Rapha has withdrawn a water bottle from sale after accepting that a passage of text printed on the side – about how Marco Pantani would allegedly achieve “race weight” – was inappropriate.
Earlier this month, we reported we reported how Twitter user David Standard had posted a picture of a white Rapha water bottle, accusing the brand of being “extremely irresponsible” for including text on the reverse about Pantani’s diet.
The text read: “To achieve race weight, Marco Pantani would, according to legend, ride for six hours on nothing more than water, returning home to just a slice of watermelon.”
Standard said that in his racing days, he had been told to forget the road and concentrate on track because of being ‘overweight’.
“I tried eating nothing but rice and apple for a week until I collapsed in a clothes shop,” he said of the impact this had on him. “We’d chew chocolate bars and then spit them out. Many did much worse and have a lifetime issue with food.”
Responding to Standard’s thread, Rapha apologised and said it had removed the bottle from sale.
“Rapha exists to make cycling the most popular sport in the world, and one way we aim to do this is by telling the stories of the sport’s toughest races and greatest champions.
“We recently used a story relating to training practices in the pro peloton on some of our water bottles. Whilst our intent was not to make light of eating disorders, we are aware of the pressures competitive cycling can exert on its participants and can see, with hindsight, that this messaging wasn’t appropriate.
“We are sorry for any offence caused and we have removed the bottles from sale.”
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As I have mentioned in previous tweets - I am not 'triggered' by the bottle, I am not angry, I am just concerned that myths like this (which are absolute nonsense) could lead just one kid to try it, I would have. I rode for Great Britain, including at the Junior World Champs 89, and was hoping to make a career of it. The pressure you are under to perform at this level is massive and you will take risks, especially when messages like this are out there from big brands. To all the macho guys telling me to lighten up, get over it etc. Its nothing to do with me, it's about the next generation - you do whatever daft diet you want but dont tell vulnerable kids that that was what the pros did, as they didn't, and there are many greater things about the sport to put on a bottle.
Thanks for putting in an appearance, Dave. While I'm on the fence about how much of an effect this specific instance might have - and I hope to goodness that coaches are taking better care of their charges than when you were at the pointy end of racing - it's good to see someone making their case clearly and responding graciously to people taking a different tack. Cracking photo, too.
Whilst cycling - like many sporting activities - is an inclusive pastime or hobby, at the highest levels it is not an inclusive sport. To excel as a professional or even a decent amateur cyclist you will need endurance, a high V02 max, and a high power to weight ratio - which in all circumstances excludes fat and overweight people. How can I put this: Get over it.
You do understand that not being fat and/or overweight is a massively different issue to having an eating disorder, right? The desire to keep weight as low as possible (cf. jockeys) can lead athletes to some very dark places, and implying that (not) fuelling your body in the way described on this bottle should somehow be celebrated as a positive is not a way to correct that.
Yes - but do you understand that the impetus for comlex disorders doesn't originate from a comment on a water bottle? I would imagine that most people with eating disorders are not even aware of Rapha or who Marco Pantani is..... This is nonsense and needs to be called out.
Please then, oh wise one, explain to us the impetus for complex eating disorders. Where does it originate? How does society and the media, including advertising, influence and drive it?
Or did you just "imagine" (ie - made up in your head) that too?
Save the abuse keyboard warrior. All I said was that complex disorders do not come from water bottles. Like I said, get over it.
Ah. So just making things up then, thanks for clarifying. Not very helpful when dealing with such a serious subject though; there are a lot of people who are unable to "get over" their eating disorders, and many of them die as a result.
This website has useful information on how to help people with eating disorders:
https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/supporting-someone
I suspect that the answer is "it's complicated" as to how a mental illness arises. But I imagine that in terms of external causes, the fashion/ beauty industry and Insta culture must be in the mix somewhere? Far more so than the description on the Rapha bottle of what sounds like - if it's true - a very disciplined and purposeful regime.
I find it alarming that there are several photo apps dedicated to making a subject look thinner than they are.
we seem to be lurching between extremes here - but I'd have thought for every super thin, muscley athlete there would be thousands of other people who, like me, could do with a few pounds off.
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/risk-factors
The relevant ones to this discussion are probably "weight stigma" and "appearance ideal internalisation"
No-one, anywhere, has claimed that the Rapha bottle is a cause of eating disorders, but as part of a culture that glamorises weight loss, it could certainly contribute. As you say, fashion, beauty and social media are also guilty of the same.
Neither I nor anyone else has suggested the impetus comes from a comment on a bottle, but as to your nonsense about people with eating disorders not being aware of Pantani or Rapha ... maybe educate yourself.
https://news.sky.com/story/rise-in-eating-disorders-among-male-cyclists-blamed-on-winning-culture-11899464
Thanks for that Chris, as it was I represented Great Britain on the road and track including at the Junior World Championships in Moscow, in 1989 and road for Great Briatin in their development squad. I am aware of the needs of a 'decent amateur cyclist' - I was concerned for kids trying these tactics which I doubt is something Pantani ever did.
Most pro cyclists look like poster boys for Anorexics United. That more than anything, Rapha water bottle included, will make bizarre diets attractive to young up and coming riders.
The text read: “To achieve race weight, Marco Pantani would, according to legend, ride for six hours on nothing more than water, returning home to just a slice of watermelon.”
Reminds me of those Stig quotes from previous Top Gear. To take those serious enough to actually be offended by them means you're worth practically nothing as a human. Or at least nothing to me. I despise this lack of tolerance or humour.
Good to see you're keeping the whole affair in context.
Or perhaps those being affected have, or have known, someone with an eating disorder (estimated at 1.6 million in the UK alone).
Maybe those people have considered suicide or experienced the death of a loved one, given that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder.
Maybe it is indeed those people, rather than yourself, who have lower value as human beings.
Maybe.
https://www.anorexiabulimiacare.org.uk/about/statistics
It has no impact on you, but could possibly prevent massive distress to someone with personal experience of eating disorders and the damage they cause.
It's a strange thing for you to get cross about, really.