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“Mum of the year” cycles uphill with bike trailer and towing extra child on Tour de France route

ProCyclingStats captured the great moment before today’s Tour de France stage, with the woman fittingly wearing a polka dot outfit during her impressive effort

Screenshot via ProCyclingStats

Footage of a woman cycling with a child bike trailer uphill with another child getting a tow off the back of that is going viral, with cycling fans applauding the hardy effort by saying she "deserves a contract" and is "the true wearer of the polka dot jersey" at this year's Tour de France. 

With today's stage 9 being won by Bob Jungels after a mammoth 65km solo break, it's perhaps fitting that ProCyclingStats filmed this gritty effort to set us up for an emotional end to the day's proceedings. Jungels claimed his first World Tour stage victory for four years after suffering from a rare condition called arterial endofibrosis, with this win marking his comeback proper. 

Fellow mums were full of praise for the woman, while some have also suggested that a Cannondale sponsorship should be on the cards, especially since it's been claimed that this isn't her first rodeo; a photo of what appears to be the same cyclist riding an identical Cannondale bike with a trailer attached was allegedly taken at the Giro d'Italia in 2019. 

Think this supermum only excels on the climbs? The folks at ProCyclingStats caught her on the other side too, albeit with the additional towed child who was tied to the trailer understandably detaching himself for this bit… 

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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12 comments

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Welsh boy | 1 year ago
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It reminds me of the time I went to watch the tour in 2013 (TT stage finishing at Le Mont St Michel), I took a picure of a French lady going about her daily life but I didnt take any picures of Chris Froome

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NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
8 likes

This was my childhood except it was a child seat on my Mum's bike, not a trailer. My folks have never owned a car and just rent or borrow one occasionally. They still cycle everywhere in their late 70s.

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chrisonabike replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
4 likes

Sounds like "where did it all go right?"!  Also, aside from knees and the worry of a spill it's got to be good to keep cycling as you age.

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NOtotheEU replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
8 likes
chrisonatrike wrote:

Sounds like "where did it all go right?"!  Also, aside from knees and the worry of a spill it's got to be good to keep cycling as you age.

Agreed. Mum was knocked off and had her bike destroyed by a boy racer a couple of months ago and was back on a donated bike a few days later going back and forth to the allotments every day. 

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bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
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I know it's all well-intentioned, but would you/anyone publicise the same story if it was a man riding that bike? 

 

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hawkinspeter replied to bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
4 likes
bobbydazzler wrote:

I know it's all well-intentioned, but would you/anyone publicise the same story if it was a man riding that bike? 

Most likely. On a slow news days there's anything unusual featuring a bike.

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cyclisto replied to bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
9 likes

If he was wearing the same polka dress, I bet it would be a nice story.

But let's face it, one of the biggest cycling problems unless you are Dutch, is that girls don't cycle as much as boys. So they are a bit more rare sight...

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Sriracha replied to bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
3 likes

Why ever not? The story stands because it is remarkable for being unusual, and entertaining. That would be just as true if it were a dad at the helm.

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mark1a replied to bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
12 likes

The story is remarkable because all the current media attention is on the efforts of a collection of superfit athletes riding a grand tour. Here we have a non-Lycra wearing civilian in a polka-dot dress winching two children up a hill on a bicycle as if it was a daily occurrence. 
 

Thankfully not in West Oxfordshire area of Thames Valley Police otherwise the focus would be on the lack of a helmet. 

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Dnnnnnn replied to bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
4 likes
bobbydazzler wrote:

I know it's all well-intentioned, but would you/anyone publicise the same story if it was a man riding that bike?

Maybe less likely - but as others have noted it would be a less unusual story. Women are sadly under-represented in cycling (and mothers probably more so again) so stories like this are positive profile which might encourage others. And just quite nice IMO.

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quiff replied to bobbydazzler | 1 year ago
4 likes

One of the highlights of an earlier TdF stage for me was seeing a cyclist (male) really going for it on a cycle path adjacent to the peloton... with a child trailer in tow.  

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ktache replied to quiff | 1 year ago
4 likes

It's not, but...

 

Danny MacAskill: Danny Daycare.

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