Oops! Teammates celebrate ‘victory’ arm in arm… only to be pipped by rival right at the finish

When the vibe you’re going for is Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond on Alpe d’Huez, but you wind up looking just like Julian Alaphilippe at Liège-Bastogne-Liège…

Unfortunately, that was the cruel fate suffered by amateur duo Rémi Arsac and Charly Merle at a race in France’s Rhône department yesterday, as the teammates gleefully showboated towards the finish, arm in arm – only to be pipped right at the last by the battling, plucky Simon Ruet.

Un commentaire @FFLose ? 😭😭 #lesRP pic.twitter.com/ibArmCQEsn

— Fan Club Dorian Godon (@fc_doriangodon) June 17, 2023

Of course, premature celebrations are a proud tradition in bike racing (just ask Erik Zabel), one carried on most dramatically in recent times by the show boater supreme Alaphillipe, whose dream finish line photo in the rainbow jersey at the 2020 edition of Liège was abruptly snatched from him by Primož Roglič’s last-ditch bike throw.

Cases of mistaken exaltation are also a common occurrence at the highest level, with Luka Pibernik and Eloy Teruel’s respective ‘There’s another lap left?’ shenanigans, as well as Annemiek van Vleuten’s communication breakdown at the 2021 Olympic road race, being prime examples.

> Liege-Bastogne-Liege: Roglic snatches win as Alaphilippe celebrates too early – and then gets relegated to fifth

However, all that won’t prove much comfort for poor Rémi and Charly, who thought they were on the brink of a dominant team victory at yesterday’s Critérium de Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise, a historic French amateur race first won by British rider Alan Ramsbottom in 1962, which also boasts future Tour de France champion Bernard Thévenet among its list of winners.

The duo, who ride for the EC Saint-Étienne Loire club, had easily dispatched the rest of the field (the fourth placed rider was over four minutes back), and looked set to enjoy a prolonged, triumphant arm in arm celebration across the line.

But they hadn’t accounted for Simon Ruet, the 19-year-old VC Villefranche Beaujolais rider sprinting up the left of the unsuspecting teammates – despite the ever-increasing warnings from the spectators at the finish – to take a spectacular surprise win and underline the importance in cycling of never giving in and riding to the line.

Frosty...

The defeated Arsac and Merle – whose pained, shocked expressions to each other at the finish added even more dark humour to the situation – may have looked suitably grumpy on the podium, but hey, it’s not every day that you can say you’ve emulated Julian Alaphilippe…