Valtteri Bottas Voices His Anger on Pay Discrimination Issues at Premier Cycling Event

In recent times, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has been in the spotlight not only for his on-track achievements but even for his off-track ones. The Briton is often seen standing up for what’s right and always voices his concerns about inherent wrongs that take place in society. Now, it looks like his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is following suit.

The Finn took to Twitter to voice his concerns about the pay disparity between male and female bicycle racers who are taking part in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The bicycle race in Belgium is an annual event, part of the UCI world tour. It is one of the most prestigious bicycle racing events and one of the five ‘monuments’ of cycling.

Bottas’ tweet read, “I can’t get it. Prize money at Ronde van Vlaanderen winners for men (picture 1) and women (picture 2).

“Men’s winner €20K = ∼82€/km and Women’s €1.4K = ∼10€/km.

“It’s not about the money, but about the equality. Doesn’t men and women work equally hard to try and win this race?”

It’s always great to see sporting superstars demand equal pay for all athletes. After all, with their massive fan following and their fame, they have the ability to change the world and it’s good to see Bottas do his best to correct what he believes is wrong.

While Bottas is doing everything right off the track, can he do the same on it in a week’s time at the Portugal GP on the 25th of October?

Can Valtteri Bottas still win the championship?

Winning the championship might be a tall order, but Bottas isn’t out of the fight just yet. The Mercedes man sits 69 points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton but has shown in the previous two races that he isn’t willing to back down from a fight.

He could consider himself very unlucky in German.  Had it not been for a power failure, the gap between him and Hamilton would be a little lesser. Nevertheless, with 6 races to go, Bottas still has a sliver of a chance.

However, it means that the Finn has to show incredible consistency, from now on until the end of the season. Perhaps some luck going his way would help too.

Can Bottas spring an unlikely surprise on Hamilton? Or will the Briton sweep up his 7th championship? We’ll find out soon.