Rooijakkers laughs off random dork in Liège breakaway
In the finale of Liège–Bastogne–Liège, a male cyclist decided to join the breakaway, and it was very strange
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TNT/screenshot
If you were watching the women’s Liège–Bastogne–Liège, you may have felt a mix of bewilderment and anger when you saw a dude ride out of nowhere and join the break.
That happened to Pauliena Rooijakkers of Fenix-Deceuninck: she couldn’t believe her eyes.
2025 Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes
Mauritian rider Kim Le Court Pienaar, already a stage winner at the Giro d’Italia, claimed the biggest victory of her career on Sunday by winning the 9th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. She outsprinted Puck Pieterse, Demi Vollering and Cédrine Kerbaol to take the title. Sarah Van Dam was the top Canadian, finishing 62nd.
Rooijakkers would eventually finish 13th, 1:14 behind.
“Yes, I saw him. I thought maybe it was Tadej Pogačar (he was wearing a UAE jersey). But no, it wasn’t him,” she said to Sporza. “Why didn’t he take a turn at the front? No, it was very strange. I don’t know what the point of it was.”
There were just 30 km left in the race when the very odd occurrence took place. Rooijakkers had launched when the as-yet-unidentified rider latched onto her wheel.
It’s the latest in extremely stupid behaviour by fans. During the 2025 Paris–Roubaix, a spectator hurled a full full water bottle at Mathieu van der Poel, narrowly missing him. At the E3 Saxo Classic, he was spat on by a spectator. In 2023, during the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Hulst, fans threw beer or urine at him, prompting van der Poel to spit back in frustration. Although the Roubaix ‘fan’ apologized profusely afterward, it still doesn’t negate the fact he could have severely injured MvdP
Hopefully the cyclist in question will be tracked down and told he ain’t welcome at bike races anytime soon. Whether it’s fans harassing pros, or riders trying to mix it up with them, this sort of behaviour needs to stop.
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