Alberto Bettiol Started Stage 2 of TDU As Race Leader, Finished as a Social Media Meme

Adult tantrums are never fun to witness, and cycling fans were treated to an especially cringe episode during Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under. Race leader Alberto Bettiol (EFEducation-EasyPost) started the stage as the race leader. Then, in moments that are painful to watch, we see the rider begin to struggle. A second or two later, we realize, “oh, this is bad.”

Bettiol’s legs look like they’re turning into cement before our eyes as the entire peloton around him rises out of the saddle to climb, and Bettiol is simply unable to respond. He seems barely able to continue pedaling. We can see he’s trying to force his body to cooperate and it’s just not happening.

We cringe, because we know what’s happening: the kind of muscle cramps that are so painfully bad that your muscles literally feel like they’ve stopped working, a charlie horse on steroids. We feel terrible for Bettiol as he’s forced to stop completely, moves off to the side of the road and begins desperately pounding on his quads as he waits for a teammate to fall back to bring him, the team’s leader, water. And then things got ugly.

Though Bettiol’s legs had stopped functioning, his arms were apparently working just fine. Worldwide sympathy for the rider evaporated somewhere between the wild swear word gesticulations and the moment he hurled a water bottle at a journalist who was taking photos (i.e. doing their job).

No word yet if the Tour Down Under will fine Alberto for disposing of a water bottle outside of a designated waste collection zone. He ended the day in 57th place in the General Classification, with Rohan Dennis of Jumbo-Visma taking the stage 2 win and taking over the top spot in the GC.

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