Sexism and sport unfortunately have a tendency to be linked. Cycling isn’t any different. Remember that time Peter Sagan pinched a podium girl’s butt at the Tour of Flanders? Apparently, this is behavior worthy of attracting spectators to your event—at least for E3’s Harelbeke race. The promoters released a poster for the race featuring a cyclist's hand inching toward a woman’s bum. The slogan, loosely translated is, “Who squeezes them at Harelbeke?" I’ll pause here for a collective groan.
This isn’t the first incredibly sexist (and bizarre) ad that the race organizers have come up with: Some of you may remember last year’s poster, which featured three women posing as a bike, with another one riding it.
At best, the new poster's nod to what many saw as incredibly offensive behavior promotes the idea that cycling is a boy’s club, and at worst, it implies that cyclists are entitled to grope podium presenters. (Perhaps we should do away with the antiquated 'podium girl’ position altogether, and see if Sagan would make a grab for, say, UCI President Brian Cookson’s bum as he presents the awards.)
It’s perfectly possible that the race organizers deliberately chose such a sexist poster with the hope that the cycling community would rebel against it—thereby advertising its race and proving that all press is good press, which i
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