Cycling in Belgium got a whole lot racier recently, when the riders of a woman’s cycling race crossed the finish line, took their place on the podium, and were greeted by a gang of Bikini-clad models keen to congratulate the lycra-wearing ladies on their pedalling performance.
Like a woman possessed, Dutch journalist and cyclist Marijn de Vries took to Twitter and described the gratuitous sight of the models bouncing about in their bikinis without a care in the world as an “utter disgrace.”
And while some cynics have suggested that the sight of the bikini-clad models added a splash of colour to an otherwise dull and dreary sport, lacking in oomph pa pa ever since Lance Armstrong stopped doping , cycling fans across the world have called the bizarre scene at the podium which awaited the riders as they negotiated the final stage of the Flanders Diamond Tour as sexist, and not sexy controversy.
Eurosport reports that Wiggle Honda rider Jolien d’Hoore won the race, which was the penultimate stage of the Lotto Cycling Cup, but her triumph was overshadowed by the bikini clad models jiggling about in the Belgium sun.
The Lotto Cycling Cup apologized profusely on their official Twitter page for the “bikini terrorism,” and they have also been quicker than a Tour de France rider on illegal substances , to distance themselves from the frightful fiasco.
The organizers of the race branded the shock appearance of the bikini clad models, who looked like they’d just wandered off the set of a low-budget adult film, as an “outrageous show” and one they were not “responsible for.”
Which raises the question, who was?
De Vries tweeted that the apology was a positive step but asked how such a thing could have happened in the first place.
“It’s really good you apologize, but… was there no one of your organisation present at the race who could stop this?”
The mystery as to why the bikini wearing models gatecrashed the event has yet to be solved.
[Images via Twitter]