Guess who’s back… back again.
It’s another instalment of my Extremely Online series recapping all the fun in the peloton!
The road season has officially returned with the long-awaited Opening Weekend already in our rear-view mirror after powerful performances from both Annemiek van Vleuten and Wout van Aert.
The latter had clearly read Will Strickson’s opinion piece a few days ago.
Today on the calendar are Le Samyn des Dames and Le Samyn, so I’ll get straight into it.
Who’s been up to what in the past week?
1. Jasper Philipsen carries Chris Froome’s torch
As much as anti-triathletes would hate to admit, clearly running brings some form of success.
Take Chris Froome, who ran up Mont Ventoux and won the 2016 Tour de France. Coincidence? Nah.
You know how those memes go. A little boy was watching the stage on TV. He then grew up to be: Jasper Philipsen.
Whether Froome-inspired or not, one thing is certain. The races in the UAE are boring. My apologies to riders, it’s not you, it’s the landscape and questionable ethics.
During the 176-kilometre second stage on Al Hudayriat Island, GC-leading Philipsen had to find other ways to entertain himself à la Tadej Pogačar spraying his teammate’s saddle with water.
The Alpecin-Fenix rider hopped off his bike with around 25 kilometres remaining on the day. Not for a bike related issue, but to show the adjacent TV camera motorbikes just how slow the speed in the peloton was.
Solid dismount, great execution and prompt re-clipping. It gets a 9/10, because can he do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?
2. Out of Context offers chance for context
Urška Žigart quickly responded to a tweet of beau Tadej Pogačar doing something that can be described as dancing.
When Pogačar busted out some moves at the UAE Tour, the Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider claimed to have videos of even worse.
Worse, you say? I’m all ears.
Out of Context asked her if she was interested in taking over their account to post them, before Pogačar tried to intervene:
No please don’t do this to me
— Tadej Pogačar (@TamauPogi) February 22, 2022
Neither party has been granted access so far. On we wait…
3. Dogs + Yoya = Doga?
If you haven’t seen Demi Vollering attempting yoga while her dogs try and get her to do anything but, let me fix that for you.
I don’t know why I need Sertraline when this exists. Vollering has long documented her playful pups on the photo-sharing app, and any dog × cycling content is top-tier for me.
I think more riders should bring their pets to races. Those pre-start nerves would stand no chance against some last-minute Dog Yoga. Patent pending.
Or at the very least, they would make me happy.
4. This week’s special shoutout…
I just love being reminded of sexism within cycling!
Why would Lizzie Deignan obviously NEVER beat Peter Sagan in a sprint, you ask?
Periods. Duh.
Yes, another example of everyday sexism rears its head in our beloved sport – because let’s not act like it’s never there – this time at the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen in Ouenaarde.
The display was pointed out by journalist Amy Lauren Jones. Its eye-rolling prominence intersperses all other Tour of Flanders content the museum has to offer which, to be fair, at least sounds interesting.
I wrote a whole article on riding during your period a few months ago if you wish to read it, with advice from doctors and Olympians.
Perhaps afterwards you might beat Peter Sagan in a sprint!
Maybe the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen should read it too.
Sorry to leave my article recapping the fun side of cycling on such a downer – if you scroll up towards Demi’s dogs again you should be good.
If you’re on your period and physically can’t scroll up or you’ll exert too much energy according to the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen, here you go:
See you next week!
