A video of MotoGP star Aleix Espargaró – who spent last summer moonlighting as a pro cyclist for Lidl-Trek – overtaking motorists on a descent in Spain during a training ride has attracted controversy on social media, prompting Lidl-Trek to “speak directly” to their ambassador about his behaviour on the road.
Earlier this week, Museu Motos Folgado, the Instagram account of a motorcycle museum based in Girona, posted a clip of a cyclist, wearing full Lidl-Trek kit, passing two car drivers while descending Els Àngels, a popular climb near the cycling hub of Girona.
“A cyclist rips off my stickers!” the account posted alongside the video.
The rider in question was soon identified in the comments as Espargaró, the MotoGP racer who joined Lidl-Trek as an ambassador at the start of 2025.
After spending a few months training with the team and being coached by the squad’s performance staff (while also racing the British and Spanish round of the MotoGP championship for Honda), the 36-year-old signed a deal with Lidl-Trek’s development squad in the summer.
On his non-motorised bike, he took part in the Tour of Austria in July, withdrawing on stage three, before finishing 57th at the Circuito de Getxo the following month.
While he initially aimed to combine his roles at Lidl-Trek and as a test racer for Honda, in November Espargaró announced that his brief stint as a pro cyclist was over, after Honda urged him to focus on MotoGP for 2026.
Nevertheless, Espargaró continues to train on his bike with Lidl-Trek – hence the very pro look he was sporting when he was filmed on Els Àngels on Sunday.
View this post on Instagram
The clip itself has divided opinion, with some criticising Espargaró’s actions, one Instagram user describing the Catalan racer as a “clown”.
“Then they ask for a metre and a half,” another wrote, referring to the 1.5m safe passing distance recommended in most countries to motorists when overtaking cyclists.
Others, however, weren’t as critical of Espargaró’s overtaking skills.
“Okay, the cyclist should not go like this, totally agree – but if he was a motorcyclist or a car driver you would say he is a good driver and applaud him, why the hypocrisy?” asked Manuel.
“I say it because in many motorcycle and car videos I see such comments, but when it comes to cyclists the phrases change.”
However, the video has attracted the attention of Lidl-Trek, who have issued a statement distancing themselves from the descending technique of their ambassador.
“We are aware of the images circulating this week on social media and we want to be very clear: the behaviour shown by Aleix Espargaró does not reflect the values or standards that govern us as a team,” the WorldTour squad said in a statement provided to El País.
“We take this matter very seriously and are in the process of speaking directly with the rider.”
Espargaró is yet to publicly address the issue, despite sharing an Instagram post on Monday of him training with other Lidl-Trek riders in Andorra.
The MotoGP racer’s vital video comes five months after Equipo Kern Pharma rider Kiko Galván was disciplined, and later sacked, by the Spanish team after social media footage emerged showing him bunny-hopping over a raised lane barrier, jumping into the oncoming lane, during a training ride, also in Catalonia.
Kern Pharma were quick to condemn Galván’s behaviour, saying in an Instagram comment: “We deeply regret and apologise for an action that does not reflect the values we promote: respect for road safety, which is fundamental to our sport and central to our work both competitively and educationally. We take full responsibility.”
In December, Galván revealed that he had been dismissed by the team over the incident, and that he was retiring from the sport.
“I made a mistake. A mistake has consequences, and I’m paying for them,” the 28-year-old, who has raced one gravel event this year since leaving Kern Pharma, said.
17 thoughts on “Cycling MotoGP star filmed overtaking cars on descent criticised by Lidl-Trek after viral clip attracts controversy”
Not really as bad as it looks, I’d say, not actually that fast and it looks as if the cyclist has sight lines through the woods so he can see there is nothing coming the other way. Broken white line, so not illegal. The only thing I would criticise is the unnecessarily macho dive across the front of the first car when it would have been safer to stay further out in the oncoming lane, not only giving clear sight of any oncoming traffic but making sure that no wobble from the overtaken car will cause a problem.
He might have had sight lines through the trees overtaking the second car, but I doubt it for the first – the ground is raised, most likely blocking any view around the corner. So it was probably a stupid risk to take, but the point a lot of critics miss is that as a cyclist he’s only a danger to himself, not others.
(a) It looks like an absolutely stupid risk to take- I don’t see how the rider could possibly have had any visibility round the right hand bend at the end of the video, when he is well across the centre line into the path of oncoming traffic.
(b) It is absolutely NOT the case that he is only a danger to himself. Ask a train driver who has hit a “jumper”. Surely you can imagine the life-long trauma of killing someone with your car, even if obviously it was not your “fault”. Kids of friends have suffered PTSD for years after a car they were in was struck by a motorbike, and the rider was badly hurt. They weren’t even driving.
(c). AND equally obviously, what if a driver coming up the hill sees a bike in front of them, and either pulls off the road, or into the oncoming car???
(d) AND, critically, if anyone on a bike does something utterly twattish, there are many people who don’t ride bikes who extrapolate to the position that all people who ride bikes are twats, and there is a dehumanising effect that makes life more dangerous for everyone on a bike. There are few things that make me more cross than people on bikes riding through red lights- which, let’s be frank- happens at pretty much every red light, every time, in central london, because they are just making life more dangerous for everyone else on a bike.
We don’t actually see him overtake at that point though – he appears to move out and sit just off the rear of the car, so if something had come the other way he could have dropped back in behind it.
Actually it’s quite obvious (if you look with an unbiased eye, which given your histrionic tone one doubts you can) that he is positioning himself where he can see over and past the car to check if anything is coming and he would easily be able to pull back if there was; furthermore he can see through the trees for a considerable distance and know there’s nothing coming. It’s a perfectly safe overtake for a rider of his skill and experience.
I think he did the same for the first as you can see he did for the first. He sat on their left flank, looking through the corner till he could see through to the next short straight once they get to mid-corner and then dashes through.
Bikes are just /way/ faster on these kinds of roads – sharper steering than motorbikes, far less momentum at a given speed, able to flick in and out much quicker. The cars are something slowing to 30 km/h mid-corner, and the bike can go 50 – with the gradient you can accelerate from the cars ~30 to 40 to 45+ in a few pedal strokes. Or you hold back in corner entry, and keep your speed as you approach the slow car mid-corner, and then mid-corner you decide whether you maintain speed and pass, or slow down and stay behind.
He’s not a risk to anyone.
The cars and motorbikes are much bigger risks to themselves and others.
Cyclists are just a lot faster than cars on those twisty mountain descents. Faster than motorbikes too often, IF the straight bits are not long enough for the motorbikes to accelerate away again . You have to overtake somewhere, and by the nature of a narrow road you will pass close by the car as you do so.
Usually in Spain the locals, if they react at all, cheer you on as you pass!
Oh, the driver reporting this is just, is my conclusion.
The team’s response is also somewhat troublesome: ” does not reflect the values or standards that govern us as a team”. Except, their riders will be riding like this in training all the time, almost certainly. Pros are not exactly slow on descents…
Regardless of whether or not what he did in this case was OK, we rightly wouldn’t accept this as an argument from motorists, and shouldn’t from cyclists either.
The overtake is safe. The cyclist is faster, so they can complete the overtake without risk to others, particularly as they themselves are low energy (even when travelling faster, due to low mass).
Given there is no intrinsic issue overtaking, it has to be done somewhere, and everywhere is narrow on these roads, so they’re going to closely pass. And it’s just /not/ an issue – a sub-100kg rider+bike quickly going past a 1.5+-tonne car on a mountain road, at an appropriate point, is not causing them or anyone else an issue here.
I’d argue it’s also safer for the faster cyclist to get in front of the slower cars.
It doesn’t /have/ to be done. If you’re on a stretch of road where there isn’t a safe opportunity to do it, you should just wait until it is safe, just like a motorist should. It may be that in this case it /could/ be done safely, but it doesn’t /have/ to be.
I entirely agree that in this case the overtake is safe, but the idea that cyclists are not a risk to others “as they themselves are low energy” is false. If there had been a vehicle coming it might easily have swerved off the road to try to avoid the cyclist and suffered serious damage to both vehicle and passengers, and a cyclist coming through the windscreen at high speed can cause significant injury to the car occupants. To reiterate, in this case, in my opinion the overtake is safe but as a general rule saying that cyclists don’t pose a risk to others due to their lower mass is incorrect.
I agree, but maybe it’d be better to say “cyclists can overtake with minimal risk to others”. I certainly do some very close overtakes of slow moving drivers and the key is to ensure that you can pull in if you need to abort and that you have good sight of oncoming traffic.
Sorry. I wrote that with the implicit assumption the overtaking cyclist had looked and there was nothing coming the other way.
I don’t see the problem here. Pretty sure the cyclist (Aleix) had visibility to the next corner, could see they could safely pass. I’ve done many similar passes myself on descents in Spain and Italy.
The problem here seems to be the car driver’s ego got hurt that a cyclist passed them.
Theres something that blows my mind about drivers and logic. “Then they ask for 1.5m after one cyclist does this. The absolute temerity of it!”
For some reason, every cyclist negatively represents all of us in car brains.
Lets try this with cars.
“Look at that guy in the ditch after crashing his car. And then drivers ask for cheaper insurance premiums”.
Whatever one do on two wheels, they are wrong – too slow on climbs, too fast on twisty downhills. That said, safety shall prevail at all times. It can be frustrating to be stuck behind traffic, but this is also the opportunity to eat, drink and relax.
I am always impressed by Tom’s descending ability, but this bloke can brake from over 200mph and then lean at 60 degrees or more into turn one.
He’s not marky mark but he’s a bit good.