Campenaerts responds to Giro 'pee bidon' gate and asks Vingegaard and Kuss for their verdict

The Visma | Lease a Bike rider had been named by fellow professionals as something close to the unofficial pioneer of the so called “pee bottle”, after reports emerged that riders had been warned against using bidons as an improvised solution during long stages. The issue followed recent fines for riders urinating in places visible to the public, a recurring tension in a sport that can keep athletes on the road for five, six or even seven hours at a time.

In a vlog posted after the story began circulating, Campenaerts addressed the subject directly. “By very, very popular demand, I will give an explanation about the pee bottle,” he said, before setting out what he described as a practical solution to an awkward problem.

“We ride the bikes through the whole country,” Campenaerts explained. “And I think by law in most countries it is forbidden to urinate in public. Next to that, there are a lot of crowds at the side of the road, so my solution was to pee in the bottle, to not pee in somebody’s front yard or not pee on people next to the road.”

According to Campenaerts, the intention was never to cause offence. The bottle, he said, would be handed back to the team cars rather than thrown to spectators. “Only good intentions,” he added. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a pee zone or toilets at the side of the roads like you see in triathlon.”

The Belgian also appeared to accept that his reputation may not be entirely undeserved. “The accusation of me being the inventor might be right,” he said. “But it is forbidden now, so you will never see me doing that again. Won’t happen again.”

Campenaerts then took the matter to two of his Visma | Lease a Bike teammates. Jonas Vingegaard was asked for a straight answer: bottles, yes or no?

“Well, for me personally, I don’t do it,” Vingegaard replied. Still, he could see why some riders might consider it a more discreet option. “It’s better than peeing in front of people, I would say,” he added. “Because they cannot see your thing.”

Sepp Kuss, however, gave the most colourful contribution. “I once witnessed someone peeing into a water bottle in the middle of a Tour de France queen stage,” he said.

Asked whether any spectators had been offended, Kuss suggested they might have been more impressed than shocked. “I don’t think so,” he said. “If anybody saw what was happening, I think they would have been in awe at the skill, cleanliness, hygiene.”

Campenaerts laughed that Kuss was beginning to sound as if he was giving “an elevator pitch” for the practice.

The exchange gives a revealing glimpse into one of professional cycling’s less glamorous logistical problems. Nature breaks have always been part of the sport, but modern racing leaves fewer quiet moments. 

Breakaways can take hours to establish, the pace rarely drops for long, and urban finales often mean riders spend the decisive part of a stage surrounded by spectators, houses and television cameras.

Campenaerts, for his part, has now given the most Campenaerts response possible: part explanation, part field test, part apology and part comedy sketch. The message, however, was clear enough. The pee bidon era, if it ever truly existed, is over.