VIDEO: Disaster for Decathlon as Gianluca Pollefliet left waiting for bike at start of UAE Tour time trial
Cycling
Stage 2 of the 2025 UAE Tour took place earlier today, with the peloton facing an individual time trial in the Arab nation. In the end, Joshua Tarling took the stage win ahead of Stefan Bissegger and Tadej Pogacar.
Any hopes Decathlon AG2R La Monidale Team youngster Gianluca Pollefliet had for the day, were brutally ended though as the Belgian was left waiting helplessly on the start ramp without a bike as the timer ticked down. After the 23-year-old was caught by TV cameras running onto the podium with just 20 seconds to go until his timer started, there was a notable lack of a bike beside him. Thanks to a desperate sprint from a Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale staff member, Pollefliet did eventually get a bike, just as the timer ticked to zero, but without him clipped into the pedals, it was a far from ideal start.
In the end, Pollefliet came home in 71st on the stage. You can see the dramatic start to his efforts against the clock in the video down below!
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Gianluca Pollefliet JUST makes his start time on Stage 2 of the UAE Tour 😮 pic.twitter.com/X43PSf4I4s
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 18, 2025
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