Tuscany Road Journal: Part Four — The Jiffy Bag Scandal

Gareth Winter: ‘Suspicious’ Jiffy Bag Arrives at Italian Training Camp

• Amateur cyclist claims: “It’s just a small seatpin clamp.”
• “Winter’s history of substance abuse is well documented.”

Monday 17th August 2020

Gareth Winter, 31, has condemned the report into the Factor Bikes Jiffy Bag Affair. The 2014 KOM record holder (of a small and largely insignificant Strava segment in South-West London), has agreed to be interviewed by RoadCyclingNews.it.

In March, Winter was granted permission to consume above-normal quantities of the oral hygiene substance “Alcohol Hand Sanitiser,” which assists in the prevention of COVID-19. Winter claims the substance is required to manage his OCD and self-diagnosed germaphobia. He has been accused of abusing this exemption.

“Gareth’s hand sanitiser consumption is obsessive and excessive. It is not technically against the rules, but there is a question of morality.” — Anonymous source

The affair began on 13th August 2020, when Mr Winter arrived at his Tuscan cottage and claimed his seatpin wedge was missing: the small component required to secure the seatpost and saddle into his Factor O2 VAM frameset.

“Without this small, seemingly insignificant component, my bike is completely unrideable.” — Gareth Winter

Factor Bikes UK provided documentary evidence confirming that the component is, in fact, required for the installation of the seatpost and saddle.

Speculation surrounding the package began when a Jiffy bag was delivered to Mr Winter mid-trip. It is understood the delivery coincided with his viewing of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2020 on the Eurosport Player app, which he was watching on his telephone while seated in a lavatory.

At Mr Winter’s request, Rob Wicks (Operations Manager, Factor Bikes UK) arranged for a replacement seatpin wedge to be shipped via DHL priority to the Tuscan cottage. It is understood that Wicks then communicated to John Bailey (Managing Director, Factor Bikes UK): “Gareth’s been sorted.”

An anonymous source subsequently claimed: “There was a liquid substance inside the Jiffy bag. It is our view that Factor Bikes are supplying Gareth with additional hand sanitiser.”

An immediate investigation was launched.

The suggestion that Mr Winter “accidentally” omitted a critical component when packing his bicycle has been described by one source as “an alias for deliberate wrongdoing.” Photographs posted on Winter’s social media account during the trip were cited as evidence of a potential cover-up. Both Winter and Wicks deny any wrongdoing.

Bailey addressed the hearing: “Wicks informed me that the package contained the seatpin wedge required for Mr Winter’s bicycle. Mr Winter required this component in order to ride his Factor O2 VAM rather than a hire bicycle.” — John Bailey, Managing Director, Factor Bikes UK

An inconsistency was noted. Mr Winter consistently refers to the component as a “seatpin wedge.” Wicks and Bailey both refer to it as a “seatpost wedge.” This discrepancy is the subject of ongoing enquiry.

Factor Bikes UK issued a statement: “We strongly refute the allegation that we supplied hand sanitiser to Mr Winter. We are surprised and disappointed that the committee has chosen to present an anonymous and potentially malicious claim without evidence and without permitting us to respond.”

Mr Winter told RoadCyclingNews.it: “My history of hand sanitiser use is well documented. However, the contents of this package are fully documented and Factor Bikes UK are in a position to present complete evidence to the court.”

Gabriele Pecce (Mr Winter’s Tuscan host), who accepted delivery of the parcel, told our correspondent: “It was just an envelope. A Jiffy bag. A small Jiffy bag. As far as I know there could have been Speedplay pedals in there.”

Responding to Mr Winter’s comments, the committee stated: “We received evidence from individuals who did not wish to be named. It was made clear where we relied on anonymous sources, and we trusted them as credible. The public may read the report and draw their own conclusions.”

The case has been fully dismissed. The liquid sachet found in the Jiffy bag was not hand sanitiser. It was Black Inc carbon fibre grip paste, required for the correct installation of the seatpost into the frame.

Winter and Factor Bikes UK jointly confirmed:

• The supply of componentry to customers and ambassadors is fully documented.
• Mr Winter is doing everything in his power to avoid contracting or spreading COVID-19.
• His use of hand sanitiser has been formally assessed and dismissed as “best-practice behaviour.”
• Mr Winter has acknowledged the oversight and confirmed he will not repeat the error.

I am, of course, taking the piss out of the Wiggins Jiffy Bag Scandal.

The point is a serious one. How easily a thread of anonymous information becomes a headline. How quickly reputations get destroyed before any evidence is examined. We are all just trying to ride our bikes. Let’s support each other.

Thank you, Rob. Without you, there would be no Strade Bianche.

Next up: the white roads.

Gareth.