Where's Andy Steves?

Andy Steves, the most winningest cyclist in Notre Dame history has been notably absent from the team. The rising star's hiatus from cycling has not been well explained by even him. Various reasons, from travel to skirt chasing, have been given for his lack of riding this year and his decision not to participate in the up and coming race season. His next moves were unpredictable, even by his closest teammates. "I thought I knew him well," teammate Tim Campbell said, who was his bedmate on race weekends. "I thought we shared a special bond, I mean, we shared a bed on almost every race weekend for two years. The fact that he held this out from me, well, it really hurts our relationship. It hurts. I never saw it coming."


That thing the Irish never saw coming was Steves new foray in the male cheerleading and a short stint as a model. The above picture is Andy as a skirted male cheerleader for the Notre Dame Marching Band, the oldest university band in existence. In traditional bands, scantily clad women (that often times are kinda overweight/not attractive...they were too big/not attractive to be cheerleaders) that twirl flags accompany the band. For Notre Dame, tall skirted men march around the band. While considered somewhat of an honor to be a part of the so called Irish Guard, it still is a group of male cheerleaders that wear skirts.



He also made an appearance on the cover of "EuroCyclist" magazine. Steves was able to make a short comment on his foray into modeling: "You know, I always thought that I was sexy and I always bought into the EuroCyclist mentality. I always had a doubleshot before the race. I always looked good. I had a ridiculously good bike. I talked to soooooo many women after races in hopes of meeting up with all of them at some point in time so they could take care of my massage needs. I was Euro, and the magazine was a good fit. I'd do it again in a heartbeat - its way more Euro to act like you are a hardcore good Euro cyclist when you really aren't than it is to be an actual cyclist that is Euro. Its an attitude, and to be completely Euro, you need to be 100% focused."

While the team wishes Steves the best in his modeling and cheerleading and will miss the guy not only for his pure sprinter mentality, but also for the antics that will be absent from race weekends. On behalf of the team, good luck, and come on, modeling and cheerleading? Couldn't you at least be doing something manly?