Belgian cycling poster labelled 'sexist'

A poster promoting a Belgian cycling race has been branded "sexist" by equality groups and led to numerous complaints.

The poster for the E3 Harelbeke, to be held on March 27, depicts the hand of a cyclist motioning to grab the bottom of a hostess whose skirt is raised.

"Who will pinch it in Harelbeke?" it says, in a clear reference to Slovakian rider Peter Sagan, who later issued an apology after groping a podium girl at the Tour of Flanders in 2013.

In a statement published on their website, the Belgian Insitute for Equality called the advertising campaign "a violation of the anti-discrimination law which prohibits any behaviour which is undesirable, hostile, offensive or humiliating on the grounds of sex."

It added that it had called for the posters to be withdrawn immediately.

Television channel VTM added that seven complaints had already been made about the campaign.