okay right let’s get something straight about kevin magnussen in the context of sports nepo babies: kevin does not fit the traditional understanding of it at all. the best you can say is that he is the son of another motor racer - but he has very much /not/ had the advantages that other drivers including: lance stroll, mick schumacher, carlos sainz jr and max verstappen have had. here’s why:
- jan magnussen fathered kevin when he was nineteen. kevin was raised by a single mother and self-admittedly did not have a conventional relationship with his father and describes it as “more of a friendship”.
- jan magnussen didn’t have any money to support kevin’s career. in fact in 2008, kevin had to give up racing and take work as a welder. that’s basically the closest thing the grid has to being working class.
so yeah, kevin’s surname opened some doors for him at mclaren, but that is literally it. in fact jan magnussen’s success (like his le mans win) actually came after kevin’s career in f1 had begun. kevin does not have any family wealth backing him, didn’t have anyone giving him helping him to secure seats or sponsors, and his dad’s name carried very limited weight until after he’d already been dropped by mclaren. he was not groomed from birth to be a racer like some and has never had a safety net.
this really puts into context why he’s such a scrappy little bastard as a racer and why he loves his scrappy little bastard team so much. they may have passed over him in favour of money in the form of nikita mazepin but they were very upset about having to do so to stay afloat and got him back as soon as the opportunity was there. that’s loyalty!
*record scratch* wait-
some people will try to lie to you and gaslight you, they’ll say “it’s okay that you don’t ship wolfstar”
don’t believe them, it is not okay and i’ve already called the police
how it feels to love sport even when it hurts me because the act of participating in and watching sports is one of the most purely human acts of collective emotion you can experience, wether you win or lose, in that moment you, the athlete, the team, every fan, in the room, in the stands, across the world, is cheering together, crying together, winning together, losing together, and its more beautiful and perfect and frustrating and heartbreaking than a tv show or movie could ever be because its real its real and next season can always be different so you'll always come back and we keep always coming back for the rest of human existence
just to illustrate how completely serious a sport this is, the uci just fined isaac del toro 200 chf for “damaging the image of the sport” for - wait for it - celebrating his milano-torino win with his jersey fully unzipped
Seeing a pro be so in disbelief over having won such a big race really reminds you that they too used to be kids dreaming of making it one day, and mattias fucking did! he beat THE world champion and olympic champion !
I cannot wait to see how his season turns out the rest of the year.
Mattias Skjelmose, Amstel Gold Race 2025
How do you learn what a feeling means?
Frame Text: How to Draw a Horse by Emma Hunsinger References: Podium at Super Prestige Diem (2011) | "Aux racines de la rivalité entre Mathieu Van der Poel et Wout Van Aert" (L'Equipe) | Podium at Cyclocross World Championships Juniors (2012) | Wout trailing Mathieu at at Cyclocross World Championships Juniors (2012) | Podium at Cyclocross World Championships Elite (2017) | Wout winning an unknown race | "Van Aert: Van der Poel has always motivated me to beat him" (Cycling News) | Podium at Cyclocross World Cup Hoogerheide (2016) | Podium at Cyclocross World Championships Elite (2015) | Cyclocross Otegem Start Line (2017) | "Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert: The anatomy of a rivalry" (Cycling News) | Otegem (2017) | "Mathieu van der Poel en Wout van Aert, de koningen van de cross: 'Als je niet kunt afzien, moet je gaan voetballen'" (Humo) | Otegem (2017) | Cyclocross Otegem Start Line (2018) | Cyclocross Valkenburg World Cup (2016) | "LOENHOUT: Super Van Aert wins a Trofee 'super modder' + MORE PHOTOS & TV COVERAGE" (Cyclocross Rider) | "The van der Poel-van Aert rivalry: 'It’s impossible for us to be friends'" (Le Course en Tête) | Podium at 18th Superprestige Heusden-Zolder Elite (2022) | Wout and Mathieu after an unknown race (2014) | Mathieu and Wout during the Cyclocross World Championships (2016) | Wout touching Mathieu's back after the Cyclocross World Cup Namur (2020) | Wout and Mathieu after the Tour of Flanders (2020) | Wout and Mathieu after the UCI World Championships - Road (2023)
come here i whispered in your ear in your dream as you passed out baby was it over then [inhales] 🗣️ and is it over now???!!! 🗣️
Something i find so fascinating about sports is when a guy is like my dad was actually legit abusive but it made me the player i am today so i really respect his decision to abuse me. Like well ok do u want to talk abt anything
a softer world peloton (3/?)