That Ion Izagirre can cycle very well, he proved once again today. But did you know that the Basque has much more to offer? Today, for example, he paid a special tribute to his daughter at the finish line and once shined on the dance floor of a Spanish TV program.
The question that a lot of people had after the arrival of the 12th stage: “Why did Ion Izagirre pull his ear during his celebration?”.
Spanish media soon began to speculate. “He means that he shines from ear to ear”, it sounded, among other things.
But nothing showed. During Vive le Vélo, the whole mystery was cleared up.
“As a Spanish connoisseur, do you have no idea what it means?”, Karl Vannieuwkerke first asks Tom Waes. “You had another hit there,” laughs the presenter.
In Spain it is tradition to pull someone’s ears when you want to congratulate that person on their birthday.
Karl Vannieuwkerke
When Waes is unable to answer, Vannieuwkerke reveals the meaning behind the gesture herself.
“In Spain it is the tradition to pull someone’s ears if you want to congratulate that person on his birthday. And today it was the 4th birthday of Izagirre’s daughter Iraya.”
“Actually, Ion had to pull his daughter’s ears 4 times, but a stage victory in the Tour is also a nice birthday present,” concludes Vannieuwkerke.
Izagirre tugged at the stripe on his ear.
“I firmly believe that he would not have won if his daughter had not had her birthday,” says Frank Lammers. “That was 100% extra motivation.”
“Maybe he had touched on this ride in advance,” Vannieuwkerke adds.
Jolien D’hoore, on the other hand, is less superstitious. “It was a lottery to be in the breakaway today, wasn’t it”, she says.
“Sure”, Lammers admits. “But once you’re in the front, it does generate extra power.”
Remember-“go”
“Cofidis had to wait a long time for a stage victory, but now suddenly has 2. Spain also had to wait for more than 100 stages, but now has 2 again and Ion Izagirre also has 2 in the Tour since today,” says Vannieuwkerke .
“Cofi-dos, so,” he jokes.
Those 2 Spanish stage winners in this Tour also have a past together. And we are not talking about a past in the cycling world.
A few years ago Pello Bilbao, Tuesday’s stage winner, Joseba Beloki and brothers Ion and Gorka Izagirre gave a performance on Spanish TV. They brought a Basque song.
“We haven’t seen our riders do that yet,” laughs Vannieuwkerke.
Although many people would give something to see Wout van Aert, Yves Lampaert and Jasper Philipsen sing a song together.
View the images here:
2023-07-13 20:56:16
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