"There's a saying that goes you wanted to eat sheep and now you're sh*tting wool" - Philippe Gilbert's wife comes out in defense of Patrick Lefevere; and comes out against Marion Rousse
CyclingThursday, 22 February 2024 at 16:15
Patrick Lefevere sparked controversy with his statements about Julian Alaphilippe, who has faced difficult times in recent years. In an interview with Humo, Lefevere expressed his opinions, although he later admitted that these quotes were taken out of context, a retraction that came late, given that his comments about the lifestyle of Alaphilippe and his partner, Marion Rousse, had already been widely circulated on the internet. Now Philippe Gilbert's partner adds another chapter to an unusual story.
Marion Rousse's response was not long in coming, refuting the words of the Soudal Quick-Step general manager and demanding more respect. However, this defense was not well received by Bettina Pesce, wife of Philippe Gilbert, who took sides with Lefevere and took the opportunity to lash out at Rousse via Instagram.
Pesce began her intervention with an incisive tone, pointing out that Lefevere was only telling part of the Alaphilippe story. He further suggested Rousse keep a low profile, insinuating that Lefevere was only voicing what many people around him were thinking. "Patrick only says out loud what he thinks and what many people around him also think," Pesce stated in her post.
In a twist of pointed language, Pesce criticized Rousse's work as a commentator and analyst on French television, suggesting that she badmouths people from the safety of her studio and avoids taking responsibility. "She makes a living badmouthing people from behind her microphone, hiding in her studio. And when it comes to taking responsibility, you never show up," Pesce reproached.
The situation escalated quickly with Pesce using a saying to discredit Rousse, insinuating that the latter was facing the consequences of her actions. "Your message is a sticky reflection of what has really affected you, and that is you and your image. There's a saying that goes you wanted to eat sheep and now you're shitting wool," Pesce concluded. The message was shared after Lefevere explained his statements, referring that the alcohol discussion ended in late 2022 and it was not a current spat between the two.
In the midst of this public confrontation, Philippe Gilbert, who had previously been Alaphilippe's teammate, becomes indirectly involved. His wife, Bettina Pesce, takes sides in the conflict, reflecting the complexity of relationships in the world of professional cycling.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- WvA says it right as always, great guy better then MvdP anyhow 👍
leedorney24-05-2025 - I just finished watching his post stage interview, the more I see of him the more I like him, he showed empathy towards Ayuso which is a sign he has great character. I know he can climb, I don't know if he can climb like the rest of the gc challengers but I'm pulling for him!awp24-05-2025
- He won every jersey in the 2023 Tour de l'Avenir. He won stage 6, a HC finish 23.2Km @ an average of 7.4%. He was 3rd in the stage 7 mountain time trial. If he gets the okay, I think he might be able to win this race.awp24-05-2025
- Yes, Remco may not have won as many Gt's but he is a much more well rounded cyclist than Froome was at his best. I'm also not disrespecting Froome, he is a legend but he won only one type of race.awp24-05-2025
- And there it is, hopefully Isaac del Toro can win the whole thing at 21.awp24-05-2025
- Maybe you are overrating GT GC?Mistermaumau24-05-2025
- No, but now he’s started considering it at least. Maybe they were smart enough to propose a family holiday so he couldn’t use not wanting to be separated as an excuse? He’s a bit like Vingo when it comes to priorities, Vingo being the only one who gets shit for it even though there was someone doing pretty much the same not so long ago who never got any stick for it.Mistermaumau24-05-2025
- Agreed, there’s still a big difference between hanging on behind and staying ahead. Sure he’s improved enormously but he needs them to have a really bad day to beat them in anything but tve most favourable terrain.Mistermaumau24-05-2025
- PCS overates the other races. How is Remco Evenepoel that close to Froome? His palmares is nowhere close to Froomeabstractengineer24-05-2025
- Kind of weird that he didn't do altitude. Is he still not doing altitude camp?
KerisVroom24-05-2025
Not a smart comment😒😒🤦🏻
Her words are not even addressing the issue. She says Pat says what he thinks not what is right🤦. What Marion (Ex pro Cyclist) says as a commentator has got nothing to do with the issue of Julian's performance. Simply put she is jealous of Marion. Maybe something happened between Marion and Philippe or Marion criticized Philippe on TV🤷
Agreed
Wow, congratulations social media, is this how we solve problems these days (might it become the equivalent of the English football wives saga in court a while ago)?
Mrs Gilbert says a lot (and might not be wrong) but gives zero facts or examples, a bit easy.
No-one seems to be going back to the original interview with a decent translator to check exactly what was said and how but now everyone is going off at oblique emotional angles. No wonder the « civilised » world no longer manages to deal with the worlds’ real problems, we’re all too weighed down with our own little « problems », incapable of settling things directly with the one we consider responsible.
I wonder why the guys themselves are keeping so quiet, are they going through their wives or did the wives take their own initiatives?
Even in our 120p little French village (not far from no nonsense TP) we don’t have this level of old-fashioned score settling.
Disclaimer; I am no fan of PL
Alaphilippe's partner was called out by name, so she has every right to respond in kind. Gilbert's wife has no involvement and no professional standing in this matter, so her comments are just another bit of noise.
Yeah, but before responding she should have made sure she heard it from the horse’s mouth. As so often, after several translations (often by non-professionals), you end up replying to something other than what was said.
When I saw the sentence "Too much partying, too much alcohol.... with Marion," I immediately suspected there was more to it (that certain media conveniently reported very selectively reengineered.
It is actually two sentences and they just lumped the beginning of one with the end of the second.
What he really said was
« te veel feesten, te veel alcohol” and then “serieus onder de sloef bij Marion”.
Which all the French media misinterpreted (on purpose?).
A better translation would have been « too many parties, too much alcohol » and « on a tight leash around Marion » which surprisingly is more of a compliment (towards her).
I’m guessing these two will be « making up »soon. How things play out with Mrs Gilbert is anybody’s guess though.
Agreed
Oh my, handbags at dawn...
👜