What was your stand-out pro cycling moment from the weekend? Was it Matteo Jorgenson’s dominant, inch-perfect ride at Paris-Nice, which secured the American his second consecutive overall triumph at the Race to the Sun?
Or was it Elisa Balsamo’s canny, powerful sprint – and career hat-trick – at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda? Or 18-year-old Cat Ferguson’s hugely impressive third place on her WorldTour debut at the Italian classic? Or the flying Juan Ayuso’s dismantling of his Tirreno–Adriatico rivals?
Well, you’re all wrong. Because the real highlight of that bumper weekend of cycling actually came late last night, courtesy of Slovakian light entertainment TV.
Yes, that’s right. On week three of Slovakia’s version of Strictly, Let’s Dance, former Flanders and Roubaix winner Peter Sagan channelled his inner Ryan Gosling by discarding his top, plonking on a blonde wig, and spraying on an impressive set of abs (at least I’m pretty sure they’re sprayed on) to dance a potentially career-defining Barbie-themed cha-cha-cha… as the Ken doll himself:
Now that’s what I call a proper world champion.
The legs could have been straighter in places, allowing for more hip action, mind you – but still, who had ‘Peter Sagan dancing as Ken from Barbie’ on their 2025 cycling bingo card?
And it’s fair to say, after a shaky opening jive, the seven-times Tour de France green jersey winner has really grown into the celebrity dancing competition.
Last week, Sagan and his pro partner Eliška Lenčešová scored a highly respectable 26 out of 40 for their waltz to Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable.
And for Movie Week (which explains the Barbie theme, in case you’ve never seen Strictly before), his topless cha-cha earned him a 24, even garnering him Len Goodman-approved sevens from two of the judges.
> “My dancing idol is Patrick Swayze”: Peter Sagan signs up for Strictly Slovakia – but how have other pro cyclists who swapped their bikes for the ballroom fared?
And what’s more, the three-time rainbow jersey winner’s performances have been ‘Kenough’ to see him sail safely through to week four’s tissue-laden ‘dedication’ segment of the competition, which will see Sagan dedicate his dance to someone very important to him. I’m assuming it’ll be Oleg Tinkov, but who knows?
Plus, I think it’s safe to say the Slovakian public are loving every minute of Sagan’s ‘journey’ on Let’s Dance… which may have something to do with his lack of clothing (they did the same with poor Nico Roche on the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars, too. Can someone please throw these retired pro cyclists a t-shirt?).
“I’m gonna eat it. He’s on fire. I always look forward to his performance. I don’t care how he dances, but I’m really entertained,” wrote Janka on Instagram. Alright, calm down…
“Well, Peter was extreme! I will watch this dance every night now, wish I had such a Ken at home,” added Kristina.
I sense a theme emerging.
However, Mayo noted: “Peter must be missing his bike, I can’t imagine him enjoying playing Ken.”
“But he did! And a lot!” replied a very enthusiastic Monika.
Alright everyone, altogether now – ‘He’s just Peter, anywhere else he’d be a leader…’
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7 comments
Small plea. Can we not platform Travis who as well as showing himself to be a bit of knob on multiple occasions, is a fine one to talk about selfishness given he imposes his desire for 15 minutes of fame on his pet?
Not a fan then ?
Anyone who cycles around London regularly, whether showing off and putting their cat in danger for TikTok likes or not, knows perfectly well that this is utter nonsense. Whilst many/most of the capital's cyclists look out for others and cycle sympathetically, a significant minority from every level of cycling from spliffed-up teenager on a stolen bike to city broker on a Pinarello ride appallingly badly, ignore all lights, slalom through pedestrians walking across crossings, jump on and off pavements at speed as they please et cetera. I am vehemently, or rabidly, according to some, pro-cycling/cyclist and very much against the selfish and unnecessary car use that blights my hometown but pretending that all cyclists are lovely people who treat others with sympathy and respect is just silly and severely undermines the credibility of anyone who makes such claims.
I agree with that but, to take a tangetn for a moment, I take exception to people criticising cyclists for not having lights/hi-viz/helmets when cyclists are almost always perfectly visible, day or night, to anybody exercising reasonable care and attention.
One thing that limits that statement is the increasing dazzle from car headlights. Either way, we should be in a position to see that the road is clear, rather than assuming the road is clear unless we notice something, before we proceed on the road.
In other words, we can criticise the errant, unlit cycle with riders in dark clothes; but we must also criticise the drivers' failure* to observe them.
(* except, of course, they don't: they notice them only too well, otherwise they wouldn't be able to criticise them)
I entirely agree with what you say but I believe that Travis and the estimable Mr May were referring to cyclists not needing traffic lights, rather than not needing lights on their bikes.
Perhaps they're just a bit ahead of their time?
I agree - it's not necessarily a great description of people's behaviour now. And while I am certainly not for alarming people or making them not want to cross the cycle path (just like drivers "I didn't hit you, what's the problem") ... we should also keep the casualty figures in mind. Should be obvious if there been a massive upswing in people mown down in the cycle paths by cyclists (e.g. from "around zero" to something more than "two this year - an infinite percentage increase!"?)