The Christmas Holiday Quiz

A Christmas quiz with 40 questions. Some are obvious, some are odd, many can’t be Googled and a few are fiendish.

By all means have a go and there’s a token prize for the winner but some of the questions are posed because the answers should set up some interesting discussion points.

1. Dressed in red and white he makes his way through the snow. It’s not Santa so name the famous Faema rider in the picture above.

2. Name any of the two helpers pictured below:

3. Can you name the rider below who went on to become a team manager?

That Was The Year That Was
4. Who won the UCI World Tour rankings?

5. Bahrain-Merida’s Luka Pibernik didn’t win anything or get a top-10 this year. What was he famous for instead?

6. Who was lanterne rouge in the Tour de France?

7. Name a new race on the pro calendar in 2017.

8. Name a race that vanished in 2017 (either not happening or held for the last time).

9. Which pro in the World Tour raced the most in 2017?


10. Who’s he (and why is he smiling)?

History

11. Eddy Merckx and Raymond Poulidor pose with ex-tennis player Justine Henin. Merckx won almost everything going and Poulidor was famous for being the runner up but name a significant race where Merckx finished second to Poulidor.

12. Name the future pro above and name the future pro below.

Geography

13. What’s the significance of the location featured in the image above?

14. Why can’t you have a summit finish atop a mountain pass?

15. What was the highest altitude for a stage finish in the World Tour?

16. What is significance of this statue pictured below?

As seen on TV
17. This year every minute of every stage of the Tour de France was shown live on TV and with the pre and post live coverage there was a total of 115 hours of live coverage available in July. How many hours were shown live in 1975? (A guess to the nearest 10 hours is ok)

18. Which country has enshrined in law that Milan-Sanremo must be broadcast on free-to-air TV?

19. Who owns Eurosport?

Speak cycling?
20. Jarlinson Swamp, Stone Tower and Snowy Newcastle are possible literal translations into English of four World Tour rider names. What’s their real name?

21. “A property developer and organiser of boxing fights” was how L’Equipe described one new entrant into the sport of pro cycling in 1989. Who was this?

22. Name someone who did the dubbelslag in a race this year.

Chief Commissaire

23. Are all pro races subject to the Extreme Weather Protocol?

24. What is the maximum number of days a year a World Tour rider should race per year?

25. If a stage race opens with a team time trial (like Tirreno-Adriatico) how is the starting order determined?

26. What is the daily allowance for a UCI Commissaire at a World Tour race?

27. What’s the minimum wage for a 32 year old male World Tour rider?

28. What’s the minimum wage for a women’s World Tour rider?

Strictly business
29. What does team sponsor Sunweb do? What is Cofidis’s line of business? Can you buy a Katusha?

30. Which has the larger annual budget, Team Sky or WADA?

31. You’re the mayor of a small city. What will cost you more to host, the “big start” of a grand tour or the UCI road cycling world championships?

Picture round

32. Name the rider above

33. Which current pro might this be?

34. Name the race below:

The peloton’s got talent
35. Many pro riders have qualifications in other domains. Name the spring classics winner who spent time studying horticulture before turning pro?

36. Which Tour de France stage winner from last summer swapped a computing and information technology degree for the pro peloton?

37. Romain Bardet’s almost famous for his masters degree. Name an Ag2r La Mondiale team mate who has one too.

38. Can you name the Vuelta stage winner from this year who has a black belt in judo too?

And finally
39. The Four Days of Dunkirk actually lasts six days. Name another race with a fictitious label.

40. What was the first ever mountain pass climbed by the Tour de France?

The Prize
This is a quiz rather an email address harvesting attempt hidden behind some facile questions but it’s not easy and nor is typing up all the answers. I don’t expect many to try and answer all 40 questions but if you want to have a go or maybe readers collectively crowdsource their way together, feel free to leave your answers in the comments below and the deadline is midday Euro Time on Wednesday 27 December. As an incentive the winner gets an INRNG supporter caps. The most correct answers wins and if there’s a tie then the first respondent to get there wins.

32 thoughts on “The Christmas Holiday Quiz”

    • I shan’t sully Inner Ring’s good name with that tax-dodging Silicon Valley conglomerate so, utilising all my extensive cycling knowledge, I can say :
      12, Romain Bardet
      13, Ronnie Corbett
      13, (two, you’ve mis-numbered there IR) Starting place of first ever TdF
      26, €100?
      27, €60,000
      28, two bob and a bag of chips? (won’t be much more, if any minimum at all)
      30, Team Sky
      32, Tea Bow Pinot (an IR favourite)
      34, Ill Lumbar Deer

      All the best Inner Ring and readers / cyclists. Thanks for a lot of laughs, and above all enjoyment.
      Cycling Hero!

    • 1- Charly Gaul
      2- Bartosz Huzarski
      3- … je ne sais pas
      4- Greg van Avermaet
      5- Luka Pibernik célèbre sa victoire sur une étape du Giro alors qu’il reste un tour
      6- Luke Rowe
      7- Tour of Guangxi
      8- PRO Ötztaler 5500
      9- Matej Mohoric
      10- Urbano Cairo, président du club de Torino FC, présent lors du dernier Giro
      11- Paris Nice 72
      12- Romain Bardet
      13- Coryn Rivera
      13 bis- C’est ici que le Tour de France a débuté, la première édition.
      14- … je ne sais pas, cela m’étonne (Mont Ventoux ?)
      15- 2780m 7ème étape du Tour de Suisse
      16- … je ne sas pas
      17- 10 étapes retransmises, je dirais donc 50 heures
      18- … je ne sais pas
      19- Discovery ?
      20- Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre Latour, Mikel Nieve ?
      21- … je ne sais pas
      22- … je ne sais pas
      23- Seulement les courses WT et HC
      24- 145 ?
      25- Un tirage au sort ?
      26- 105 euros
      27- 32000 euros ?
      28- Il n’y a pas de minimum
      29- Sunweb : camp de vacance ; Cofidis : crédit à la consommation ; Katusha : … je ne sais pas
      30- Team Sky > WADA
      31- UCI Road Cycling World Championship
      32- Thibaut Pinot

      Pas eu le temps de tout faire..

  1. Thank you for putting this up! It’s been a great researching exercise on a quiet Christmas day. Obviously almost everything has had some level of research put into it, I won’t claim to have known more than a couple off-hand. There’s a few missed answers and a couple I know are wrong, but here goes:

    1. Rik van Looy
    2. Michael Kolar
    3. Bjarne Riis
    4. Greg can Avermaet
    5. Celebrating a false win
    6. Luke Rowe
    7. Hammer Series
    8. Tour of Beijing
    9. Matej Mohoric/Pello Bilbao
    10. Mauro Vegni (it’s not, but I haven’t got a better idea)
    11. 1972 Paris Nice
    12. Romain Bardet and Coryn Rivera
    13. Reveil Martin – the starting place of the first tour
    14. Why can’t you have a summit finish on a mountain pass? By definition it’s not a summit, but a valley between two summits?
    15. Highest World Tour finish – 2,490 Alto Hoya De La Mora (Sierra Nevada/Vuelta a Espana Stage 15)
    16. It’s a Pasiega cow on the 28% Los Machucos climb, Stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana
    17. 20
    18. France
    19. Discovery Channel
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre La Tour, ? (and only three names are actually listed, not four per the question)
    21. Donald Trump
    22. Tom Dumoulin, Giro d’Italia
    23. Only World Tour and HC events
    24. Max number of race days per year for a WT rider?
    25. Rule 2.6.024 – The starting order of team time trial stages shall be the inverse order of the general team classification, to the exception of the leader’s team which starts last. Where no such classification exists, the starting order shall be determined by drawing lots.
    26. ? (max fee for a UCI WT commissaire)
    27. €38,115
    28. No minimum wage
    29. Sunweb: Travel website. Cofidis: Loans (and other financial services). Katusha: Meaningless diminutive of Katherine.
    30. Team Sky (GBP31.1M vs USD28.3M for WADA)
    31. €7M license fee for the Worlds (Bergen) plus another €8M in running costs, vs £3.5M in Grand Depart bid costs and about £10M in running costs (Yorkshire), vs Dusseldorf (€4.4M in total costs). So the Worlds cost more to buy the license.
    32. Thibaut Pinot
    33. ?
    34. Il Lombardia
    35. Phillipe Gilbert
    36. ?
    37. Domenico Pozzovivo
    38. ?
    39. Paris-Tours (as it neither goes from Paris or to actually Tours)
    40. Depends on the definition of propery, but the Col du Ballon d’Alsace in 1906 was the first officially in the TdF history (ignoring all the “hidden” climbs.)

  2. 2. I’m trying with Schillinger
    4. Greg Van Avermaet
    5. Thinking he won a stage in the Giro one lap too early.
    7. Pro Ötztaler 5500
    8. Pro Ötztaler 5500 🙂 Or Tour de la Méditerranéenne
    12. Romain Bardet (left) and don’t know.
    14. Lack of space.
    15. 2700 something (Rettenbachferner)
    17. 20
    18. Italy?
    19. Discovery
    20. You mean three? Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre Latour and don’t know.
    23. Yes
    24. 85
    25. By drawing of lots
    29. Provide internet. Credit system. No.
    30. Team Sky.
    31. The WC.
    39. Paris-Roubaix (starts in Compiègne).
    40. Ballon d’Alsace.

  3. 1. Going with Eddy Merckx
    2. Maciej Bodnar
    3.Possibly Lefevre
    4. Van Avermaet
    5. Giro early celebration
    6. Luke Rowe
    7. Tour of Gungxi
    8.
    9.
    10
    11. Paris-Nice
    12. Bardet and Taylor Phinney
    13. Tour first start in 1903
    14. logistics
    15.
    16.
    17. 45 hours
    18. Italy
    19. Discovery
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, ?, ?
    21. Donald Trump
    22. Peter Sagan
    23. No
    24.
    25. lots
    26. 160 euros
    27.
    28.
    29 holidays, credit, sports clothes
    30 Team Sky
    31 World Champs
    32Thibaut Pinot
    33 Pierre Luc Perichon
    34 Il Lombardia
    35 Gilbert
    36 Lillian Calmejane
    37 Riblon
    38 Yves Lampaert
    39 Paris Roubaix
    40

  4. Let’s give it a try

    1 Charly Gaul
    2 Salerno and Voss
    3 Bernaudeau?
    4 van Avermaet
    5 Mistakenly celebrates winning stage five of Giro d’Italia
    6 Luke Rowe
    7 PRO Ötztaler 5500
    8 La Méditerranéenne
    9 Mohoric
    10 Urbano Cairo
    11 Paris – Nice 1972
    12 Bardet and Rivera
    13 First start of Tour stage in 1903
    14 Because the top of a mountain pass is flat
    15 2780 – Tiefenbachferner
    16 Its on top of Los Machucos
    17 15
    18 France?
    19 Discovery Communications
    20 Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre Latour, Mikel Nieve
    21 Manolo Saiz?
    22 Fuglsang
    23 No, only WT and HC
    24 85
    25 Reverse order of general team ranking
    26 € 160
    27 € 38.115
    28 None
    29 Sunweb: travel agency, Cofidis: bank, Katusha: no
    30 SKY
    31 Worlds
    32 Thibault Pinot
    33 Sander Armee
    34 Il Lombardia
    35 Gilbert
    36 Kittel
    37 Pozzovivo
    38 Lampaert
    39 Paris – Roubaix
    40 The first was the col des Echarmeaux
    The first major climb—the Ballon d’Alsace

  5. Happy new year everyone!

    1. Charly Gaul
    2. Bartosz Huzarski
    3. Patrick Lefevre?
    4. Annemiek Van Vleuten and Greg van Avermaet
    5. Early celebration in stage 5 Giro
    6. Luke Rowe
    7. Tour of Turkey
    8. Tour of Qatar
    10. President of Torino in 14th stage of Giro from Fausto Coppi’s hometown Castellana to Oropa.
    Why is he smiling? because it’s fun
    11. Paris – Nice 1972
    12. Romain Bardet, Coryn Rivera
    13. Start of the last stage of TDF 2017
    14. Mountain passes are not summits.
    15. La Vuelta. Alcalá la Real to Alto Hoya de la Mora, Sierra Nevada. 2510.
    17. 15 hours?
    18. Italy?
    19. Discovery Communications
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, ?, ?
    21. Trump
    22. Warren Barguil. TDF stages 13 & 18.
    23. 2.2.029 bis The Extreme Weather Protocol shall be applied in UCI WorldTour and HC
    events whenever extreme weather conditions, as per the Protocol, are forecast. All other road
    cycling events are equally recommended to refer to the procedures set out in the
    Extreme Weather Protocol when appropriate.
    24. 90?
    25. Reverse order in world tour rankings
    26.
    27. € 36,300 as 32 yo neo pro is not possible
    28. Min wage of the country or an amount set by it’s national federation
    29. Cofidis- credits stuff. Sunweb travel stuff. Katusha a Russian rocket launcher from WWII. Don’t think they sell it.
    30. Team Sky
    31. Big start
    32. Thibaut Pinot
    33. Man looks like a distorted Carlos Betancur 🙂 Not sure about the fish
    34. Il Lombardia
    35.
    36.
    37. Domenico Pozzovivo
    38. Yves Lampaert http://www.quickstepfloorscycling.com/en/team/64/yves-lampaer
    39. Amstel Gold Race is not a race for gold Paris – Roubaix does not start from Paris.
    40. Col du Tourmalet, 1910

  6. 1. Charly Gaul
    2. Maciej Bodnar
    3. Jean-René Bernaudeau
    4. Anna van der Breggen and Greg van Avermaet
    5. Celebrating one lap early when the Giro d’Italia finished in Messina
    6. Luke Rowe
    7. Hammer series
    8. Pro Ötztaler 5500
    9. Matej Mohoric
    10. –
    11. Paris – Nice
    12. Romain Bardet & Coryn Rivera
    13. The first Tour de France started from that café
    14. Logistics?
    15. 2780 meter (Tiefenbachferner, Tour de Suisse)
    16. It’s the statue on top of the fearsome Alto de los Machucos climb. It’s a Vasiego cow, if I’m not mistaken.
    17. 40?
    18. Italy
    19. Discovery Channel
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre Latour, Kasia Niewiadoma (worth a try)
    21. Donald Trump
    22. Tom Dumoulin, Jakob Fuglsang, Diego Ulissi, Kasia Niewiadoma and many more…
    23. Only .HC and WT
    24. 100?
    25. Draw.
    26. –
    27. 38.150
    28. There isn’t a minimum wage.
    29. Holidays, bank, and yes, you can buy a Katusha iirc.
    30. Sky
    31. World Championships
    32. Thibaut Pinot
    33. Lawson Haddock (I’ll leave myself out)
    34. Il Lombardia
    35. Kwiatkowski? With such a name…
    36. Marcel Kittel
    37. Pozzovivo has one in economics iirc
    38. Gent – Wevelgem (started in Deinze)
    39. Yves Lampaert
    40. Col des Echarmeaux

  7. Thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you!

    1. Charly Gaul
    2. Maciej Bodnar
    3. That must be Marc Madiot’s hair
    4. Greg van Avermaet
    5. Celebrated on the penultimate lap thinking he’d won
    6. Luke Rowe
    7. The Hammer Series
    8. Tour of Qatar
    9. Matej Mohoric
    10. Urbano Cairo – I can only imagine he’s happy to be away from football, where his arch-rivals would beat his club’s cherished Serie A record a day later.
    11. 1972 Paris-Nice
    12. Romain Bardet (above left) Coryn Rivera (below)
    13. 1903, first ever Tour de France started at Reveil Matin in Montgeron
    14. A lack of space, not to mention the logistical issues with closing a route ‘to’ somewhere..?
    15. Stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse, the Rettenbach Glacier road.
    16. It’s at the end of Los Machucos, the madly-steep climb in this year’s Vuelta.
    17. 25 hours
    18. Belgium
    19. Discovery Channel
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre Latour, Mikel Nieve (?)
    21. Donald Trump(?)
    22. Nairo Quintana, on the Blockhaus climb, won stage and maglia rosa (albeit just for a day)
    23. Only WorldTour and HC events require it.
    24. 85
    25. Drawing lots
    26. 160 EUR
    27. 36000 EUR (in 2017) 38,115 (in 2018)
    28. No minimum stipulated although local law will apply.
    29. Sunweb are a tour operator; Cofidis offers consumer loans; Katusha (‘Katy’) comes from the folk song. You can buy records of the song, but not the music rights I daresay, nor of course anybody with the name. It isn’t the rocket launcher.
    30. Ominously, Team Sky
    31. The Worlds theoretically cost more (in license) but it will vary from place to place
    32. tea-bow pinot (Thibaut Pinot)
    33. That’s a Walleye, so Jelle Wallays
    34. Ill lumbar deer, la gara delle foglie morte (Il Lombardia)
    35. Philippe Gilbert has a diploma in horticulture
    36. Marcel Kittel
    37. “Doctor” Domenico Pozzovivo
    38. Yves Lampaert
    39. Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours, Paris-Nice and Paris-Camembert don’t start in Paris (at least not in 2017).
    40. First ‘col’ of the name in 1903 TdF was Le col des Echarmeaux, followed by Le col de la République which surely counts at 1161m

    • Isn’t number 14 the fact that a pass is the lowest point on which you can go over a mountain, while a summit is the highest point on the mountain. So by its very nature you’ll never have a summit finish.

  8. Only one I got (in spite of putting in a full 4 minutes of work, so overwhelmed was I) was #21, only because I was there, and because it so neatly matches our current president’s only skills.

  9. 1. Charly Gaul
    2. Bodnar
    3. Marc Madiot
    4. Van Avermaet
    5. Mistakenly thinking he’d won a Giro stage
    6. Luke Rowe
    7. Tour of Guangxi
    8. Tour de San Luis
    9. Mahoric
    10. Urbano Cairo – it’s taken during his first Giro as chairman of RCS, the owners of the race.
    11. TdF stage to Pla d’Adet, 1974
    12. Bardet & Coryn Rivera
    13. Montegron – first Tour start was from café le Reveil-Matin
    14. Because it would cause too much traffic problems and there is not enough parking space.
    15. Rettenbachgletscher, Tour de Suisse, stage 7
    16. Monument for the Pasiega cow, on top of Los Machucos, where stage 17 of the Vuelta finished (and where Froome got breathing problems which he solved the next day).
    17. Dutch TV: 20 minutes per day, over 25 days: 8 hours and 20 minutes>> 10 hours.
    18. Belgium
    19. Discovery Communications
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, Piere Latour, Nieve; 4th Newcastle?
    21. Donald Trump
    22. Tom Dumoulin, Stage 10 of the Giro
    23. No.
    24. 85, but they are allowed after explanation (45 riders raced more than 85 days).
    25. Draw
    26. €160
    27. €36.000
    28. None
    29. Sunweb: Holidays; Cofidis: Bank; Katusha: I can’t, since civilians aren’t allowed to have rocket launchers.
    30. Sky (£31 Sky vs. $28 WADA for 2016)
    31. World Championships
    32. Thibaut Pinot
    33. Snoekbaars …
    34. Il Lombardia
    35. Gilbert
    36. Kittel
    37. Pozzovivo
    38. Lampaert
    39. Tour of Langkawi
    40. Col de Echarmeaux

  10. 1. Charly Gaul during Merano-Monte Bondone stage at Il Giro 1956.
    2. Bartosz Huzarski (BOH) guides Sam Bennett (BOH) during 5th stage at Tirreno – Adriatico 2015
    3. Bernard Thévenet
    4. Men’s Individual Ranking: Greg VAN AVERMAET (BMC) 3 582 points
    Men’s Team Ranking: TEAM SKY 12 806 points
    Women’s Individual WorldTour Ranking: Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (DLT) 1 016 points
    Women’s Team Ranking: BOELS DOLMANS CYCLING TEAM (DLT) 3 273 points
    5. Pibernik was convinced that he had won the 5th stage of the Giro and he lifted his arms as a sign of triumph on the finish line. A problem, there was still one more lap to go…
    6. 167th Rowe Luke (SKY) +4:35:5
    7. Gree-Tour of Guangxi (CHN)
    8. Tour of Qatar (QAT)
    9. The Slovenian Matej Mohorič (UAD): 15 537 km in 95 days
    10. Urbano Cairo is the Chairman of RCS MediaGroup, Giro d’Italia organizer, and Torino FC. He gives the departure of the stage at Castellania, Fausto Coppi’s birthplace.
    11. Paris-Nice 1972. Poulidor did a dubbelslag by winning the final time trial and finishing six seconds ahead of Merckx in the GC.
    12. Above: Romain Bardet with his teammates Bastien César and Antoine Caillaud (club Vélo sport brivadois, 2008)
    Below: Coryn Rivera (Redlands Classic, 2003)
    13. In 1903, the first Tour de France started in front of the café “le Réveil Matin” in Montgeron
    14. There wouldn’t be room for the two banners
    15. Stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse finished by the Tiefenbachferner Glacier above Sölden in Austria at 2 780m above sea level. Simon Špilak won the stage
    16. It is the Monument to the Pasiega Cow, a local breed, in Alto de los Machucos, finish line of stage 17 of La Vuelta.
    17. I estimate it was 20 hours because the last 20 kilometers of each stage were broadcast live.
    18. France
    19. Discovery Communications
    20. Jarlinson Pantano, Pierre Latour and Yukiya Arashiro
    21. Donald Trump
    22. Jakob Fuglsang (AST) in the last stage of Critérium du Dauphiné (2.UWT)
    Miguel Ángel López (AST ) in the last stage of Vuelta a Burgos (2.HC)
    23. The Extreme Weather Protocol shall be applied in UCI WorldTour and HC events. All other road cycling events are equally recommended to refer to the procedures set out in the Extreme Weather Protocol when appropriate. (2.2.029 bis. UCI CYCLING REGULATIONS PART 2 ROAD RACES)
    24. The maximum theoretical number of days of competition depends on the calendar. Really, the annual number of competition days and their planning are the team’s responsibility, taking into account the UCI regulations.
    25. The starting order shall be determined by drawing lots.
    26. €160
    27. €38 115
    28. There isn’t a minimum wage
    29. Sunweb offers package holidays towards sun, winter sport and self-drive destinations
    Cofidis (COmpagnie FInancière de DIStribution) is specialized in the consumer credit business.
    I think a civilian can’t buy legally one Katusha. This is a multiple rocket launcher built by the Soviet Union in World War II
    30. Sky. For 2016 Sky’s budget was £31,048,000 and WADA’s was USD 28,309,373
    31. The budget of hosting the first three stages of Giro 2017 is set to reach an estimated €12 million. The initial budget for the Bergen 2017 world championships was approximately €16.7 million but ending up forking out €23.6m. So, the world championship will cost more
    32. Thibaut Pinot
    33. Sander Armée (LTS)
    34. Il Lombardia
    35. Philippe Gilbert (QST)
    36. Marcel Kittel. He studied computer science while at Erfurt Sport School
    37. Alexis Vuillermoz : Master Management Métiers de la banque et de l’assurance, IAE Perpignan.
    38. Yves Lampaert
    39. La Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, actually lasts four days don’t a week. (For 2018: Colombia Oro y Paz – Gold and Peace ☺)
    40. Le Col de la Républic during 2nd stage of 1903

    • I thought 3 was Thevenet. Impossible to distinguish if it’s Guimard or Thevenet from the face. But the yellow gersey in the bag looks to be a Renault gersey. It’s got to be Guimard

  11. 1 MERCXX
    2 Downing and Fuglsang
    3 Johan Bruneel
    4 Van Avermaet
    5 Bahrainian native
    6 Luke Rowe
    7 Tour if Guinghai Lake
    8 Tour of Beijing
    9 Dylan Groenwagen
    10 New UCI Chief David Lapartierre
    11 Paris Nice
    12 Romain Bardet, Coryn Rivera
    13
    14 logistics
    15 3000M
    16
    17 zero
    18 Italy
    19 murdoch
    20 pantano,
    21
    22
    23 yes
    24 100
    25 local team and then UCI Team points
    26
    27 32,000
    28 N/A
    29 Holidays, Payday loans, no
    30 Team Sky
    31 100000
    32 Tibault Pinot
    33
    34
    35 Gilbert
    36 Tommy Voeckeleur
    37
    38
    39 de Panne
    40 Galibier

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