It is always a good idea to hold your celebrations until after the victory is confirmed.

Superbike racer Andre Verissimo obviously wasn’t in tune with this nugget of advice, as he inexplicably surrendered first place on the last stretch at the Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna in Goiana, Brazil.

It seemed certain that Verissimo would be celebrating victory yet again, but he somehow brought about his own downfall, being forced into third.

Verissimo made the strange decision to raise his arms to the sky with the majority of the final stretch still to cover.

He actually noticed the chasing pack rapidly gaining on him, which saw him get back into position on his bike and try to regain the speed he lost.

Remarkably, there was still such a stretch of track left to go in the race, the chasing racers Osvaldo Filho and Marcelo Skaf managed to catch up with him, before hurtling past him ahead of the finish line.

Thankfully for him, the gaffe, which occurred in the last race of the championship, had no impact on his standing in the table, as he won the championship in the EVO category. 

Journalist Hugo Hernandez reacted with: "Confident? No. A player? No. Imbecile? Yes."

Verissimo is not the only athlete on two wheels to fall foul of a bout of overconfidence. 

One year ago, an Australian cyclist named Lucy Kennedy was competing in the Women's World Tour. As she approached the end of the race, in Piedicavallo, Italy, she raised her arms to celebrate in a similar fashion to Verissimo. Marianne Vos, however, put a stop to these celebrations as she nipped in front of Kennedy at the very last moment.

Verissimo will inevitably not be the last athlete to let their emotions get the better of them. It is hard to criticise him too much, however. His excellent performance throughout the championship gave him the opportunity to do this and still come out with the big prize at the end.

It would also be difficult to not let the sheer emotion of thinking the race is won wash over you. One thing is for sure, though, he won’t make the same mistake again!