A Christmas quiz with 40 questions. Some are obvious, some are odd, many can’t be Googled and a few are fiendish and sometimes it’s the answers that raise more questions.
1. Dressed in red and white, name the rider above who has delivered plenty already?
2. Can you name the place visited en route during a grand tour that has the word “santa” in its name?
3. In Britain and other places the second day of Christmas is called “Boxing day“. Which cyclist enjoys boxing and sparring in their spare time?
That Was The Year That Was
4. Who won the UCI World Rankings?
5. Which pro raced the most in 2018?
6. Name a new race on the pro calendar this year?
7. Name a race than vanished from the calendar?
8. Which team saw all of its riders abandon or eliminated during a World Tour stage race this year meaning none of their riders finished?
9. How many times did a rider from a Pro Conti team win a World Tour race?
Perks and Quirks
10. The Four Days of Dunkerque actually lasts six days. Name another race on the calendar who’s name is an approximation of the number of days it takes place over.
11.Which grand tour has an official pet food supplier?
12. The Vuelta a España has a bovine mascot. Called what?
13. EF Education First-Drapac have a mascot too. What’s its name?
14. Lotto-Jumbo, soon to be Jumbo-Visma, is also a speed skating team. Can you name another pro squad that is also involved in a different sport?
15. Name a reigning national champion who has had a road named after them?
History
16. Colombians have been in the pro peloton for decades. Who was the first Colombian to win a pro race in Europe?
17. Which rider has started more editions of the Tour de France than anyone else?
18. Which rider has finished more editions of the Tour de France than anyone else?
19. Which year was the yellow jersey first introduced to the Tour de France?
20. Is this cycling’s greatest photo? Maybe, maybe not but which rider won?
Geography
21. What was the highest altitude race or stage finish in the World Tour this year?
22. Outside Milan-Sanremo which is so long it has a derogation from the UCI rules, which was the longest distance for a day’s racing on the pro calendar?
23. What percentage of the world’s 195 countries does the World Tour visit?
When They Were Young
24. Who’s rider in the yellow and blue jersey who thinks he’s won?
25. Who’s this honing their skills during the winter?
26. Which time trial champ is this on the start ramp?
Hors Course – Away from the races
27. Name the last grand tour winner who resides in the country they race for?
28. Arnaud Démare grows vegetables in his garden and keeps chickens. Name one of the birds.
29. Connor Dunne and Larry Warbasse’s NoGo Tour made lemonade out of a bucket of lemons sent their way. Tim Wellens and Thomas de Gendt rode back from Lombardia this year too. Can you name another pro who went bikepacking and documented their journey before them?
30. Nevermind touring for fun, name a World Tour pro who took part in an official sports competition away from cycling this year.
As seen on TV
31. In which year was the first summit finish broadcast live?
32. Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett formed a famous TV commentary tandem. Can you name the first duo to report on cycling?
33. The Giro was one race where rider power output was shown to television viewers. When was this first done live on TV?
Business
34. “Du pain, du vin, du boursin” is an advertising slogan that’s been used around the world both in print and on TV. What’s its connection to cycling?
35. What’s the annual fee for a UCI World Tour licence for a men’s team?
Chief Commissaire
37. What’s the maximum number of race days a pro can do per year according to the UCI rules?
38. What’s the minimum and maximum number of days a Grand Tour can last?
Picture Round
39. Who is this?
40. Who’s this?
Prize
If you’ve made it this far, well done. Unlike some competitions this isn’t an email harvesting exercise masquerading behind a simple question. It’s a lot of work to answer the questions but I thought it’d be fun to cover a wide scope and have questions that can’t be answered just by trawling Google or Wikipedia. Have a go in the comments below and of course it’s like a bike race, you might launch your effort only to find someone else benefits by waiting in your slipstream. Competition closes at midnight Euro time on 28 December.
Not going to answer or enter, but just want to say I really like the picture round.
1. Matthieu Van Der Poel
2. Santa Maria
3. Nacer Bouhanni
4. Simon Yates
5. Alessandro De Marchi
6. Tour of Gaungxi
7. Tour of Hengzaou
8. Dimension Data
9. Once
10. Driedaagse de Panne Koksijde
11. Vuelta
12. Toro
13. Barney
14. FDJ
15. Arthur Vichot
16. Lucho Herrera
17. Sylvain Chavanel
18. Sylvain Chavanel
19. 1919
20. Jaques Anquetil
21. Giro D’Italia- Zoncolan stage
22. Tour of Flanders
23. 8%
24. Dylan Groeneweggen
25. Luke Rowe
26. Rohan Dennis
27. Nairo Quintana
28. Jeff
29. Taylor Phinney
30. Nacer Bouhanni
31. 1974
32. No
33. 2017
34. Sponsors TDF
35. €20,000
36.
37. 100
38. 21
39. Larry Warbasse
40. Edvald Boassen Hagen
Like a true sprinter, I’ll go with your lead-out apart from
25. Bob Jungels
26. Michael Kwiatkowski
39. Max Scachmann
40. Egan Bernal
😁
Typo in question 24? Should be who’s the rider in yellow and black/pink and blue.
39. Max Schachmann
I’m glad I’m ignorant about a lot of cycling “info”.
40. Egg-Anna Burn-aluminium
I found Ned Boulting’s quiz marginally easier.
1. Adam Toupilak
2. Santa Ninfa, Giro d’Italia Stage 5
3. Nacer Bouhanni
4. Alejandro Valverde
5. Eugert Zhupa (97 days)
6. Hammer Hong Kong
7. Velothon Wales
8. Dimension Data
9. 1 – Eduard Prades (Tour of Turkey)
10. Driedaagse Brugge – De Panne
11. Giro d’Italia (Morando)
12. Tei-Tei
13. Argyle
14. Delko Marseille Provence KTM, with the latter being a motorbike brand involved (with Red Bull) in MotoGP
15. Alejandro Valverde (intersecting with Avenida Miguel Indurain in Murcia)
16. Martìn Emilio Rodríguez
17. Sylvain Chavanel (18)
18. Joop Zoetemelk, George Hincapie and Sylvain Chavanel (all 16 finishes)
19. 1919 (anecdotally, 1913)
20. Julio Jimenez
21. Gran Sasso d’Italia – 2135m (Stage 9, Giro d’Italia)
22. Tour of Flanders – 264.7km
23. 15 / 195 = 7.6%, plus two additional countries in 2018 (Israel in the Giro, and Andorra in the Vuelta) = 8.7%
24. Sacha Modolo at the Trofeo Palma in 2014, beating Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) into second and an over-celebrating Dylan Groenewegen into third.
25. Mathieu van der Poel
26. Rohan Dennis
27. Tom Dumoulin
28. Margotte and Cracotte
29. Lachlan Morton’s Thereabouts 1-3 series (Australia, US and Colombia)
30. –
31. 1958, Col d’Aubisque
32. –
33. Abu Dhabi Tour, 2016
34. –
35. €80,000
36. No 36?
37. 85 – but can be exceeded if the team can demonstrate adequate rest
38. 15-23 days
39. Maximillian Schachmann
40. Egan Bernal
Great answers, but 15 Valverde isn’t national champ (G Izagirre is I think). I believe the answer is Pascal Ackermann.
Excellent point! I got overexcited finding any street names that I forgot the key part of the question.
34 – 1989 TdF general director invented the slogan.
The 24 looks like Laporte, but I’m not sure the jersey is written in french.
#13 TJV
some googling results here
5. Most race days Eugert Zhupa 99 days
6. Great War Remembrance Race (1.1)
7. Tour of Alberta
9. Pro Conti won 1 GC stage race (Turkey) and 5 stages.
21. Sant Lary Soulan (Tour stage 17 the short stage)
25. Wout van Aert?
34. Slogan created by Jean Pierre Carenso, Tour de France Director appointed in 1989
1. Matthieu VAN DER POEL
2 Santarcangelo di Romagna. 12th stage, Giro or Santa Eufemia. 8th stage. Vuelta
3 Nacer Bouhanni
4 Alejandro VALVERDE (4168 points)
Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN (1923,86 points)
5 Only races of category .1 or above and finished races
Gorka IZAGIRRE: 91 days and 13 723,9
Alessandro DE MARCHI: 90 days and 14 260 km
6 Men: Colombia Oro y Paz (2.1)
Women: Driedaagse Brugge – De Panne (1.WWT)
7 Tour d’Azerbaïdjan (2.1) or Tour of Alberta (2.1)
8 UAE-Team Emirates in Paris – Nice
9 GC: One: Eduard Prades, Euskadi – Murias, Tour of Turkey
Stages: 5. Hivert and Cousin (DEN) in Paris-Nice, Van der Hoorn (ROP) in Binck Banck, Rodríguez (EUS) and Bouhanni (COF) in Vuelta a España
10 Driedaagse de Panne Koksijde (Three Days of Bruges–De Panne) was a one-day race in 2018 and it also will in 2019.
11 Giro d’Italia: Morando
12 Tei-Tei
13 Argyle the Crocodile
14 The Astana Presidential Club has teams in boxing, cycling, hockey, football and basketball
15 Pascal Ackerman. Minfeld, his hometown, named a street after him in January 2017 when he was the German U23 road race champion.
16 Giovanni Jimenez Ocampo
17 Sylvain Chavanel: 18 (from 2001 to 2018)
18 Joop Zoetemelk: 16 (1970-1973 and 1975-1986)
Sylvain Chavanel: 16 (2001-2006, 2008-2011 and 2013-2018)
19 According to official Tour de France records, the first yellow jersey was worn by race leader Eugène Christophe prior to the 11th stage of the 1919 edition.
20 12-July-1964: Julio Jiménez was the winner of the stage. Poulidor was 3rd and Anquetil, 5th.
21 Highest finish: Tour de France: Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet (2215 ASL) 17th stage
Highest altitude: Tour of California: Carson Pass Summit (2615 ASLn) 13th stage
22 Ronde van Vlaanderen – Tour des Flandres (1.UWT) 264.7 km
23 17 of 195: 8.7%
24 Dylan Groenewegen in 2014 Trofeo Mallorca
25 Lilian Calmejane
26 Rohan Dennis
27 Geraint Thomas, Tour de France 2018, Great Britain
28 Cracotte
29 Lachlan Morton, Thereabouts
30 Thibaut Pinot: La Transjurassienne, a cross-country skiing race at 11th, February.
31 1958, Stage 15 at Mont Ventoux (ITT)
32 Robert Chapatte and Patrick Chêne
33 1989 in the Tour de France
34 Jean-Pierre Carenso, the creator of the slogan became a director of the Tour de France
35 For 2018: 85’500 €
36 —
37 85 days in road competitions (excluding those with their respective National Federation). If a rider is in excess, the sports director may be required to demonstrate the rider in question was afforded with adequate care and rest.
38 Minimum: 15 days. Maximum: 23 days
39 Max Schachmann
40 Egan Bernal
I salute you! We have a possible winner!
Depends on the definition of resident, and whether a person can reside in more than one place for the purposes of the quiz.
1 Mathieu vd Poel
2 Santa Ninfa
3 Nacer Bouhanni
4 Valverde
5 Zhupa
6 Great War Remembrance Race
7 Tour of Alberta
8 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>UAE during Paris-Nice <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
9 Once: Eduard Prades won Tour of Turkey for Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
including stages: 6
Cousin & Hivert during PN
vdHoorn during BinckBank
Bouhanni & Rodriguez during the Vuelta Espana
10 Driedaagse de Panne Koksijde
11 Giro D'Italia (Morando)
12 Tei-Tei
13 Argyle the Crocodile (it has it own Instagram account :))
14
15 Pascal Ackermann; the Pascal Ackermann – Weg in Minfeld
16 Martín Emilio Rodríguez
17 Sylvain Chavanel (18)
18 Sylvain Chavanel & Joop Zoetemelk (16) (Hincapie finished 16 times as well but 3 finishes (results) got scrapped from his palmares by USADA)
19 1919 (Nice joke :D)
20 Julio Jiménez
21 Stage 17 of the Tour de France (Col de Portet)
22 Ronde van Vlaanderen
23 17/195 = 8,7% (AUS, UAE, BEL, ITA, FRA, ESP, NED, SUI, GER, ISR, USA, GBR, POL, AND, CAN, TUR, CHN)
24 Dylan Groenewegen
25 Luke Rowe
26 Rohan Dennis
27 Nairo Quintana
28 Margotte and Cracotte
29 Lachlan Morton
30 Thibaut Pinot
31 1963 (not counting ITT's otherwise Mont Ventoux 1958)
32 Smeets & Nelissen? (starting in 80s)
33 Tour de Suisse 2016
34 Former Tour Director Jean-Pierre Carenso invented the slogan.
35 Zero
36 Hidden Question?
37 No maximum
38 Between 15 and 23 days including rest days
39 Max Schachmann
40 Egan Bernal
In addition to my quick post of last night above I seem to have missed Q14:
14 Novo Nordisk, as diabetes team they sponsor multiple athletes with diabetes of which the cycling team is the front runners but includes all kind of athletes.
And as I missed the clue of Q2 I would like to change the answer to
Santa Margherita Di Belice during the stage 5 of the Giro.
1 – Van der Poel
2 – No idea, can only think of Santander
3 – Bouhanni
4 – Yates, I guess?
5 – I vaguely recall it being Eudgert Zhupa
6 – Driedaagse De Panne for women, Oro y Paz for men
7 – Tough one. Pro Otztaler, although that one might have been gone 2 years ago already
8 – Sounds like a Katusha thing to do.
9 – Two
10 – Driedaagse De Panne
11 – Sounds like a Giro thing.
12 – Brilliant, no clue. El Toro, named after Tuur Decabooter?
13 – Lance?
14 – AG2R has snow crosscountry guys, not?
15 – That’s awfully specific. Lampaert. No clue.
16 – Contreras?
17 – Zubeldia?
18 – Zoetemelk
19 – It’s debated, Thys claims he had one in 13 or 14 but I’m gonna go with the official 1919
20 – Jimenez, I know that one.
21 – Oh boy. The one in the Tour, but can’t recall the name.
22 – Liege?
23 – US, Canada, China, Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Turkey, one of the Middle East ones which I always forget. 15/195 is 1 in 13, back of the envelope, I’ld say 7,7 %.
24 – Groenewegen – what a picture.
25 – Looks like a Van Aert to me.
26 – Part of me wants to go on a limb and say Vasil Kyrienka, but he looks Dumoulinish.
27 – Quintana?
28 – Haha, brilliant. Marc.
29 – Cyriel Van Hauwaert. You never said it had to be this year 😀
30 – I think Betancur joined competitive eating competitions.
31 – For some reason I think L’Alpe 1952 but that sounds unlikely
32 – On tv? Not a single clue.
33 – 2014
34 – They used to give it away in the Tour caravane.
35 – No idea. 40K?
36 – Ehm…
37 – 100
38 – 22 to 24 (disregarding rest days)
39 – Max Schachmann 😀
40 – Egan Bernal?
14 – Movistar sponsors a bunch of stuff including a Spanish basketball team in Madrid, Estudiantes
I make that a win for Sonja Neteu, 35/39 questions right and contact me by email for a prize. Peter was close too, well done.
Will post the answers shortly.