycle by a fellow competitor.
"I got back up and the guy beside me helped me fix my bike," Mr O'Reilly said, "then he told me to go do the Lotto I was that lucky."
O'Reilly then completed the last 10 kilometres on the cycle course, before completing the running portion of the race.
Check out the incredible photo below...
Dubliner Shane O'Reilly braked hard as the first stag ran across his path, narrowly missing the stag that leapt over his back wheel. (Source: Erik Scraggs)