My first though upon seeing that picture, was

yuck, that just looks ugly in my eyes (but then beauty is in the eye of the beholder).
I have nothing against flowers, but in this case they are not an improvement.
Whether the person is male or female did not cross my mind until I actually read your post.
I do not watch motorbike racing, but it seems to be male dominated, so I see nothing wrong with making an assumption that this may be a man (although it would be a man with very bad taste in my eyes).
I don't really see how it was being sexist, although I am sure someone will come along and disagree with/correct me

.