The pubis-flaunting, almost pornographic-looking uniforms worn by a women’s cycling team from Colombia in a race last weekend have now become a topic of widespread and incredulous Internet mockery — and they were reportedly designed by a member of the team itself.
It appears the uniforms, which were rebuked online by the head of the international governing body for competitive cycling, were already in use for months prior to their moment of viral ignominy.
Several online reports identified the group wearing the uniforms as the Colombian national team, but the squad is a team called IDRD-Humana Bogota-San Mateo-Solgar, which is based in Colombia, according to a post from Colombia’s cycling federation announcing the squad’s participation in the Giro della Toscana race in Italy last weekend. It was during this race that the eyes — and judgment and laughter and derision — of the world turned onto the group of women from Colombia.
Here’s a quick refresher if you’re not up to speed. This whole ordeal is funny and fully submerged in the Internet news churn because a flesh-colored stripe on each uniform makes it look like the cyclists are kinda naked in the, um, middle region. See? Get it? Get it?!
To be clear, the team’s uniforms (pictured below) were not see-through and did not expose any skin; rather, a wide, flesh-toned panel extended from mid-torso to the upper thighs.
El #CiclismoFemenino de Colombia se abre camino en Europa #Equipo @IDRD #SanMateo @solgarcolombia en #Toscana pic.twitter.com/PMPVkyCWVQ
— ÚltimoKilómetro (@Ultimo_km1) September 12, 2014
Whoever designed these must have climbed up the Stupid and kicked away the ladder: Colombia Women’s cycling jerseys. pic.twitter.com/YZgL5LDms8
— Cat Cooper (@catrincooper) September 14, 2014
The splurge of attention compelled Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) President Brian Cookson to chime in, deeming the duds “unacceptable.”
To the many who have raised the issue of a certain women’s team kit, we are on the case. It is unacceptable by any standard of decency.
— Brian Cookson OBE (@BrianCooksonUCI) September 14, 2014
The BBC even censored a group shot.
Image: BBC
Naturally, there was a need to identify the uniform designer who “must have climbed up the stupid and kicked away the ladder,” as a Twitter user above so eloquently put it. It seems that person is team member Angie Tatiana Rojas, according to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.
Carlos Orlando Ferreira Pinzón, president of Cycling League of Bogota, told El Tiempo that Rojas designed the uniforms, which were then approved by team sponsors and partners prior to production. Team coach Jorge Tenjo told the paper that the uniforms were pre-approved as well. The team is sponsored by a university in Bogota (San Mateo Educación Superior), the Solgar vitamin company and Bogota’s district institute of sports and recreation (IDRD), per USA Today.
Among the IDRD, the university and Rojas, none immediately responded to Mashable‘s request for further comment, but an IDRD spokesperson contradicted what Pinzón and Tenjo told El Tiempo.
“We had nothing to do with the choice of uniform design for girls,” IDRD spokeswoman Alejandra Maldonado told El Tiempo.
“Solgar Distributors often support sports related events,” IDRD Vice President of Communications Andrea Staub told Mashable. She not elaborate on the uniforms themselves, however. “The sponsorship of the Colombian cycling team is aligned with our mission to provide consumers with top quality nutritional supplements to support their total health and well-being.”
The UCI did not immediately respond to Mashable‘s request for further comment on Cookson classifying the uniforms as “unacceptable by any standard of decency.”
But while the uniforms are now universally reviled, they don’t seem to be new. Pinzón told Spanish news site ABC that they have been in use for nine months — but just recently became a subject of controversy.
Indeed, this photo, first pointed out by the cycling blog ChasingWheels.com, shows the jerseys in use at a race in Colombia in early August.
So perhaps the real lesson here isn’t that some tiny, obscure South American cycling team wears bizarre uniforms. No, perhaps the real lesson is that if you look funny in a public place — regardless of how, why or where — the Internet will find you. And it will mock you.
Consider this your final warning, humanity.