Belgian cycling team bans beards "for aesthetic reasons"
September 29, 2017
Cycling team told no beards allowed
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Cyclists riding for Belgian outfit Sport Vlaanderen will no longer be able to have beards “for aesthetic reasons”, the team’s sporting director told local media on Tuesday, according to Belga news agency.
“I’m taking this measure for the elegance of cycling,” Walter Planckaert explained in Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad.
“We’re a cycling team, with riders. Not motocross pilots or rugby players. Snot and food leftovers in the beard of a rider in action, it’s nasty.”
Cyclists for the second-tier professional continental team will still be allowed to sport stubble, but any rider opposed to the full beard ban should find another team, Planckaert added.
