This is a Belgian cyclist. A very good one – here he is winning the prestigious Giro di Lombardia). Note the sponsors.

The two major sponsors: a pharmaceutical company (despite cycling’s constant drug scandals, I’m sure they paid up without any sense of irony); and the Belgian lottery.

Philippe Gilbert is a great rider for the tough one day races – the classics. He doesn’t have as many opportunities in the three week grand tours. So he’s planning not to race the Tour de France in 2010. He’s quoted saying:

I’d only have three or four chances. I can lose more than win, it’s like playing the lotto.

That is – lotto is dumb and is only a chance to lose. It may not make his sponsors happy, but he’s right.