40 questions and loyal readers will know the drill. Some are easy, several will defeat Google and even the best AI chatbot, plus a few of the answers give us a sideways look at the sport…
1. Dressed in red and white but it’s not Santa. Name the rider pictured above and what team he’s joining in a week’s time.
2. “Veni, veni Emmanuel” is a traditional Christmas carol. Which French team manager might be singing it in anticipation of 2025?
3. It looks like Santa’s Elves get time off in the summer to holiday in France but who knows? Instead can you name a race with an “Elf” in the name.
That Was The Year That Was
4. Where did Milan-Sanremo start?
5. What happened on the stretch of road pictured above?
6. Which men’s World Tour races were won by non-WorldTeam riders (one day and GC only, not every stage).
7. Who are the youngest and oldest riders respectively in the top-50 UCI men’s rankings for 2024?
8. Which men’s WorldTeam did not have a single rider scoring 1,000 UCI points or more this year?
9. Mark Cavendish was knighted, becoming a “Sir” this year. Name a retired cyclist with superior rank of nobility or status.
10. Name two founding managers who stepped down from running or left their teams this year?
11. The Giro d’Italia had a stage start spoilt by bad weather. Name a pro race outside of Italy where racing was altered because of the weather.
12. Which former rider and team manager died this year at the age of 99?
The Peloton’s Got Talent
13. Guillaume Martin’s last win was… a literary prize courtesy of the august Académie Française. What’s the title of his latest book?
14. Name a pro cyclist who has been national champion in another sport.
15. Name three pro cyclists who are either medical doctors or trainees hoping to qualify.
Cycling translated
16. What’s a literal translation of Poggio in English?
17. What’s a literal translation of Taaienberg in English?
18. Which sprinter’s surname translates as “cabbage”?
A rider’s best friend
20. What is Lotte Kopecky’s dog called?
21. Name one of Arnaud De Lie’s cows
22. What have Tom Pidcock and Juan Ayuso got in common?
Trophies
23. Which race is the trophy above from?
24. Who won the Trofeo Bonacossa this year?
25. Paris-Roubaix awards a cobblestone on a plinth, what accessory comes with it?
Retired?
27. Name an ex-rider who is now running a hotel
28. Name an ex-rider who is running a wine bar
29. Which ex-rider is making this wine called Kilomètre 0?
Business
30. What product features across Shimano’s Ultegra, Tiagra and Stradic lines?
31. Seeing races shown live from start to finish is almost the norm now. Which was the first road stage of the Tour de France to be shown live this way?
32. Of all the teams paying road teams for naming rights, which team has the sponsor with the biggest stockmarket capitalisation?
33. Are there more men or women spectators at the roadside for the Tour de France?
As Seen On Screen
34. Sponsors don’t just use pro cycling to reach customers. Can you name the team sponsor from the advert screengrab above?
35. Can you name the team sponsor from the advert screengrab above?
36. Harder now, can you name the team sponsor from the advert screengrab above?
Picture round
37. Name the cyclist from the images above.
38. Name the cyclist from the images above.
39. Name the cyclist from the images above.
40. Name the cyclist from the images above.
The Prize
Made it to the end? If you want to have a go, post your answers in the comments below. Readers can collectively crowdsource their way together. The most correct answers get wins a small prize.
Small print: the deadline is midday Euro Time on Monday 30 December. The most correct answers wins and if there’s a tie then a name gets picked at random. As ever people can copy off each other which spoils the point. But the peloton of readers here often enjoyably collaborate and together there’s a way to get plenty of answers.
And if you want to deploy an eleventh hour copy-paste job… well that’s cycling for you where you toil only for some wheelsucker to sprint past. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays…
Thanks for another year of the Pro Cycling Calendar!
1 Zingle
2 Vasseur (Buchmann)
6 Tour Down Under (Williams)
10 Lefebvre & Lavenu
11 Paris-Nice
23 Milan – San Remo
39.”Pillow” Bilbao
37: Maxim van Gils
23: Paris Nice, no?
40 Aaron Gate
18 Charlotte Kool
This was probably the only one I knew.
27, Alexandr Kolobnev
3. Elfstedenronde
31. Sestriere 1992
9. Eddy Merckx is a baron and son Axel is thus also a nobleman.
15. Elise Chabbey
Tanya Erath
Erica Magnaldi
Anna Morris
Lizzy Banks (well, retired pro)
38. Roger (Hammond) Adrià (Mobil)
27: Axel Domont.
6: Eschborn-Frankfurt, Maxim van Gills. Gree-Tour of Guangxi: Van Eetvelt.
12. Raphael Geminiani
4. Pavia
6. Steven Williams (IPT) won TDU, Fleche Wallone & Tour of Britain
7. Del Toro & Kristoff
16. Hill
17. Tough mountain
18. Charlotte Kool
22. Daschunds
32. Total Energies
34. Lidl
35. Picnic (replacing DSM as sponsor from 2025)
36. EF
40. Aaron Gate
13: Guillaume Martin, *Les gens qui rêvent* (Grasset, 2024).
2. Cédric Vasseur
3. Betcity Elfstedenrace
4. Pavia
7. Arnaud De Lie, Alexander Kristoff
8. Astana
10. Patrick Lefevere, Vincent Lavenu
11. Circuito de Getxo
12. Raphael Géminiani
16. hill
22. both have dogs
27. Alexandr Kolobnev
29. Axel Domont
32. Team Novo Nordisk Development
39. Pello Bilbao
1. Alex Zingle, Visma LAB
2. Emmanuel Buchmann -> COFIDIS
9. Rik van Looy was an emperor 😉
10. Patrick Lefebvre one of them
25. Hardly an accessory – so wrong – but they get their own shower
27. Johnny Hoogerland?
Thanks for all 2024 content, happy new year
33. Women
Questions 19 & 26?
The answers are 19: motor doping and 26: a rider under the age of 38 with an interesting personality (two things that don’t exist in the men’s world tour peloton). Though I’m just guessing blindly.
9. Ben King?
1 Alexandre Delettre Total Energies
2 Cedric Vasseur
3 Betcity elfstedenrace and elfstedenronde Brugge
4 Pavia
5 jours de dunkerque 2024 stage 5
6 Santos Tour down under, UAE tour, la Fleche Wallonne, Eschborn-Frankfurt, Gree tour of Guanxi
7 Isaac del toro is youngest and alexander Kristoff is oldest
8 Astana Qazaqstan Team
9 Chris Hoy
10 Merijn Zeeman and Patrick Lefevre
11 Cro Race
12 Raphaël Géminiani
13 “Les gens qui rêvent”
15 Elise Chabbey, Erica Magnaldi
16 Perch
17 Tough Mountain
18 Charlotte Kool
20 Ollie
22 They both won GC Giro Ciclistico d’Italia
23 Paris Nice
24 Tadej Pogacar
27 Johnny Hoogerland en Aleksandr Kolobnev
29 Axel Domont
30 Fishing reel
32 Ineos Grenadiers
33 Men
35 Jayco
38 Roger Adria
39 Pello Bilbao
40 Aaron Gate
1 Axel Zingle is joining the Team Visma | Lease a Bike for 2025.
2 Cédric Vasseur, the general manager of Team Cofidis, because of the arrival of Emanuel Buchman to his team.
3 Elfstedenronde Brugge (1.1) or Betcity Elfstedenrace (1.1)
4 Pavia
5 This is the site of the finish line of the fifth stage of the Tour de France 2024 in which Mark Cavendish, by winning the stage, broke the record for the most stage wins in that race. (45°51’25.3″”N 5°16’43.1″”E)”
6 •La Flèche Wallonne by Stephen Williams of Israel – Premier Tech (PRT);
•Eschborn-Frankfurt by Maxim Van Gils Lotto Dstny (PRT);
•Santos Tour Down Under by Stephen Williams of Israel – Premier Tech (PRT);
•UAE Tour and Tour of Guangxi by Lennert Van Eetvelt of Lotto Dstny (PRT)
7 •Youngest: Juan Ayuso Pesquera, 24th with 2083,00 pts (23-sep-2002: 22y+100d)
•Oldest: Alexander Kristoff, 50th with 1443,00 pts (5-jul-1987: 37y+173d)
8 None. All men’s WorldTeam teams had at least one rider with 1,000 or more UCI points this year.
9 Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx. In 1996 Albert II of Belgium, King of the Belgians, gave him the title of baron.
10 Patrick Lefevere of Soudal Quick-Step and Vincent Lavenu of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
11 8th Stage of Tour of Türkiye (2.Pro)
12 Raphaël Géminiani
13 «Les Gens qui rêvent»
14 The Danish Rebecca Koerner(UXM) was a three-time diving, national champion before switching to cycling in 2019.
15 Erica Magnaldi (UAD), Elise Chabbey (TFS) and Marlen Reusser (SDW)
16 Small hill
17 Tough hill
18 Charlotte Kool
19 –
20 Lotte’s Labrador is named Ollie
21 Simone
22 They both have dachshund dogs.
23 Paris-Nice
24 Tadej Pogačar
25 In addition, the winner is honoured with a plaque bearing their name, placed in the historical communal showers, located near the entrance to the velodrome.
26 –
27 Alexandr Kolobnev or Johnny Hoogerland.
28 Clément Chevrier
29 Axel Domont
30 Spinning Fishing Reel
31 The 11th stage of the 1990 Tour de France finishing at l’Alpe d’Huez
32 Team Novo Nordisk (PRT)
33 Men
34 LIDL
35 JAYCO
36 COFIDIS
37 Maxime Van Gils
38 Roger Adrià
39 Pello Bilbao
40 Aaron Gate
1. Zingle – Visma
2. Cedric Vasseur
3. Elfstedenronde
4. Pavia
5. Cavendish won his record Tdf Win
6. Tour down under, La Fleche Vallonne, Uae, Guanxi, Eschborn Frankfurt
7. Arnod de lie, Alexander Kristoff
8. Astana
9. Eddy Merckx
10. Patric Lafevre, Dave Brailsford
11. Stage 13 tour de france
12. Patric Sercu
13. Les gens qui revent
14. Cedric Pineau – tennis
15. Geraint Thomas, Theo Delacroix, Romain Bardet
16. Knoll
17. Tough hill
18. Jasper Stuyven, Charlotte Kool
20. Bobby
21. Nadine
22. Dog Daschunds
23. Paris-Nice
24. No one
25. Label in the shower
27. George Hincapie
28. Paolo Bianchini
29. Axel Domont
30. Spinning fishing reel
31. Stage 11 1990
32. Team Novo Nordisk
33. Men
34. Lidl
35. Jayco
36. Cofidis
37. Maxim van Gills
38. Roger Adria
39. Pello Bilbao
40. Aaron Gate