Farse on the Finestre
\n![\"Stupidest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2217960771.jpg\"\/)
Simon Yates capitalized on a tactical catastrophe on stage 20 of the Giro d\u2019Italia. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The worst tactical face-palm of 2025 came on the decisive penultimate stage of the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n
Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz had been crossing swords across Italy\u2019s boot for nearly three weeks, and it all came down to the climactic finale over the legendary Colle delle Finestre.<\/p>\n
Everyone expected another slugfest between the two, but Simon Yates and Visma\u2013Lease a Bike clearly did not get the memo.<\/p>\n
Yates attacked early on the same climb where he had famously imploded in 2018 to lose the Giro to Chris Froome, then linked up with giant-killer teammate Wout van Aert. The pair rode away with the maglia rosa in the season\u2019s biggest tactical coup while Del Toro and Carapaz all but sat up and dared each other to chase.<\/p>\n
The stalemate proved fatal.<\/a><\/p>\n Both hemorrhaged time and later blamed each other for the collapse. Carapaz insisted, correctly, that it was not his responsibility to chase. UAE Emirates was left with a bit of pie on its face after stumbling through post-stage explanations on how the pink jersey slipped through their fingers.<\/p>\n Del Toro tried to play it down publicly, but the Giro delivered a brutal lesson that the Mexican prodigy vowed never to repeat again. [AH]<\/p>\n Lou Lou loves finishing third A rider posting up too early occurs with surprising regularity in pro cycling.<\/p>\n And it happened this year in spectacular fashion<\/a>, courtesy of one of the sport\u2019s ultimate showmen.<\/p>\n Julian Alaphilippe roared in triumphant relief when he crossed the line this summer on stage 15th of the Tour de France. The flamboyant Frenchman was in ecstasy at what he thought was his first Tour victory in four years.<\/p>\n Only it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Sorry Lou Lou, you were third.<\/p>\n It was a sad twist to one of the craziest tales of this year\u2019s Tour. Alaphilippe had crashed earlier in the stage, dislocated his shoulder, and popped it back in himself while he stood at the roadside.<\/p>\n Crucially, the crash also knocked out his race radio.<\/p>\n Fueled by pain, adrenaline, and the roaring crowds of Carcassonne, Alaphilippe made it back to the bunch and handily won the final sprint for the line.<\/p>\n But without a race radio, Lou Lou had no clue\u2013clue that Tim Wellens and Victor Campenaerts had already mopped up first and second places courtesy of their final-hour attack.<\/p>\n Alaphilippe didn\u2019t win the stage, but his brave ride won thousands of hearts. [JC]<\/p>\n Group 2 syndrome sweeps Kigali Stupid. Weird. Strange. \u201cA big mess.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s how the favorites described the very deadly strain of \u201cGroup 2 Syndrome\u201d that went around the women\u2019s world championship road race.<\/p>\n Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini, and Kasia Niewiadoma were among those licking their wounds after they marked themselves out of a potential rainbow jersey<\/a> this September.<\/p>\n PFP, Vollering, ELB, and their powerhouse nations couldn\u2019t coordinate a chase when Magdeliene Vallieres and a bunch of attackers went up the road in the final circuits of Kigali.<\/p>\n The French, Italian, Dutch, and Swiss legions underestimated the breakaway, didn\u2019t want to drag their rivals to the line, and were intimidated by the extra-tough, high-altitude course.<\/p>\n It became a masterclass in how to race negatively.<\/p>\n And of course, the lack of race radios meant no team knew exactly how fast the race was accelerating out of reach.<\/p>\n When riders like Marlen Reusser and Kim Le Court finally broke the deadlock and set off in solo pursuit, it was too late.<\/p>\n Vallieres, Niamh Fisher Black, and Mavi Garc\u00eda had committed so courageously to their attack that they couldn\u2019t be caught. The three steps of the podium were their reward.<\/p>\n Maybe the leading federations will prescribe mandatory vaccines for \u201cGroup 2 Syndrome\u201d before they let riders fly to Montr\u00e9al 2026. [JC]<\/p>\n Wrong way, Jos\u00e9 The 2025 pro cycling season was plagued with a comedy of errors with wrong-way pelotons, errant cars, and riders looking to take a short cut.<\/p>\n Wrong way, Jos\u00e9 \u2014 that unfortunate theme cropped up early in 2025, most notably across several incidents at the \u00c9toile de Bess\u00e8ges in early February<\/a>.<\/p>\n A car made its way onto the race course, sending Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe\u2019s new star signing Maxim Van Gils to a local hospital. After another incident involving a vehicle driving onto the course prompted several teams pulled out in protest. Organizers promised better execution in the future,<\/p>\n Just a few weeks later, another high-profile miscue at the Volta ao Algarve underscored how challenging it can be for smaller organizers to keep the peloton heading in the right direction. On the opening stage, riders turned the wrong way coming out of a roundabout and sprinted down the wrong straight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Filippo Ganna went the right way and won the stage, only for race directors to later cancel it entirely. #Dooh<\/p>\n And finally \u2014 in the stupidest misdirection moment of them all \u2014 two riders were DQ\u2019d at the Tour de Guadeloupe, trying to sneak back on course<\/a> after some late-stage chaos in traffic.<\/p>\n Two Dutch racers were caught on video illegally rejoining the peloton after hiding behind cars. Come on, fellas, the racing level isn\u2019t that high in the Caribbean, now is it? [AH]<\/p>\n A very curious KoM crash French duo Benjamin Thomas and Matt\u00e9o Vercher were in a dream situation.<\/p>\n Out front on the attack on day 1 of the Tour de France. Thousands of home fans cheering them through Lille and the Nord. The chance to claim a career-making polka dot jersey.<\/p>\n That dream got a little deranged when their two-up sprint for a set of KoM points became the first meme of Le Tour.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The warning sirens began to blare when Vercher started to lead out the sprint across the smooth cobblestones of the Mont Cassel. His skipping rear wheel was a sign of what was to come.<\/p>\n But Thomas didn\u2019t pay attention.<\/p>\n When Thomas came around Vercher and lunged for the line, his rear wheel skidded so bad he was sent sprawling to the ground.<\/p>\n And his bike?<\/p>\n It was inevitable. Thomas\u2019 front wheel went right into the path of Vercher, who also took a face-full of cobbles.<\/p>\n The French commentators went wild, and the 5-deep crowds did a collective \u201cWTF?\u201d<\/p>\n For Thomas, the embarrassment was worth it \u2013 he spent the stage in polka dots the next day. And for both him and Vercher, their crash was probably the most exposure these two journeymen got for the full three weeks.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t remember the Tour\u2019s curious crash? Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ve got your back.<\/a> [JC]<\/p>\n Brilliance vs. blundering at Paris-Roubaix Femmes We\u2019re not sure whether to categorize this one as a tactical blunder or tactical genius<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paris-Roubaix Femmes saw Visma-Lease a Bike uncork near-perfect tactics that, at first glance, looked like stupid racing by their rivals.<\/p>\n In a bit of foreshadowing of what would unfold later at the Tour de France Femmes, Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot rode clear from a hesitant bunch with about 25km to go. While everyone looked at each other, PFP lowered her head and drove the pedals.<\/p>\n Pre-race favorites SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek were caught flat-footed, and rather commit to the chase, they started playing games. Dutch speedster Lorena Wiebes and SD Workx Protime teammate Lotte Kopecky meant the others weren\u2019t going to work, and Visma\u2019s Marianne Vos slotted into the chase group to tighten the tactical vise.<\/p>\n This kind of thing happens in plenty of races, but on a stage as big as the \u201cHell of the North,\u201d the trap was amplified.<\/p>\n While the chase group played a high-stakes game of dare, Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot powered to a solo win. Stupid? Maybe. But also textbook. [AH]<\/p>\n Mr. Martinez and the stickiest bottles in pro cycling It\u2019s hard to say which was more stupid. The outrageous stickiness of Lenny Martinez\u2019s bottles<\/a> at the Tour de France, or his subsequent excuse for one of the most blatant infractions of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t intend to cheat,\u201d Martinez told RMC Sport<\/a> after he was caught in full HD taking a trio of tows from his team car, deep in the high-Alpine finale of the Tour.<\/p>\n Martinez had seen his polka dot jersey come under threat when he was dropped out of the breakaway of the Tour\u2019s monstrous 18th stage.<\/p>\n Fortunately for him, a sport director with some very sticky gels and bidons came to save the day.<\/p>\n Three way-too-long tows from the Bahrain Victorious team car dragged Martinez back to his rivals, right in time to bag 20 mountain points and remain \u201cvirtually\u201d at the top of the mountain classification.<\/p>\n Not even the UCI jury could get this decision wrong.<\/p>\n Commissaires slapped Martinez with a fine and docked him points in both the KOM classification and the UCI ranking. It marked an unceremonious and very viral<\/a> end to his time as top climber of the Tour.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I watch the video, I think there are things that aren\u2019t right. But it\u2019s also complicated when you\u2019re on a mountain pass,\u201d Martinez told RMC as he recounted the incident.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re lacking in clear thinking when you\u2019re making a big effort.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a suitably cringe-worthy excuse for a very cringe-worthy case of cheating.<\/p>\n Maybe Bahrain Victorious should leave the superglue at home when it packs for the 2026 TDF. [JC]<\/p>\n Yellow cards for the UCI? The pro cycling version of yellow cards became fully operational in 2025, and it didn\u2019t take long for them to fly.<\/p>\n A series of controversial calls made many question the merits of the yellow card system.<\/p>\n Early incidents of \u201cyellow card fever \u201ccame when riders like Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel, both from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, were slapped with warnings for irregular sprints and riding along footpaths.<\/p>\n The race jury was busy all season long, dishing out warnings to the likes of American rider Lily Williams for illegal littering. Oscar Riesebeek became the first rider<\/a> to be ejected from a race after seeing two infractions at the Baloise Belgium Tour in June after jumping on and off sidewalks and cycle paths not part of the official race route.<\/p>\n But the UCI might deserve a few yellow cards of its own.<\/p>\n In August, five women\u2019s teams were disqualified from the Tour de Romandie F\u00e9minin for failing to use GPS tracking devices as part of a safety test. Teams cried foul, saying they were not given enough time to properly implement the technology. After a very public back-and-forth, the teams filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n And in another episode, the UCI triggered chaos at the start of the 2025 La Vuelta Femenina when a lone official took so long inspecting bikes that several riders missed their team time trial starts<\/a> or were forced to roll off alone. Riders from Movistar, Uno-X, and Visma\u2013Lease a Bike were among those caught out.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s judging the judges? [AH]<\/p>\n Stupid fans doing stupid things Of the millions of fans that line and cheer the roads every year, 99.9 percent know how to act. It\u2019s the narrow sliver of fools that cause the problems.<\/p>\n There was no repeat of the infamous \u201cOpi-Omi\u201d moment \u2014 the 50-rider pile-up that caused carnage on stage 1 of the 2021 Tour de France \u2014 but 2025 still delivered more than its share of stupid fans doing stupid things.<\/p>\n Early \u201chonors\u201d went to the bloke who hurled a water bottle into the face of a hard-charging Mathieu van der Poel as he powered toward victory at Paris\u2013Roubaix. After a wave of condemnation and the threat of police action, the fan turned himself in and tearfully begged for mercy.<\/p>\n Van der Poel was not impressed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another knucklehead jumped onto the racecourse in Valence just ahead of the finale of stage 17 at the Tour de France. French police swiftly tackled the man<\/a> after he vaulted the barriers, mounted his bike, and rode through the finish line in a moment of peak idiocy.<\/p>\n In October, a pair of fans managed to slap flyers onto the back of Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> as he attacked en route to victory at the UEC Road European Championships. It was unclear what the stickers said, but nothing sticks to Poga\u010dar. He crossed the line unbothered, rainbow jersey intact, adding yet another major win to an already overflowing trophy case.<\/p>\n Then there was the growing anti-Israel\/pro-Palestine protest movement that would reach a crescendo at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n What began as sporadic disruptions escalated into something far more serious during the Spanish grand tour, with multiple stages affected by ever-more aggressive protests. Demonstrators blocked roads, knocked riders off their bikes, shouted and spat at the peloton, and forced the cancelation of the final stage.<\/p>\n That protest movement divided fans \u2014 some supported their efforts to draw attention to the atrocities in Gaza and others questioned their violent actions \u2014 and the violent unrest exposed an existential vulnerability that continues to ripple through the peloton.<\/p>\n The first warning sign surfaced at the Tour de France, when a protester vaulted the race barriers<\/a> and ran onto the course during stage 11. Officials duly subdued the intruder and Jonas Abrahamsen\u2019s victory was unaffected. The person was later fined \u20ac300 in a French court, but no one was calling them a fan of cycling. [AH]<\/p>\n UCI safety ideas see scathing responses The UCI<\/a> managed to annoy almost everyone this year with its tech-based solutions to an increasingly dangerous sport.<\/p>\n Components behemoth SRAM was so miffed about a proposed gear restriction trial that would disadvantage its athletes that it filed a legal claim<\/a>.<\/p>\n The entire female peloton, smaller male riders, and pro bike fitters revolted against a new set of minimum handlebar widths.<\/p>\n And those without skin in the game either saw these safety solutions as a damaging back-step for the sport or laughed them off as missing the point.<\/p>\n SRAM\u2019s fight against the push to clamp down on huge gear ratios saw such success that a trial roll-out was scrapped.<\/p>\n The chorus of complaints about \u201cwide\u201d handlebars that would screw narrow shoulders<\/a> embarrassed the governing body into adjusting its initial proposals<\/a> to appease the peloton\u2019s most svelte.<\/p>\n It seems the UCI got as much, if not more, bad press this year from its proposals to reduce racing speeds as it did when it rolled out sock height rules and the \u201csuper tuck\u201d ban.<\/p>\n Of course, the ideas were very well intentioned \u2013 any idea that might mitigate danger should be welcomed. There have been too many racing tragedies in recent years.<\/p>\n But maybe the governing body should do a little more research before it piles in with restrictions that could be so consequential. [JC]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated December 31, 2025 03:39AM There\u2019s a thin line between mayhem and majesty in pro cycling. And let\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,54263,82,102249,88388,162381,102250,162382,54267],"class_list":{"0":"post-381195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-parent_category-road","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tag-giro-ditalia","14":"tag-tag-isaac-del-toro","15":"tag-tag-julian-alaphilippe","16":"tag-tag-paris-roubaix","17":"tag-tag-paris-roubaix-femmes","18":"tag-type-article"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Alaphilippe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Z8D_6696-1200x750.jpg\"\/)
Van Aert likely did a little chuckle when his breakaway rival Alaphilippe posted up early at the Tour de France. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2237708290.jpg\"\/)
The big nations put on a masterclass of how not to race at the road world championships. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GkKrCWPXAAAjrci.jpeg\"\/)
Filippo Ganna got it right, but wasn\u2019t allowed the win in a farcial finale in the Algarve. (Photo: Europsort \/ Discovery)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2025-12-22-at-11.32.28.png\"\/)
The crash between Thomas (left) and Vercher (right) shouldn\u2019t be funny, but let\u2019s be honest \u2026 it was. (Photo: Eurosport \/ Discovery)<\/p>\n
\n![\"stupidest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Z8C_1774-1200x834.jpg\"\/)
SD Worx teammates Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes were caught between a rock and a hard place when PFP attacked at Paris-Roubaix. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Lenny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CAuldPhoto-2025-TourdeFrance-Stage12-5707-2.jpg\"\/)
Lenny Martinez took three outrageously sticky bottles in quick succession on stage 18 of the Tour. (Photo: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-647630088-1200x800.jpg\"\/)
The UCI\u2019s new yellow card system served up some pro cycling controversies in 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Stupidest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Z8B_0107-1200x882.jpg\"\/)
Mathieu van der Poel was targeted by a bottle-tossing spectator as he soloed to the win at Paris-Roubaix. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC_1966-1200x800.jpg\"\/)
SRAM was among the many stakeholders who were unimpressed by the UCI\u2019s tech proposals. (Photo: Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n