Villumsen makes golden bike swap
New Zealand cyclist Linda Villumsen risked her professional career in pursuit of her first world title, casting aside the bike she was contracted to ride in favour of one she considered would get the job done.
So while New Zealand on Wednesday celebrated her individual time-trial victory in the United States, her professional UnitedHealthcare (UHC) team was fuming.
After five times reaching the world podium without striking gold, Villumsen, 30, ended the heartache on an all black Trek racing bike, not a Wilier, a lesserknown brand that sponsors USbased UHC.
UHC considered ending her contract, as Wilier was denied the kudos, exposure and financial benefits of a cyclist winning a world title on its product.
Cycling forums were abuzz over the conflict on Friday, with commentators pondering whether the Kiwi could have won her first world champion’s rainbow jersey on a Wilier.
Most answered no, given she was just three seconds ahead of second place over 29.9km, with another five seconds back to third.
Trek frames test well aerodynamically, which in a tight contest could make the difference between a rainbow jersey, or more Villumsen heartbreak.
No data on Wilier frames was presented, though specialists said it was not a sought-after brand and one largely favoured by secondtier teams.
UHC head Mike Tamayo con- firmed the team discussed sacking Villumsen to protect their sponsors.
‘‘We weren’t happy right away. Our job as a trade team is to protect our sponsors. So of course it caught us off guard but it was more the timing than anything else.
‘‘It was last minute and it didn’t give us much opportunity to discuss it with our sponsors and make sure that they knew what was going on. That was the most troubling part of it.’’
While Burkes Cycles in Wellington do not stock Wilier frames, employee Elliot Pearce could see why the Italian company might be annoyed with what unfolded at the world championships.
‘‘I think (winning a world title) elevates the perception about a brand a bit,’’ he said.
‘‘Customers see the bike’s out there being ridden by professionals. The main issue for Wilier is they can’t use photos of her riding it in the rainbow jersey.’’
Away from the corporate dollar, competitive cyclists such as Commonwealth Games road time-trial bronze medallist Gordon McCauley backed Villumsen.
‘‘The Trek was better for her so she rode it and she won the world champs,’’ he said.
‘‘You can never argue with a person who wins.’’
Villumsen’s stature meant she needed a smaller bike for timetrialling, he said.
‘‘She’s quite small, it’s really, really hard to get a time-trial bike that small. If the bike doesn’t fit her, she can’t win, it would be like Usain Bolt trying to run the 200 metres in shoes that are too big, that’s what it’s akin to on a bike.’’
Swapping bikes for national team events was nothing new, he said.
‘‘She wasn’t riding for her team, she was riding for New Zealand, so I don’t really see it as an issue at all.
‘‘If you look at the Olympics, [British rider] Bradley Wiggins won gold [in 2012] in the time-trial on a British-built bike not on a Pinarello, who [his team] Sky were sponsored by.
‘‘If you look closely at a lot of the bikes at the world champs, a lot of people weren’t on [professional] team bikes or not in team equipment.’’
UHC has said it will probably fine Villumsen, and McCauley could see why.
‘‘They’re just trying to protect their sponsor’s interests and, if nothing else, they’ve just got to be seen to be protecting their sponsor’s interests.’’
Villumsen will receive a $5000 increase from High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) as a result of the win.
Her results over the past year already had her close to the maximum, gold-medal level of funding, but this had pushed her to the toptier.