Bauke Mollema claims "Without bad luck, I think we would compete for gold” after Mixed Relay disaster

Almost everything that could've gone wrong for the Netherlands in the Mixed Relay race at the UCI World Championships in Wollongong, did go wrong. If it wasn't for all this disaster though, Bauke Mollema is confident the team would've been in the mix, "It's a shame, because without bad luck, I think we would compete for gold”

Firstly Mollema himself a chain issue on his bike "The speed was high then, we were riding at about 65 kilometers per hour" Mollema said. "I tried to put the chain back on, but it didn't work."

To then make matters worse, one of the Netherlands female contingent, Annemiek van Vleuten, went down and went down hard almost as soon as they had left the start ramp. With van Vleuten on the way to hospital for an x-ray, Dutch hopes of victory were left in tatters.

To cap off all the misery for Mollema and the Dutch, a rogue seagull then decided to kick a man when he was down, flying beak first into the 35-year-old Trek-Segafredo rider. "I do not know what happened" a confused Mollema exclaimed post race.