I came across a heartwarming video this week of two young cyclo-cross fans returning a watch to Wout van Aert.
It happened at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships last weekend, where the Belgian finished second, earning a silver medal, but losing his beloved Garmin in the process. “How will I ever tell the time again?” he must have thought. The prang of fear lasted only moments.
To the rescue came two local lads, dressed in bobble hats and rainbow-coloured cowbells. They handed over the watch, got a picture in return, and went off on their merry way. A wonderfully touching tale all round.
It made me think about where the line is with keepsakes, though. In some sports, there’s a consensus that anything you catch is fair game. People go to the baseball hoping to pocket some new treasure, for example. Then again, the rules are different at the cricket, where you’re expected to throw the ball back.
So where’s the line in cycling? Well, bidons, casquettes, and musettes are for the taking, everyone knows that. Kit is a grey area – I’ve seen stories of riders asking for discarded rain capes to be returned, while others gleefully toss their sunglasses into the crowd (I’m looking at you, Giulio Ciccone). And watches, well watches, apparently, are a step too far. Caught one? Locate Wout van Aert immediately.
That said, I reckon we wouldn’t have seen such a heartwarming story had those lads caught Mathieu van der Poel’s wrist adornment last Sunday. It’s not that I’m earmarking them as potential thieves, I just think that, if anyone came into the sudden possession of €300,000 worth of riches, they’d probably keep it quiet.
That’s right, Van der Poel reportedly wore a €300,000 watch when he won his seventh world title. A Richard Mille RM67-02, if you were wondering.
You won’t know if I ever catch Van der Poel’s watch, but there will be signs. I’ll stop wearing jeans with holes in them for starters. Oh, and I'll start riding an S-Works.
Elsewhere on social media this week, Bradley Wiggins is back on his bike in Mallorca, Lachlan Morton becomes a barista, and one London cyclist swaps a helmet for chain mail.
1. You're lucky you weren't wearing a Richard Mille, Wout
2. There's a parallel universe somewhere in which Lachlan Morton lives life as the coolest barista in Melbourne
3. Your rollers skills may be good, but can you peel an orange, play the guitar or solve a Rubik's cube at the same time?
4. Sir Bradley Wiggins to the Vuelta a España, you heard it here first
5. How does a pro bike rider get home from a race? They cycle, of course
6. Forget having a lead-out man, try a lead-out van instead
7. How hard can it be giving only wrong answers? Very, if this interview with Wout van Aert is anything to go by
8. Thomas De Gendt is the only rider to have completed 100 Tours de France, or so this photo leads us to believe
Clothes from my first year as a professional. pic.twitter.com/n3nVAk5n6GFebruary 4, 2025
9. Who do we think the secret burger lover is then?
Who said professional cyclists live strictly and without pleasure all year round? I've just spotted a WorldTour cyclist ordering a big juicy burger and all its fatty badness from an airport Burger King. Cyclists are human after all - they too make horrendous food decisions.February 4, 2025
10. "Train hard. Rest harder," says Toms Skujiņš. Now there's some advice I can get behind
Train hard.Rest harder pic.twitter.com/PnvcbgPgZuFebruary 3, 2025
11. Anyone for a spot of cycle path jousting?
Seems a bit overkill… pic.twitter.com/RkL4Q8jJhEFebruary 2, 2025
12. And finally, I'll leave you with a collection of the best costumes from the Cyclo-cross World Championships. Come for the Lego people, stay for the Breton chicken
