This is the dramatic moment a cyclist attempting to beat the red light for a pedestrian crossing gets knocked flying by a car.

The 42-year-old rider, not named, was hospitalised in critical condition after he was mowed down by a black SUV in Cherepovets, Russia on Thursday, 24th April.

CCTV footage of the accident shows the man trying to cross the road on his bike where another vehicle is already stopped on the red light to let a pedestrian through.

That person is almost at the other side of the road and the lights are still green as the cyclist starts to edge onto the crossing, but seconds later they change to amber and green at the same time as another driver behind the wheel of a UAZ Patriot does not see him coming and hits the biker.

The impatient cyclist who was trying to get across before the lights changed is then sent flying through the air.

Although online commentators were divided over who was to blame, police seemed clear that because the point of impact occurred when the traffic light was green for the motorist, the fault lies with the cyclist.

The police said: "A 23-year-old driver of a UAZ Patriot, who was proceeding through a green traffic light, hit a man born in 1982 who was riding a bicycle across a signal-controlled pedestrian crossing against a red light."

The victim was taken to hospital and he is currently in a coma, with doctors describing his condition as "extremely critical".

(Simona Kitanovska / newsX)