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“Prizes in women’s cycling are improving”: Ellen van Dijk awarded X-rated giftset – including sex toy and blindfold – after winning time trial

The first stage of the EasyToys Bloeizone Fryslân, formerly known as the Healthy Ageing Tour, was also criticised by fans after riders had to dodge cars and commuter cyclists on the course

Professional cycling races have handed out some peculiar prizes over the years – from squealing Breton piglets awarded by the Tro-Bro Léon organisers and giant gold olives at last month’s Clásica Jaén, to unholy quantities of cheese and beer at any number of regional races across France and Belgium. But the adult-themed hamper given to Trek-Segafredo’s Ellen van Dijk following stage one of the Dutch Bloeizone Fryslân race surely must go down as one of the most bizarre.

World time trial champion van Dijk won this afternoon’s opening time trial stage of the Bloeizone Fryslân, a 2.1 ranked UCI stage race formerly known as the Healthy Ageing Tour, beating Riejanne Markus by seven seconds and Marlen Reusser by 25 seconds over the 14.4-kilometre course.

When the 35-year-old took to the podium, she was presented not only with the leader’s jersey but with a giftset from the race’s title sponsor EasyToys which included, among other things, a satin blindfold, Kama Sutra playing cards, a sex toy and so-called “play socks” (I don’t want to know).

Considering that her former rival Jolien D’Hoore was given a vacuum cleaner after winning the Ronde van Drenthe in 2015, it’s perhaps no surprise that van Dijk took to Twitter to joke that “prizes in women’s cycling are improving”:

The race’s sponsor EasyToys, it turns out, is an erotic website specialising in the kind of adult-themed products handed out during today’s podium celebrations.

Announcing its sponsorship of the race earlier this week, EasyToys said that they are “not only committed to the cycling race, but also to the social movement behind it.”

The company has tried its hand at sport sponsorship during the last few years, and was at the centre of a curling controversy over the winter when broadcasters in the United States and Japan refused to show an Olympic qualifying tournament as long as EasyToys’ logo was visible.

In 2020, they were also temporarily blocked by the Dutch Football Association from appearing on the kit of Eredivisie side FC Emmen, and promptly responded by arranging for a giant X-rated inflatable to greet fans outside the club’s stadium. 

While the sponsor has divided fans in other sports, cycling followers, however, saw the lighter side of the race’s somewhat unorthodox partner:

On the other hand, fans didn’t see the funny side of today’s catastrophically organised time trial, which was marred by cars and commuter cyclists appearing on the course.

As the TT was partly run on a cycle lane, organisers appeared unable to prevent members of the public riding their bikes during the race, while one rider had to dodge a driver who ended up on the finishing straight. Another racer was lucky to avoid a van driver as they attempted to reverse into their driveway.

> Porn Pedallers Cycling Club lose British Cycling affiliation - because name falls foul of UCI regulations 

The emergence of EasyToys on the women's pro racing scene is not the first time in recent years that cycling has crossed paths with the adult industry. In 2019 a cycling club made up of people involved in the adult entertainment industry was told by British Cycling that it could not be affiliated with the governing body because its name – Porn Pedallers Cycling Club – plus the activities of some of the businesses sponsoring it breached UCI rules.

The club – whose members raise money for the Terence Higgins Trust, a charity that campaigns on and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health – questioned whether the ban was justified, tweeting: “Cycling is for everyone. Except people like us.”

Oh, and who can forget Christmas 2019's essential stocking thriller, the O-Seat? Unfortunately we never did get one in for review... 

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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7 comments

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MiserableBastard | 2 years ago
2 likes

Amazing failure to mention sauna Diana, the Dutch team sponsored by a brothel that basically invented the team bus. From https://www.clubdiana.nl/en/about-club-diana/:

"In the early 80s sauna Diana sponsored the local cycling club. The founders of sauna Diana, Frans and Corrie Siemons, found it strange that riders before and after a cycling race often had no decent dressing and shower available. So an old English double-decker was bought. This was rebuilt so that the riders of the sauna Diana team could start the race relaxed and quickly refreshed afterwards.:

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Awavey | 2 years ago
0 likes

as its a 3 stage race, I look forward to what delightful prizes the sponsor picks for the winner next

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brooksby | 2 years ago
0 likes

Ah, those wacky Dutch... 

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eburtthebike | 2 years ago
3 likes

van Dijk and Jolien D’Hoore; you made those names up to fit the story.yes

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Blackthorne replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
0 likes

in the Bloeizone Fryslân you just have to suck it up and keep on riding

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tigersnapper replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
2 likes

And the story was written by a man who has previously written about 'ball-centric sports'.

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Jack Sexty replied to tigersnapper | 2 years ago
1 like

I probably should have took this one tbf. 

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