Miguel Angel Lopez escapes punishment after punching Giro d’Italia fan who knocked him off bike on stage 20

WATCH: The fan was understood to be running alongside the riders on the steep final climb when he collided with another spectator and fell into Lopez

The Colombian rider Miguel Angel Lopez has escaped punishment after punching a fan who knocked him off his bike as he neared the finale of stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia.

Lopez appeared to collide with a spectator on the final climb, although television cameras only picked up the aftermath of the incident, showing Lopez twice punch a man crouched on the roadside before throwing the man’s cap.

The fan was understood to be running alongside the riders on the steep final climb when he collided with another spectator and fell into Lopez. TV pictures showed a clearly enraged Lopez thrashing at the man on the ground before continuing, and he remained visibly furious at the finish.

Lopez had been sixth overall coming into the penultimate stage of this year’s Giro, and here he lost a further two minutes to fall out of podium contention as he crossed the line 18th.

A UCI jury called the incident a "human reaction" and confirmed he would not be sanctioned.

Spanish rider Pello Bilbao (Astana) won the stage, his second of the race, as Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz finished fourth wearing the maglia rosa to close in on overall victory.

Carapaz will take a significant lead of 1min 54sec into Sunday’s final stage, a 17km individual time trial in Verona, ahead of two-time Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali, as the 26-year-old seeks to clinch the first Grand Tour of his career.