Kern Pharma’s Galván speaks out after dismissal over road stunt: 'I train in black because that is how I feel'
Francisco Galván has effectively brought his professional career to an abrupt end after being dismissed by Equipo Kern Pharma following a viral video that showed him repeatedly hopping his bike over a central road divider during a training ride near Barcelona. What began as public backlash and a team apology has now turned into a personal reckoning, with the 28-year-old saying the consequences have reached far beyond racing.
The footage, which circulated widely on social media, showed Galván deliberately crossing into the oncoming lane by jumping over the raised separation built into the road’s continuous centre line. Kern Pharma reacted swiftly at the time, condemning what it called a serious breach of road safety rules and promising disciplinary action.
That process, it now seems, ended with the team cutting ties and Galván losing the platform he had built his career on.
In an Instagram post shared this week, Galván described the months since as a steep fall. “This year I even had to sell my car after I was kicked out of the team,” he wrote. “That was when I understood how fast everything can change.”
He added that he has kept riding, but in a way that reflects his headspace rather than any athletic ambition. “I have been training in black since then. Not because I like it, but because that is how I feel.”
Even away from the peloton, he says the incident follows him. “And even then people recognise me and ask questions,” Galván continued. “I smile, but deep down I feel ashamed.”
The shame, he insists, is not about the loss of racing itself. It is about the damage done to those around him. “I am ashamed of my own failure, and that I disappointed my parents, other family members and friends.”
Galván also tried to draw a clear line under any attempt to reframe the story as misfortune. “I am not writing this to seek pity or to justify anything,” he said. “I was wrong and there are consequences. I am paying the price. I want to apologise.”
Then came the sentence that reframes the entire fallout. “Stopping cycling does not hurt. What hurts is disappointing the people around you.”
Recommended for you
