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news
Sagan bum pinchingPeter Sagan under fire for pinching podium girl's bottom
Peter Sagan has been criticised for a photograph that shows him pinching the bottom of a podium girl after he was placed second in the Tour of Flanders yesterday.
As the winner Fabian Cancellara was given the customary kiss on the cheek by a blonde hostess, Sagan turned and 'goosed' her on the backside.
Social media immediately exploded, with thousands registering their unease at Sagan's act - and he was eventually forced to apologise.
Michael Hutchinson, 2012 Irish Time Trial National Champion, tweeted: “Shame that Peter Sagan has so much class on a bike and so very little off it.”
Irish Paracycling Team member Colin Lynch wrote: “Despite the symbolism of being kissed by scantily-clad women & then spraying champagne all over the place, groping them before is [off] limits.
“The podium move by Sagan was like school on Sunday. No class.”
Cycling writer and broadcaster Ned Boulting told The Independent: “To say it’s OK for winners to celebrate in these ridiculous clinches with these poorly paid, barely dressed and no doubt freezing cold women – I think it looks bad and pretty repressive.
“It’s seen as completely normal to have podium girls but it doesn’t need to be. If they ceased to exist [in the sport] overnight, no one would miss them.”
Jane Aubrey, editor of Australian cyclingnews.com, tweeted: “Anyone excusing Sagan's behaviour due to his age, needs to think again. In the workplace, it's called harassment.”
Adam Tranter, editor of website Cyclosport, retweeted the picture and wrote: “The moment you realise Sagan is actually just a bit of an idiot.”
Sagan's apology - via Twitter - was short and sullen. “Was not my intention to disrespect women today on the podium. Just a joke, sorry if someone was disturbed about it,” he wrote.
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70 comments
Stewie - I don't think anyone is suggesting sexual assault is funny, however can you explain how his action was 'sexual assault'? was there any form of sexual action or intention undertaken?
ha ha oh this is funny, stupid podium girls ....
Don't try to mitigate or excuse it by the fact that there are podium girls in the first place.
Podium girls may be an antiquated and slightly sexist thing.
But grabbing someone's ass is sexual harassment at best, physical assault at worst.
It's wrong. There is no mitigation, no excuse and Sagan is old enough to know better.
People lose their jobs for that sort of thing - they don't lose their jobs for hiring pretty girls. There is a pretty clear distinction.
Plenty of jobs are based on looks. It's not unusual. Do you think TV presenters, fashion models or upmarket shop assistants are all there solely because they could colour between the lines ?
But amazingly most of the population manage to get through their encounters with these people and not grope them.
lots of self-righteous bullshit from journalists and the rabid twiterati, all of whom kept very quiet about the ridiculously sexist and tacky use of podium girls in the first place.
Would I have done this no. Am I upset about it no. Great race yes...........
Glad Sagan got stuffed by the awesome Cancellara, pi**ed off that he tries to detract from Fabian's win in this tacky way and serves the organiser right for continuing this unwanted "podium girl" practise.
Those girls are there for this. Seriously, how come anybody thinks their job is OK but pinching their ass is not? I'm with Sagan on this - if the girl didn't mind, everybody else should just shut up.
Having podium girls is cringeworthy at the best of times, they're being paid to look good in skimpy outfits which is sexist and not the image cycling should be sending out about women in sport.
Being there to look good however, does not equate to being there for the riders to sexually assault. The fact there are people in the world like you who hold the disgusting opinion that because a woman is there in a skimpy outfit, sexual assault is fair game, proves podium girls can't be scrapped quick enough.
If he wants to do that in private and take his chances that the approach is welcomed, that's one thing. Carrying out sexual assault in front of a live global audience (not to mention the fact it's showing huge disrespect for the actual winner) is inexcusable. If I did that in my job I'd be fired on the spot - he should face consequences both within the sport and criminally for his actions.
THANK YOU! Sagan probably didn't imagine this would blow up so badly. But I am glad it did. Because if we just let this thing slide, we would've made it OK. And it is not OK. Let's make this the first step to getting "podium girls" off the friggin' podium. I, for one, can't see the point behind them. And while we're here, why was there little to no coverage of the women's race? /soap box
Oh come out of the dark ages, puleeeassse! Those girls are paid to do a specific job whether you agree with podium girls or not (I see no need for them personally). They are not paid to have parts of their anatomy groped (even jokingly) by idiots like Sagan.
Imagine your wife/girlfriend, or even your daughter was that girl, standing in the cold, getting paid to peck a sweaty, smelly cyclist on his stubbly cheek and look good at event. Thats one thing and comes under the contract of what they are paid to do. Seeing another man then grope her ass would no doubt lead you into wanting to punch him and put him on his backside. Or would you say hey, thats what she's there for! Good man! I certainly hope you have former notion or you're a neanderthal just like Sagan.
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