Sports
Not again! Watch as cyclist is latest embarrassed by hasty victory celebration
The Tour of Britain Women witnessed another case of premature celebration on Sunday when Christine Majerus raised her arm too early, only to see a rival come streaking past her on the line.
It followed the Spanish race walker who made headlines around the world by missing out on a medal when celebrating too early at the European Athletics Championships on Friday.
This time it was the SD Worx-ProTime rider from Luxembourg who was left red-faced on the final stage of the Tour of Britain Women into Leigh in Greater Manchester
Majerus sat up before the line in celebration, only for Australian national champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Jayco–AlUla) to pass her on the line.
Majerus had been led out by team-mate Lotte Kopecky, who secured the overall victory by 17 seconds from Britain’s Anna Henderson (Great Britain Cycling Team).
Spanish race walker Laura Garcia-Caro had donned a Spanish flag on her approach to the finish line in Rome, sticking out her tongue and punching the air in delight, oblivious to fact she was about to be overtaken by Ukrain’s Lyudmyla Olyanovska.
Kopecky, the world champion, was a hugely deserving winner of a race which has been rescued by British Cycling following the collapse of previous promoter SweetSpot.
Cycling’s national governing body appointed former Ineos Grenadiers deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth as race director of the men’s and women’s tours earlier this year. And the future of both looks a lot more assured after Lloyds Bank signed as title partners last month.
Kopecky won the first two stages on Thursday and Friday, before setting up SD Worx teammate Lorena Wiebes for the win on Saturday, and then doing her best to set up Majerus on Sunday.
“It could have been a nice ending for Christine, but we finished well as a team,” Kopecky observed of her team-mate’s gaffe. “Ruby is a good rider so it was nice for her but I am happy that Christine got the bonus seconds to get third [overall] so it is nice. Maybe it is a little funny but it is what it is and I’m not disappointed.”
The final stage had been animated by two-time race winner Lizzie Deignan. The former world champion and Olympic silver medallist struck out on her own in a bid to wrap up the Queen of the Mountains jersey. Having secured that, Deignan pushed on solo in an effort to launch a race-winning move for Henderson.
“[The solo attack] was kind of by accident to be honest,” Deignan confessed after celebrating her Queen of the Mountains victory on the podium with her two children. “I was just really going for the [QOM] points and saw a gap and thought ‘Well there’s nothing to lose now!’
“I was just trying to put Anna in a good position. It was a nice atmosphere, I heard my name lots of times, lots of Yorkshire flags, and I knew the kids were at the finish line too so it was a lovely day.”
Roglic wins Criterium
At the Criterium du Dauphine, Slovenian Primoz Roglic had to dig deep to win his second title in three years.
The Bora–Hansgrohe rider crossed the line sixth on the final summit finish at Plateau des Glieres, 48 seconds behind stage winner Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and second placed Matteo Jorgenson (Visma–Lease a Bike).
Jorgensen narrowly missed out not only on the stage win, but also on the overall, with just eight seconds separating the American from Roglic in the final reckoning.
