It’s the season of goodwill … and in a cyclo-cross race in Spain last week, one rider made a fantastic sporting gesture as he refused to pass a competitor who had punctured.
Ismael Esteban was the unlucky rider to experience a flat at the Santa Barbara XV Grand Prix, and in true CX style slung his bike over his shoulder to hoof it to the line.
Rival Agustin Navarro could have passed him to claim third place, but chose not to, and instead soft-pedalled behind him.
Afterwards, Navarro said, “I didn’t want to win that way,” reports Sportsgrid.com.
Estaban apparently tried to give the bronze medal to him after the race, but Navarro declined it, saying: “To overtake him just before the finish line would have been unethical.”

7 thoughts on “Video: Fantastic sportsmanship at Spanish cyclo-cross race”
Quality.
Quality.
Good sportsmanship.
Good sportsmanship.
I’m also curious about why puncture will happen. Shouldn’t CX use tubeless now?
adam900710 wrote:
Thing through tyre. Tubes will go down, tubulars and tubeless will go down if the thing is big enough.
Do you not have to finish on
Do you not have to finish on the bike in CX as you do on the road?
Great sportsmanship.
Almost certainly an Englishman.
No doubt we’ve all seen
No doubt we’ve all seen similar race finishes where a rider did take advantage of a fall or a mechanical by a rider ahead of them in the last few yards. Chapeau to this man; what a hero.
It should be an inspiration to certain of my English compatriots who have recently been found to use questionable practices to advance their careers to the detriment of others.
Vive le spirit de Corinthean !
Cool, but I wanted to see the
Cool, but I wanted to see the end!