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news
Postie Francois vs World champion Philippe GilbertEx-world champion Philippe Gilbert takes on Belgian postie in one-off bike swap race (+ link to video)
Take two Belgians who ride a bike for a living - former world champion, Philippe Gilbert, and postman Francois Van Marsenille - and get them to race one another; there could only be one winner, yes?
That's what Belgian French-language TV show Versus did, but with a twist - they swapped the bikes around; Fast Phil got to ride Francois's clunker, weighing in at 30kg even without mailbags, while the postie got to ride a top-spec BMC steed tipping the scales at less than a quarter of the weight.
Bikes weren't the only thing exchanged, either; Gilbert, pictured right, looks rather fetching in a Belgian postal uniform, and while purists may wince at Francois sporting the rainbow bands, we reckon if the jersey in question is handed to you by the reigining world champion himself, it's fair game.
The race took place on a 2km gentle climb above Monaco, where Gilbert lives. You can watch it here - skip forward to 4 minutes 40 to catch the race itself, although the build-up is interesting on its own.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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