Sometimes it’s a little hard to discern fact from fiction in professional cycling. According to recent reports, Oliver Naesen caught severe bronchitis after Gent-Wevelgem as a result of being sprayed with champagne on the podium by winner Alexander Kristoff. Naesen and his team later said that he was on a course of antibiotics, but that he would probably be ready for the Tour of Flanders a week later. Apparently, he was then able to overcome what is considered to be a very contagious illness with the help of antibiotics and went on to net his best-ever result at Flanders and later a career second-best 13th place at Paris-Roubaix. There are several obvious things to unpack about this event – both in terms of the story itself, and the way it was shared by the sport’s media outlets. First, bronchitis is typically caused by a virus. As seems fairly obvious, and as UAE Team Emirates...