Talk about sticking your neck out! Giraffe joins cyclists in bike race!

 The cyclists were taking park in the Cape Pioneer Trek, a mountain bike race in South Africa when an enthusiastic giraffe darted out of the bush and began chasing after them.

Clearly not wanting to finish last, the competitive giraffe chased after the cyclists and started running alongside them during the race.

The cyclists can be seen looking over their shoulders, shocked by the unexpected competitor who had joined them in the race.

PIC BY Zoon Cronje/ Caters News

The funny moment was caught on camera by Zoon Cronje, 35, who was taking aerial shots of the race from a helicopter.

Zoon, from Pretoria, South Africa, said he often photographs extreme sport events but he’d never captured anything quite like this.

He said: “We were about 200m away when the giraffe got spooked and started running towards us and the riders, it was a complete surprise.

PIC BY Zoon Cronje/ Caters News 

“It could have been very dangerous, giraffes are massive animals and the riders didn’t have the vantage point we had to see it coming.

I had a front row seat to the action holding my breath and luckily instinct kicked in and I kept shooting rather than staring

“I’ve captured quite a few close encounters in my line of work, this was by far the most dangerous because of the speed of the riders going downhill unable to see the rapidly approaching giraffe.”

PIC BY Zoon Cronje/ Caters News

“I very seldom shoot sequences but I am glad I did.”