Euro Café Culture

Coffee cycling

A piece by Cyclingtips discussed the rise and fall of café culture in Melbourne, Australia. There the café is a big part in the local cycling scene, a destination for many rides. Similarly Matt Seaton writes the of “mysterious affinity between cafes, coffee and cycling” in Britain.

If coffee, cafés, cakes and cycling often go together they rarely connect in Europe. In countries like Italy, Belgium or France, a coffee is consumed quickly and a café stop rarely features on the ride, if it does it is usually incidental.

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Highlights of 2012 – Part IV

Everyone predicted Marianne Vos would win gold in the Olympic Road Race and when she did people celebrated one of the best races of the year. It’s a paradox that the predictable result still provided one of the best races of the year but this was thanks to fine tactics, a dose of good fortune and grim weather.

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Custom Jerseys and Bikes

Minutes after crossing the finish line a rider can stand on the podium with a leader’s jersey that’s got their sponsors on the front. How this is done was the subject of a few emails from curious readers during the year and it’s worth explaining this again.

Similarly here’s a look at the custom team bikes used by riders in the big races, how some teams come prepared and others prefer to keep the mechanics on standby.

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Highlights of 2012 – Part III

Time to sing the praises of the little guy. It’s Stage 7 in the Tour of Turkey and Iljo Keisse attacks the breakaway and tries to go for the stage. Was it the best race of the year? No but somehow the result and the commentary marry together to make a great video.

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