Watch the moment Giro d'Italia leader Tom Dumoulin is forced to pull over to answer the call of nature

Dutch cyclist and Giro d'Italia leader Tom Dumoulin suffered his 'Paula Radcliffe moment' on Tuesday when he was forced to pull over and answer the call of nature.

Dumoulin went into the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday wearing the pink jersey - the traditional vest of the race leader - and was hopeful of consolidating his supremacy at the top of the general classification. 

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old though things took a dramatic turn for the worse and he felt the need to veer off the side of the road and relieve himself. 

As the video below shows, Dumoulin - who won two stages of last year's Tour de France - pulled up behind a road sign, presumably to protect his modesty, and began the process. Luckily for him and viewers the cameraman stopped filming at the vital moment, but not before revealing Dumoulin hastily removing his clothing and getting down to business. 

With impressive alarcity, Dumoulin was then quickly back on the bike and in contention to maintain the race lead. 

Amazingly, this is not the first time Dumoulin has been caught short while in competition. At last year's Tour de France, he endured a similar misfortune and tweeted: "I will spare you the details but let's just say you could see it was necessary hahaha! Merci beaucoup to the family of the camper!"

Dumoulin is not of course the only athlete to have suffered in this way. As well as the British marathon runner Radcliffe, who was forced to stop and relieve herself at the 2004 Athens Olympics, former England footballer Gary Lineker famously had to go on the pitch during a World Cup match against Ireland in 1990. 

Crystal Palace footballer Jason Puncheon at least had time to sprint off the pitch and use the facilities when he was caught short playing for Southampton four years ago. Upon his return, the club's supporters serenaded him with chants of: "He went for a s***/he went for a s***/Jason Puncheon, he went for a s***.

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