Everything To Know About The Lorena Wiebes Binche-Chimay-Binche Drama
Winner of the women's edition of Binche-Chimay-Binche (WE 1.1 - see ranking) on Tuesday, Lorena Wiebes ended her season in style. The Dutchwoman won her 23rd victory of the season on Hennegau soil. "I am very happy to end my last road race with DSM on a victory", she told DirectVelo about the rider who will join SD Worx next year. "It's even more beautiful to win with this European Champion jersey, it really highlights it."
Lorena Wiebes after winning Scheldeprijs in 2021, a one-day race.
Throughout the day, Wiebes and her teammates were in an ideal situation. "We had Francesca Barale at the front. Our plan was that we would open up and each one try their luck." This obliged rival formations to ride to catch up with the breakaway which still had about thirty seconds advantage five kilometers from home.
"In the end, we came back into the last kilometer," explains Wiebes after reaching Binche's Grand Place where all of the 300 meters are cobblestones like those used for Paris Roubaix or other cobbled classics races. "I could benefit from a very good train led by Franziska Koch who brought us through until just before entry onto the cobbles section then Pfeiffer Georgi deposited me 200 meters out."
The 23-year-old athlete was able to demonstrate all his power winning ahead of Germany's Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit WS) followed by France's Lucinda Brand (TrekSegafredo). The rider is often called Queen of Sprints by French magazines and newspapers.
While the official French reporting was mostly focused on the rider's results and small comments about the event, English news outlets were more focused on one race official that appeared to touch the rider multiple times even after being pushed off.
The incident can be seen in this Twitter post shared by Justin Nadot, which reads, "It is possible to stop touching a runner when she openly indicates that she does not want to be touched?"
Most of the hundreds of responses and comments on the matter have largely indicated uncomfortableness in watching the race official putting his hands on the rider even after she clearly displayed that his hands should not be on her.
Other outlets tried to shy away from this incident by focusing on the next moves for Wiebes. There is an undertone in cycling news that people should largely focus on positive aspects and very few people are willing to say anything negative in interviews or to the press, which is then reflected in publications wherein authors are afraid to publish any slightly negative news.