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UCI orders E3 Harelbeke to withdraw controversial advert

Not the first time the Belgian race has been accused of sexism
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Mar 02, 2019 21:47
34

The UCI says it will initiate legal proceedings if the organisers of the E3 BinckBank Classic fail to withdraw an ad which shows two women in bodypaint, entwined to form a frog. “Who shall crown himself prince in Harelbeke?” reads the accompanying text.

This is not the first time that world cycling's governing body has clashed with the organisers of the race commonly known as E3 Harelbeke.

In 2015 the UCI said it was "extremely unhappy" with a sexist poster for the Belgian race. On that occasion, the materials in question were pulled.

This year’s campaign was launched on February 25 to an almost immediate backlash.

 

 

In a statement last night, the UCI said:

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regrets and strongly disapproves of the choice made by the organiser of the E3 BinckBank Classic, an event on the calendar of the UCI WorldTour (the highest level of competition), for its visual promotion of the event’s 2019 edition.

“The UCI has already intervened on several occasions in the past to remind the race’s organiser of its responsibilities with regards to the image of cycling conveyed by its communication campaigns.

“The UCI has been fighting for several years to promote equity between men and women in cycling through different initiatives such as a charter to promote men/women equality within the UCI’s administration, an equality charter for podium ceremonies, and also different documents demanding the respect of ethical principles for everyone working within UCI Road Teams.

“In view of the above, the UCI has ordered the organiser of the E3 BinckBank Classic to withdraw the visual promotion from all its communication channels in which it appears. In the case of non-compliance, the UCI will envisage initiating proceedings with its legal bodies.”

The race organisers are yet to comment.

E3 Harelbeke
E3 Binckbank Classic
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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34 comments

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 5 years ago
2 likes
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

I think it's quite clever as a bit of 'art', but it also seems inappropriate and irrelevant for this particlar purpose.  In this specific context I can see it could be considered sexist.  But it is absolutely dependent on that wider context.  In another setting (say an art exhibition with multiple body-paint-related works involving both genders) it woudl be fine.

I think it's a good example of how subtle and utterly-context-dependent 'sexism' can be.

Agree, for an art exhibit, I'd have no problem, it's always interesting to see things that we make an immediate presumption of it being x but is actually y, in this context and with the tagline it's way off and not acceptable. We, not just most men, need to change the way we think about stuff, it's been rammed down our throats since we were kids, so, just like the Hunt wheels faux-pas, we need to just take a few moments longer to consider others and what that might mean in the bigger picture as well as for individuals.

We can't always be perfect and that generations, decades long of this is how we do stuff and is acceptable in a male dominated world will likely mean that mistakes will continue to be made but it must get better. That doesn't mean we have to be restricted in our imaginations, just that we can do better with consideration for half the worlds population.

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
10 likes

I don't think it's "cool" or "clever" frankly it's more than just a little bit shit on top of the fact it makes no sense and IS sexist!

The catchline is "Who shall crown himself prince in Harelbeke?" so if you want the frog to turn into human form why aren't the two forms that make up the frog, men?  Afterall it's the prince that is the frog who transforms back to human form in the fairytale and it's a male only race.. Yeah, they wouldn't do it, wouldn't even be considered, so if you wouldn't portray the frog as two men intertwined for a male race, why would you do it with two women, retarded twats!

Avatar
alexuk | 5 years ago
8 likes

Ugh. The perpetually-offended strike again. I actually think its pretty cool & clever; you know, art. I imagine they're paying for the leagal action, courtesty of all the stupid fines they're hitting the riders with. UCI seem to be making a lot of stupid decisions latley 7

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EddyBerckx replied to alexuk | 5 years ago
4 likes
alexuk wrote:

Ugh. The perpetually-offended strike again. I actually think its pretty cool & clever; you know, art. I imagine they're paying for the leagal action, courtesty of all the stupid fines they're hitting the riders with. UCI seem to be making a lot of stupid decisions latley 7

The organisers have a lot of previous for sexist shit, the response is pretty valid in my book.

Cyclist magazine have a good article that is pretty spot on, I suggest you have a quick read to get some context here...else if you're an oldflake just carry on as you are...

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/6066/is-it-time-to-switch-off-in-prot...

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