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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.
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10 comments
Shame it's in some crazy moon-language.
Sort of sums up Gilberts season....
(Good on him for doing that, looked like a good craic !)
Postie wasn't even trying. There is no way they should have been that close.
Lucky the postman wan't Matt Bottrill, Gilbert would have had no chance.
Oh no, How can a non World Champion ride a bike with rainbow stripes on it, oh the horror.
I hope you choke jersey snobs.
181cm 68Kg, no ordinary postie then...
What do you mean? The ones around here who ride bikes are in good trim too. Probably need to be, with that heavy bikes!
5' 11" and just under 11 stone? Surely that just puts him at a healthy height and weight ratio, perfectly normal for someone who's job involves activity.
like this video - Gilbert is my favourite rider - good sport!
Gilbert actually looks the part as a postie. Something for him to fall back on then.