Brian Holm’s beard verdict

I couldn’t even believe the news when I first heard it. You can’t have a beard and race on the Sport Vlaanderen team? I thought it was some kind of joke. The manager Walter Planckaert is an old-fashioned guy with his own laws. He probably sees his cyclists as soldiers. But it’s better to have a guy with a beard and tattoos who is sociable than to have one who is clean-shaven, looks like a movie star from the 1950s and is a jerk.

When I was pro, we had black bibshorts and white socks, and nothing else. It was very conservative. I wasn’t allowed to have an earring. I remember the DS said if you want to be a professional cyclist you have to look like a professional cyclist. Absolutely, no way could you have a beard or tattoo in those times. Maybe just Laurent Fignon could get away with a ponytail because he was so good. Do you remember Marc Gomez, the Frenchman who won Milan-san Remo in 1982? The sports directors told him to cut his beard, he wouldn’t and left for Spanish team Reynolds.

If these rules are in place then the peloton ends up looking like an American shopping mall. Cycling is growing and we attract more people by having characters. It would be very boring if everybody looked the same. Look at Peter Sagan, who had his long hair. Bradley Wiggins was the best. Just imagine someone winning the Tour de France with the mod haircut and sideburns 10 years before. Because he did it, more people are attracted to cycling. You have the hipsters, or your Rapha-type cyclists with beards and tattoos.

Planckaert could be right, they are more dirty, but as long as you aren’t kissing someone after the race... To be honest in the Classics, you already have so much dirt on your face or in your mouth, from manure to bugs, that the beard is the least of your worries. This is a young generation. Sure, they do not look like Jacques Anquetil or Fausto Coppi, but the 60s and 70s are over.