Cycling celebrations – The best, worst, and strangest victory salutes
From signature moves to flamboyance and infamy, these riders have gone above and beyond to mark their wins
Winning a race is something that every rider strives for and the victory celebration is a chance to revel in the moment, honour your sponsors and pay homage to those close to you. It's an image that will be beamed around the world and may well be slapped across the publicity campaigns of your team's sponsors.
Most riders will opt for the simple punching of the air or lift their arms aloft, wrapped up in the moment of joy.
Some riders, however, like to think theirs through a little bit more.
There are those with signature moves, such as Alberto Contador, who'd fire a mock pistol in reference to his nickname of 'El Pistolero' or Vincenzo Nibali, who often made a nod to his nickname 'the Shark of Messina'.
Mark Cavendish and Lars Boom are among riders to have gotten in trouble for their celebrations in the past, with the Dutchman being fined and Cavendish getting sent home from the 2010 Tour de Romandie.
Perhaps the rider with the widest variety of finish-line celebrations, thanks largely to his substantial number of wins, is Peter Sagan. In the early part of his career he had a different one each week, including the running man at the Tour de France in 2012 and wheelying across the line at Gent-Wevelgem the following year.
Here, we go through some of the best, worst and strangest celebrations in cycling.
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The signature
We'll start with the salutes that have come to be associated with - and repeated by - one rider in particular, often borrowing from a nickname or a certain achievement.
Alberto Contador: El Pistolero
It's not entirely clear how Contador's 'El Pistolero' ('The Gunman') moniker came about. Lethal, explosive... insert your own metaphors. Either way, with the exception of a brief hiatus when he thought it might be insensitive (in the wake of 2015 terrorist attacks) the Spaniard did this from the start of his career to the end.
Perhaps the rider most committed to one celebration, Contador absolutely hammered this one home.
Primož Roglič: The ski jumper
This is not a finish line salute, but it's still a unique trademark. Besides, Contador took his pistol onto many a podium, so we're allowing Primož Roglič his 'telemark' landing - a nod to his misspent youth as a ski jumper. We're just waiting for him to hop off his bike and do it on the road.
Vincenzo Nibali: The Shark of Messina
Vincenzo Nibali didn't whip this out often but it was still quite a show from a rider who was considered undemonstrative. Nibali's nickname, 'Il Squalo di Messina' ('The Shark of Messina'), stems from his native Sicily and the Strait of Messina that divides it from mainland Italy. A simple hand (fin) on the head was a nice reminder of how he could smell blood and attack.
Tom Pidcock: Superman
There could be a whole feature dedicated to Tom Pidcock celebrations - indeed, he crops up in a few of our sections below - but he's best known for the 'Superman'. Given he's done this at least four times, and no one else has even attempted it, it's fair to say the Yorkshireman has made this his own.
Juan Antonio Flecha: The Archer
Flecha means arrow in Spanish, which pretty much decided Juan Antonio's celebrations for him. He'd put his arm over his shoulder to reach for an imaginary arrow, set his left hand up as the bow, peel back and fire. Lovely.
NB: Alejandro Valverde has also been spotted doing this, when he won his fifth title at La Flèche Wallonne (which means 'The Walloon Arrow')
Giulio Ciccone: The glasses toss
A relatively new one, but Giulio Ciccone has revived a rather fading culture of signature salutes with his glasses toss. So excited was he to win stage 16 at the 2019 Giro, he spontaneously removed his glasses and flung them into the air in one violent stroke of the arm. He has now revisited at the 2022 Giro and most recently at the 2023 Volta Valenciana. Roadside fans will be pleased, sunglasses sponsor 100% maybe less so. "I hope I will be throwing away a lot more this year,” Ciccone told us.
The flamboyant
These are more one-off salutes, which go well beyond the realms of the ordinary.
Peter Sagan: Take your pick
Like Pidcock, you could run a full feature on Sagan's salutes. It could probably be a two-parter. It would take too long to explain them all here, but top hits from the personality-packed Slovakian include Hulk, Hula, Wheelie, Wolf of Wall Street, and Running Man.
Robbie McEwen: Running Man
Of course, the Running Man OG was in fact Robbie McEwen.
Mick Rogers: Take a bow
It's unclear why more riders don't take a bow, but here's a brilliant one from Mick Rogers at the 2014 Tour de France, core still strong and lumbar still flexible after 200km in the saddle.
Carlos Sastre's dummy
An iconic one that stands out mostly due just how little - even after seeing the photo 100 times - you expect to see a pro cyclist winning a race with a dummy in their mouth. He'd have had to carry it the whole way on the stage to Ax 3 Domaines at the 2003 Tour. Well, Sastre has later claimed he carried it with him in every race for the best part of 10 years! The dummy belonged to his daughter and it would comfort him and remind him of his family. Sadly, he didn't repeat it.
Wout van Aert: Yellow jersey gives you wings
Wout van Aert took flight on stage 4 of the 2022 Tour de France. His explanation was that "the yellow jersey gives you wings", which sounds suspiciously similar to the tagline of a certain energy drink that personally sponsors... Wout van Aert.
Van Aert's stand-up routine
While we're on the subject of Wout, let's take a moment to appreciate him not only sitting up but full-on standing up to celebrate another Tour de France win in 2021. This is after riding over Mont Ventoux twice.
Marta Cavalli's flex
Pro cyclists are not known for bicep strength but Marta Cavalli whipped the proverbial guns out after pummelling Annemiek van Vleuten on the Mur de Huy to win the 2022 La Flèche Wallonne.
Johan Museeuw's knee
Johan Museeuw shattered his kneecap at the 1998 Paris-Roubaix, which inspired this iconic celebration when he returned to win the 'Hell of the North' in 2000. Curiously, this was copied by Mathieu van der Poel at Druivencross early in the Dutchman's career.
Van der Poel imitates Mbappé (sort of)
Mathieu van der Poel said his celebration at the 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico was inspired by MotoGP, though merely by 'seeing it on Instagram and thinking it was cool'. The Moto GP rider in question appeared to be Fabio Quartararo, who himself explained he was emulating football star Kylian Mbappé.
Toms Skujins' madness
We're not quite sure what Toms Skujins is doing here, but we love it. Watch the video - it's even better.
The infamous
These are the ill-advised ones, usually involving swearing, that have landed riders in hot water.
Mark Cavendish's two fingers
Mark Cavendish had only won once by May in 2010, leading to this "statement to my critics" at the Tour de Romandie. He was fined 6000 Swiss Francs and pulled from the race by his team.
Stevic kicked out
It might be a minor character and race but we can't ignore Ivan Stevic being chucked of the Tour of Qinghai Lake in 2010. Apparently it was directed at a mechanic who'd joked about his lack of form, and it did not go down well in China.
Judith Arndt's middle finger
This isn't technically a victory salute, but while we're on the subject of swearing, here's Judith Arndt's unforgettable reaction to placing second at the 2004 Olympics. This was aimed at the German Federation for not selecting her partner, Petra Rossner
Tonkov's reminder
Pavel Tonkov had to fork out 200 Swiss Francs in fines after this gesture on stage 17 of the 2004 Giro d'Italia - his first win in two years. It was for "the people that don't care about me, who don't believe in me anymore, who think I'm past it."
Lars Boom's anger
The UCI really don't like this gesture, do they? Boom did a Tonkov after missing out on selection for the 2017 Vuelta, by which point a decade of inflation had raised the price to 1000 Swiss Francs.
Mohoric's zipped lips
How do you calm things down after your team's just been raided by police at the Tour de France? Win a stage and perform a gesture most notably associated with Lance Armstrong, of course.
Paolo Bettini's shotgun
We've had a pistol, we've had arrows, but Paolo Bettini brought a shotgun to the party at the 2007 World Championship. The UCI had tried to stop him racing (he'd refused to sign their 'commitment to a new cycling' charter) and he went and won it. Boom.
The variations on a theme
These aren't signature moves, they aren't one-offs; but you'll know them when you see them.
The finger count
An absolute staple, albeit a rather unimaginative celebration. No one can argue with you pointing out how many times you've won the race you've just won.
Bike above the head
You obviously need enough of a gap to be able to do this, and you need to have won a big enough race. Philippe Gilbert winning Flanders after 60km solo? Sure. Mathieu van der Poel winning his second 'cross world title? Fine. Diego Rosa taking a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country? Not so much.
The wheelie
As above, this one could be perceived as cocky, so you need confidence and calibre to get away with it. Peter Sagan, Tom Pidcock, and Puck Pieterse would appear to fit squarely in that category.
Sponsor nods
We've already mentioned Wout van Aert's wings, and we all know about riders framing the sponsor section on their jersey with their thumb and index finger. But what we're really talking about is riders from teams sponsored by telecommunications companies (Movistar, HTC) putting their thumb and pinkie to their face as if they're on the blower.
You can add to this the rather more meaningful 'Hand up' gesture performed by riders on the old South African team sponsored by Qhubeka, whose central aim was to get more people on bikes in Africa, with the hand becoming an iconic part of the team's branding.
Shushing
A bit like some of the ones in the 'infamous' section above, only without the fines. These are intended to silence the perceived doubters.
Arm-in-arm
Sometimes, you don't win alone. It has been known for two teammates to settle things in a sprint, but usually you have the more wholesome image of the pair crossing the line with arms linked. On occasion, there's even three of them.
The tributes
Finally, we have the more sombre salutes. These riders have won but the expressions on their faces read pain.
Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.
