\u201cI\u2019ll take \u2018Things I didn\u2019t expect to write about in pro cycling\u2019 for $500, Alex.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Giro d\u2019Italia peloton has found itself talking about something decidedly less glamorous than pink jerseys and tiramisu this week: riders peeing into water bottles.<\/p>\n
After stage 9, the organizers issued a pointed but odd reminder that taking a little wee into your bottle and tossing it aside is now considered non va bene. In the warning<\/a>, it cited, well, optics.<\/p>\n \u201cTo respect the image of cycling and the Giro d\u2019Italia, the organizer and the Commissaires\u2019 Panel inform all riders that urinating into a bottle and subsequently discarding it is strictly prohibited.\u201d<\/p>\n The warning immediately raised eyebrows because, while the practice clearly exists, several riders suggested it is hardly a peloton-wide epidemic. But it is still, was happening.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s really a thing in the peloton, but more something with a few riders,\u201d Dries Van Gestel told Sporza<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oliver Naesen told the Belgian broadcaster that the trick has been around for years, tracing it back to Peter Sagan. Naesen said he only really knew of two riders associated with it: Sagan and Victor Campenaerts.<\/p>\n Campenaerts, was, of course, very Campenaerts about it. \u201cNo idea what that is about,\u201d the popular pro cyclist and amateur vlogger said.<\/p>\n Taking the piss, literally<\/p>\n The big issue is the what happens if a fan grabs one of these bidons jaunes. Water bottles are prized souvenirs at the Giro<\/a>, or any pro race by spectators of all ages.<\/p>\n Riders acknowledged that nobody wants a fan enthusiastically grabbing the wrong bottle. Because that would be pretty damn gross to grab a warm one. You\u2019ve heard of sticky bottles. Now we have icky bottles.<\/p>\n