It’s time for riders to stop celebrating before they reach the finish line

Adam Becket

News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com - should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.

Lorena Wiebes had the perfect opportunity to win the Amstel Gold Race. The hilly Classic is usually the domain of better climbers than the SD Worx-Protime sprinter. On Sunday, thanks to a shortened race, the Dutchwoman had her chance to take victory at her home event.

She thought she had won it, sticking with the reduced group and timing her powerful sprint to perfection, to triumph in Berg en Terblijt. Well, she would have done, had she not sat up before the line to celebrate, which gave Marianne Vos the opportunity to nip in front of her with a well-timed bike throw.

In that instant, Wiebes’ dreams were ruined. She later posted on Instagram that she felt like an “idiot sandwich”, a reference to a Gordon Ramsay meme. She might never have an opportunity to win the race again. That might have been it.

There was a simple solution to all of this: to not sit up before the line and celebrate. As Cycling Weekly’s Dr Hutch put it on X, there is no rule saying that a rider has to put their arms in the air to celebrate.

To celebrate before the line is an act of hubris. Of course, it is the act of someone who has put everything into the almost-certain win, an outpouring of joy, but there is no reason it needs to happen before the line. The photographers are set well back because of the speed that riders come in at, so there is ample time to celebrate: why do it before a race has actually been decided?

Riders seem to be caught out by this overzealous reaction pretty regularly.  In February, Tobias Halland Johannessen celebrated way too early at the Classic Var, and paid the price as Lenny Martinez pipped him to the line. Wout van Aert did it at Critérium du Dauphiné, and was beaten by David Gaudu of all people. Famously, Julian Alaphilippe did it at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2021, beaten by Primož Roglič; Sunday wasn’t even Vos’ first time beating someone indulging in a celebration - she did it to Lucy Kennedy back in 2019 as well.

It happens all too often. It must drive directeur sportifs mad, but the solution is plain for all to see - just stop celebrating before the line. You rarely see a footballer celebrating before the ball has crossed the threshold, or a cricketer running off before the umpire has actually given a batter out, and yet it persists in cycling.

Celebrations are good - we don’t want riders just pressing stop on their computers - but why is there this obsession with putting arms in the air before the line has actually been crossed? Perhaps the element of risk makes for a better photograph, but that’s a poor reason to lose a bike race.

Apparently, Wiebes did not know Vos was there, she thought she had enough time. But in a bunch sprint situation, surely you can never truly be sure that you are alone? Just keep going until the line.

Riders who make this mistake always vow to never make it again, but it was an unnecessary mistake in the first place, an unforced error, one that could be career defining. People like Van Aert and Wiebes will win again, but others will never be in the position to taste another victory.

Unless you have the time to look around, check with the team car, bet your life on the knowledge that you are alone in the lead, just keep your arms on your bars until the line has been crossed. Then go wild, do what you want, but don’t leave it up to chance.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.