Soudal Quickstep team manager Patrick Lefevere is known for being an outspoken critic of quite a few things in cycling, ranging from his strong feelings about the UCI to his “take” on women’s cycling.
His comments and opinions over the years have earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of the sport's most vocal misogynists.
Last week, he took his sexist sentiments up a notch when he went on a Belgian news show and said that women are being sexually harassed more because they’re out drinking.
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“Women used to not drink. Now they drink as much as we do. Not everyone is good at it, sometimes they tread on thin ice,” Lefevere said on Belgian news show, VRT’s evening show, De Afspraak. (Note, this has been translated from the original Dutch comments: “Vroeger dronken vrouwen niet. Nu drinken ze evenvell als wij. Niet iedereen kan er goed tegen, soms begeven ze zich op glad ijs.”)
He was responding to a guest who asserted that it was unsafe for women to be on the street alone after dark.
The sexism translates
Victim blaming is a hard yikes no matter what language it’s in. And this particular instance of it was made even more egregious since his interview took place on—with deepest of irony—International Women’s Day.
You can watch the (Dutch) video with some satiric edits thrown in here (the sexism translates the language barrier, just by looking at the news anchor's expression):
Lefevere should step down and step aside
Cycling fans are calling for an apology and, more importantly, for misogynistic dinosaurs like Lefevere either to change their ways or exit the cycling industry and the sport.
We’ve seen examples of people like Lefevre being held accountable and forced out of other sports because of their bigotry. Jon Gruden, an ex-NFL coach, is a recent example that comes to mind.
Considering how Patrick Lefevere seems to be able to operate as an outright misogynist and still keep his job managing one of the biggest cycling teams in the world makes it clear that our sport of cycling still has a long way to go to reach equality.
Molly writes about cycling, nutrition and training, with an emphasis on women in sport. Her new middle-grade series, Shred Girls, debuts with Rodale Kids/Random House in 2019 with "Lindsay's Joyride." Her other books include "Mud, Snow and Cyclocross," "Saddle, Sore" and "Fuel Your Ride." Her work has been published in magazines like Bicycling, Outside and Nylon. She co-hosts The Consummate Athlete Podcast.
