Sagan Apologizes in Facebook Video for Pinching Podium Girl’s Backside at Tour of Flanders

By Daniel McMahon

In case you’ve been living under a pile of worn-out clinchers, pro cycling’s hottest rider, Slovakia’s Peter Sagan, has used the “power of social media” to offer what appears to be a sincere video apology to “podium girl” Maja Leye, whose butt he pinched at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.

The video, posted on Sagan’s Facebook page on Monday, had about 3,500 likes and more than 1,000 shares the first day it went up.

While we’re at it, let’s not forget that Sagan’s “Benny Hill” or Boris Yeltsin move was documented by good old-fashioned photography, so thank your hardworking cycling photographers.

The pinch that launched a thousand tweets, posted on the @RondeVlaanderen Twitter account.

Sagan’s performance in the video, to me anyway, feels forced, as if it came only after his Cannondale team pressured him to do it after all the backlash to his inappropriate grab, which I can only assume they did.

It seems weird that the team’s PR didn’t make Sagan put on a nice, collared shirt and look a little less put out by the task. The production has a so-called hostage-video quality to it.

But maybe that was the point.

Since then, Leye has said via Twitter that she accepts Sagan’s apology.

Maja Leye–Peter Sagan tweet

The story made headlines on some of the largest mainstream news websites, including a stint on the home page of Yahoo!.

peter sagan on yahoo's home page for pinching butt

It was a bizarre and disappointing end to an otherwise highly successful early-season run by Sagan and Cannondale. The team won big races, including Strade Bianche and Gent-Wevelgem, and Sagan finished on the podium at Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, and E3 Harelbeke.

But now it seems as if Sagan and Cannondale will be remembered for “the butt pinch” at Flanders. At least for a while.

Clearly the team wants to put this debacle behind them and look forward to the rest of the season, but the young hotshot is going to have to win back the fans he’s pissed off.

I don’t excuse Sagan’s behavior just because he’s 23, but then again he is 23 and humans do stupid things all the time. He should have known better, but my sense is, having met Sagan a few times and seen him in countless interviews, that he does regret this and will try to redeem himself in the eyes of those he’s let down.

As some have pointed out, the incident once again raises questions about why we still have podium girls anyway.

Updated: Bezdek Wins Red Hook Crit 2013

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By Daniel McMahon

Neil Bezdek won the 2013 Red Hook Crit in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday night, proving his mettle as the heavy favorite.

Evan Murphy was second and Walton Brush took third.

Bezdek sprinted for the win from a select group of about a dozen riders. He had ridden top five much of the race, pedaling mostly conservatively and covering any attacks.

Coming into the bell lap, Bezdek was sitting top three. As the lead group approached the critical final hairpin, he made an aggressive move to the front, entered the tricky turn first, and sprinted all-out to the line.

“It feels so good to win,” Bezdek told cyclingreporter at the finish. “I had been thinking for the past year, ‘I need to come through that turn first and hold it.’”

Bezdek won the 2009 Red Hook, also in Brooklyn, and the 2011 edition in Milan, Italy.

With his third victory, Bezdek joins Dan Chabanov as the winningest racers of the Red Hook Crit. They have won the race three times each.

“So that means the score’s even with Dan Chabanov—so he needs to come to the next race,” Bezdek said.

Asked how this year’s victory compared with his two previous wins, Bezdek said:

“It gets better every time. I crashed out last time in Italy [in 2012], so I have had that to think about all winter.”

Top 10 results:

red-hook-criterium-results-2013-brooklyn