‘I overdid it’: Irish cycling star VOMITS mid-race as he blames overeating for bizarre scenes (VIDEO)

Irish cyclist Sam Bennett has blamed a vomiting incident during a race in Belgium on eating too much.

Attempting to complete a grueling 153-mile (246km) race made up of brutal terrain, the 30-year-old star was caught throwing up on his bike. 

Bennett had been doing well up until then, but dropped back to eventually finish 55th with 10 miles to go before explaining his mishap.

"I went a bit too much into the red and although I managed to hang in, I paid for this later as my legs were full of lactic acid," said Bennett.

"I also made a mistake, as I ate a lot during the race so I didn't want to run out of fuel, but I overdid it and had too much in my stomach inside the final hour of racing, which everybody could see when I threw up.

"Because of this and the effort I put in during the day, it just happened and I ended up going from one extreme to another, as after this I was completely empty and had no more energy left."

Rushing to his defense, the Irish Times' Ian O'Riordan wrote on Twitter: "Sam Bennett raced 3 times in the last 8 days, covering 751km, or 467 miles, winning one, puncturing in one, and throwing up in another after being part of the breakaway group for over 150km. Tough sport."

Others have been less forgiving, but still the Deceuninck-QuickStep rider has been a good laugh while even sharing some of the various memes and projectile-vomiting send-ups of his incident on social media.

"Too many Duvels had watching the football?," asked one Twitter user, in reference to a famous Belgian beer and Ireland's embarrassing loss to Luxembourg on Saturday.

But there have also been messages of support. "Sam I doubt you’re beating yourself up about this, but still - I was sick from cycling round my local park too hard last week. Great job and you’ll be back in the win column very soon no doubt, from a Scot!," wrote a fan.

"Great race Sam, getting stronger and more confident as the races tick by. You’ll get that breakaway victory soon," another encouraged.

"I was really hoping I could get a good result, but it is as it is and it's not something I could anticipate," Bennett also commented in reflection.

"As I said, it's my fault but I'll learn from this and take only the good things from this race."