AUDENARDE, Belgium (AFP) - Highly-rated Slovakian cyclist Peter Sagan was accused of sexism and harassment on Sunday after he was pictured pinching the bottom of a podium girl after the Tour of Flanders.
Sagan, 23, smirked towards the camera as he grabbed the bottom of a blonde hostess, one of two girls giving congratulatory kisses to race winner Fabian Cancellara.
His actions caused an out-pouring of anger on Twitter.
"Shame that Peter Sagan has so much class on a bike and so very little off it," wrote British cyclist Michael Hutchinson on Twitter.
Later, he added: "Im a little surprised that probably 50% of the Sagan-ass-grabbing-gate replies I've got have been pro Sagan. (Maybe I shouldn't be.)."
Jane Aubrey, editor of Australian website cyclingnews.com, also condemned Sagan's actions.
"Anyone excusing Sagan's behaviour due to his age, needs to think again. In the workplace, it's called harassment," she tweeted.
Sagan later took to Twitter to apologise for the incident.
"Was not my intention to disrespect women today on the podium. Just a joke, sorry if someone was disturbed about it," he wrote.http://au.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/16481879/sagan-rapped-for-podium-bottom-pinch/
A woman employed as a podium girl probably should expect that some behaviour like this as it comes with the job. Silly world we live in when people get all upset about this sort of thing. Did anyone ask the woman how she felt about ?
Over reaction - typical media trolling to get people outraged....
Perfect opportunity for the "lets castrate men" committee to have a hate men session.....
It's an innocent pinch.... I've had a few done to me at times by women... should be I be insulted they objectified my budunkadunk? Pfff.... man up.... or woman up if the case may be....
where is the outrage that peter sagan was not asked if he would like a kiss before the girls so inapropriately sexually assulted him!!
In the "good old days" the podium girls would have been offended if they didn't get a pinch on the derriere once in a while.
Clarence
I read in the paper yesterday a feminist group urging women to keep up the fight as men still earn more money than women but this is a total lie . If you average out the earnings of men & women sure men earn more as there are more men working as a percentage than women but if you average out the earnings of women and men & you only use the people who are employed well then women earn more than men so its all on how you juggle your data . But the fact is men have been left behind for s very long time . How long have we been getting paid maternity leave for example.
Please Explain ? why is it an "ASS" 
I think the right description should be " Arse "[}:)] bit touchy maybe ! 
It is harassment because it is the podium girl's job to kiss the guy who came first. Loose job description...
"Be sexually attractive and appear available to the person who wins. Make audience jealous of winner and keen to emulate them by buying their sponsored goods. Ensure more photos appear in newspaper than ultimately quite dull sport deserves"
If she's available to the guy who came second then all bets are off.
"His actions caused an out-pouring of anger on Twitter."
Gee, some people are really lucky that things are so good for them that they have some anger left over to vent at a guy who pinches some tart on the bum.
What do they expect if she's up there kissing strangers?
To all those who bothered to complain,. if you want to make a difference then direct your attention to something of some significance. Any significance. This was not.
(why am I even wasting my time adding to it. )
He does look like a prick doing it though. It's not like he couldn't have had a grab later, he's doing it on stage showing off.
Nothing deeply morally wrong with it, but if you took your cycle-mad daughter to see the cycling in your town and the guy who came second did that, then you'd be kind of disappointed... not outraged, just a bit let down.
[}:)] let me the devil's advocate here, I'm starving for a fight to interrupt the boredom from lack of wind in Perth:
Well technically she is at her workplace (I'm sure she is getting paid to be eye candy) and this constitute sexual harassment... She would be entitled to sue the guy for this and there are laws clearly stating that this is illegal...
Now you guys rant about the good old days... you sound like those guys that try to make legitimate rape something...
She was dressed like a slut, so she is a slut and she deserves it so it's not the guy's fault... I mean come on some of you may have daughters...
I know and agree that some people among those feminist/media cohort are trying to emasculate us but it does not mean we should disregard other human beings rights to be respected and treated equally free of harassment. You only make men sound like degenerates.
NOW START TO DOWNVOTE!
It is all capitalism........it is all sales.......sex sells.
Some are offended......some are ok with it. Makes the world go round
Didnt see it, but if the fem was offended, she had the right to biff him good
even in front of the cameras. personaly I am over the kissy, kissy thingo
who would want to have intercourse/action with a smelly bikey.
it was possibly a slip of the hand, on lycra, an illusion
Sound like a storm in a tea cup. An occasional pinch when a man parks his bike is only to be expected.
I'm open to be pinched on the behind by any 80 year/old granny's out there,can't see a problem.
I'd like to live in a world where women aren't cynically used to further the profile of events and/or goods and services by being employed to do dumb stuff like kissing some sportsman at an awards ceremony.
I'd also like to live in a world where men realise that touching an woman in sexually provocative manner outside some sort of understanding between the two of them is, actually, not OK.
I'd love more people to realise that the reason he's touching her like that is due to nothing other than him being encouraged by a lifetime's internalisation of representations of women as male playthings with no agency of their own.
He pinched her because in his mind he's having a naughty bit of fun, like a cheeky schoolkid. The fact that she might not like never occurred to him. Whatever the recipient of the pinch would have wanted or not wanted doesn't matter because he did not care and that's the problem.
I'm not sold sorry.... seriously, it was nothing BIG......
Perhaps when the headlines come through next to Syrian Crisis, kids getting blown up.... Little widdle cute Kimmy threatening to push the button in Nth Korea etc.... this is pretty mindless stuff in comparison...
I'm not saying heavy stuff excuses small stuff...... it doesn't, but serious:
Outrage > reality = < perspective......
Big things going on around the globe..... many people suffering..... this is a small one....
^^^^^ I am not really concerned about what she chooses to do for a living. I am concerned that there are so many men who believe they can do what they like to women without a single thought about her feelings.
Why is that? What sort of society creates the preconditions for that to happen? What does it sat about power relationships between sexes in our society? Is this the world we want for our sons and daughters? If a girl dresses a certain way and works in certain industry is it allowable to treat her in a disrespectful manner? Is this an adequate excuse for poor behaviour? Really?
Yes I'm a lefty with a degree.
So you are saying that there are circumstances when it's OK to touch a woman on the arse? In this case because she has been employed to look pretty and sashay about the place?
I'm confused, and so is just about every 17 year old boy around the globe.
^^^ Sorry to answer a question with a question - but are there circumstances where, due to societal conventions, there is implied consent to kiss a total stranger..... like she did to him?
