Mathieu van der Poel celebrates his cyclo-cross World Championships win (Image credit: Getty Images Sportt)
Image 2 of 33
The Shark of Messina attacks in Andorra (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 3 of 33
Nibali paid tribute to his grandfather at the 2019 Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 4 of 33
Mark Cavendish would neither confirm or deny his salute in the 2009 Tour of California was on a bet with DZNuts' Dave Zabriskie. (Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Image 5 of 33
Peter Sagan wins Gent-Wevelgem 2013 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 6 of 33
At the Tour of Oman, Alexey Lutsenko paid tribute to his wife, who miscarried twins in late 2018 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 7 of 33
Young cyclocross sensation Tom Pidcock already has an array of celebrations in his locker, such as this superman pose in the European champion's jersey (Image credit: SWpix.com)
Image 8 of 33
Juan Jose Lobato tried to squeeze in a celebration for his family and his sponsors on the Hatta Dam in Dubai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 9 of 33
Caleb Ewan celebrates too early and gets pipped at the line by Marcel Kittel at the Tour of Oman (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 10 of 33
Diego Rosa winning at Itzulia Basque Country in 2016 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 11 of 33
Alejandro Valverde fires an arrow at the Fleche Wallone (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 12 of 33
Peter Sagan does the Hula at the Tour de Suisse (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 13 of 33
Lars Boom clearly had a message for someone (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Image 14 of 33
Fabio Aru won the Italian national championships wearing the late Michele Scarponi's jersey after it was lent to him at a training camp, Aru dedicated the win to Scarponi's family (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Image 15 of 33
Filippo Simeoni stopped and lifted his bike after winning a Vuelta stage in 2001. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 16 of 33
Chris Horner gave a 'karate kid' salute after winning a stage of the Tour de Suisse in 2006. (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Image 17 of 33
Pavel Tonkov flipped off the world after winning a Giro d'Italia stage in 2004. (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Image 18 of 33
Brice Feillu forgot to zip up before winning his Tour stage in 2009. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 19 of 33
Alberto Contador's 'pistolero' salute never fires blanks. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 20 of 33
Mark Cavendish's clever tribute to cell phone maker and sponsor HTC (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 21 of 33
Paolo Bettini fired back at the UCI after it tried to keep him out of the 2007 World Championships. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 22 of 33
Robbie McEwen has a little fun with the running man (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 23 of 33
Carlos Sastre pulled his baby's "dummy" (pacifier) from his pocket and put it in his mouth as he won the Tour de France stage at Ax-3 Domaines in 2003. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 24 of 33
Alessandro Petacchi won so many stages in 2003 that he began counting each one. He ran out of fingers by the Vuelta. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 25 of 33
Johan Musseuw's 2000 Paris-Roubaix salute was a tribute to his nearly ruined knee. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 26 of 33
Bernard Hinault and Greg Le Mond ride to the summit of Alpe d'Huez raising each other's arm aloft. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 27 of 33
Juan Antonio Flecha's Robin Hood salute was a tribute to his name, which translates as "arrow" (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 28 of 33
Mario Cipollini would win by such a large margin sometimes he'd check to see if anyone was still there. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 29 of 33
Mark Cavendish' salutes got strange when he tried an Oakley tribute (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 30 of 33
Jimmy Casper had won a few races before his 2006 Tour de France stage win, but it didn't show. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 31 of 33
Judith Arndt gave the finger when she took second at the Olympic Games in 2004. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 32 of 33
Lance Armstrong's memorable 1995 Tour de France stage win (Image credit: AFP Photo)
Image 33 of 33
Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) thinks he is winning the 2004 Milan-San Remo, but Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wins instead.
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 like to think theirs through a little bit more.
At this year's Cyclo-cross World Championships, for example, Mathieu van der Poel stopped after crossing the line to show off his Canyon bike. Other riders have signatures moves, such as Vincenzo Nibali, who often makes a nod to his nickname 'the Shark of Messina' when he crosses the line first.
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.
There are those that celebrate a bit early too, like Erik Zabel at Milan-San Remo in 2004, and Caleb Ewan at the Abu Dhabi Tour in 2017.
Flick through the gallery above to see some of the best, worst and strangest celebrations in cycling.
Cyclingnews Newsletter
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
