History

Showers for Roubaix

Roubaix showers

Paris-Roubaix must be the only race where the washing facilities make up part of the legend. The showers inside the velodrome are as much a part of the ritual as is the photo of the winner lifting the cobbled trophy in the air. Indeed can you name another sport where the showers or locker room is treated with the same reverence?

If you weren’t into cycling and from outside France, you’d probably never have heard of Roubaix. But maybe an artist would know of the town as it has an art gallery made from a converted swimming pool.

Read more

Cycling, an evolving team sport

One of offshoots of the radio debate has been an idea that riders are now radio controlled, mere chess pieces to be manipulated by their manager. Indeed part of the desire from those wanting to scrap radios is to make the sport more reliant on individuals, to diminish the role of the team.

Fausto Coppi
Self-sufficient

The rise of the team within cycling is one of the unmentioned themes in the sport. Here’s a quick sprint though the last 100 years…

Read more

Man vs. Horse

Jimmy Casper races a trotting horse over 500m in Amiens. This time the horse wins but it seems course played a big part with Casper struggling to get full traction. Note a typical trotting rig can have as much carbon technology as race bike. French manufacturer Corima makes both carbon bike wheels and disc wheels … Read more

Exploiting Pantani

It’s a sad read at times but Matt Rendell’s “The Death of Pantani” is a powerful biography of Marco Pantani. If you’re new to cycling, Pantani was one of the most exciting riders in the 1990s, a mountain climber who appeared to marry art, emotion and sport. He died aged 34. Only the biography reveals … Read more

History repeating

Was the nocturnal Seville team time trial an innovation? Not really, the 1967 Tour de France featured a nocturnal prologue with the course lit by gas lanterns. That year’s Tour de France became more famous for the death of Tommy Simpson on Mont Ventoux but it was the first time in the Tour de France … Read more

Rapha’s Roll of The Dice

Swiss director Marcel Ophüls produced “The Sorry and The Pity”, a two-part documentary in 1969. The film was banned for many years in France because it touched on the raw subject of French collaboration with the Nazis during the period of occupation in the Second World War. The film centres on Clermont-Ferrand, an industrial city … Read more

The Greatest Sprinter Ever?

[insert superlative here] Mark Cavendish has now won four stages in this year’s Tour. Any rider who bagged four stages during their entire career would be considered pretty useful but four in one tour is exceptional. Cavendish’s total now stands at 14 stage wins. That puts him just one win short of übersprinter Freddy Maertens. … Read more

Cavendish makes history

Whilst the dust settles over Renshaw’s exclusion*, it’s worth noting Cavendish’s win as a historic moment. Whilst he racks up win after sprint win, Thursday’s sprint was special. Why? Well because he surpassed the tally of 12 stage wins that the trio of Erik Zabel, Mario Cipollini and Robbie McEwen have landed. In other words … Read more

Mythbusters: the Pyrenees

I’ll say it now, this year’s Tour de France marks the 1ooth anniversary of the race’s visit to the Pyrenees. This is why the race features several stages in in the Pyrenees. No doubt we are all going to be made very aware of this. But a lot of the tales are myths and exaggerations, … Read more

Money laundering, the mafia and pro cycling

So I’ve had a few questions saying “who is this mystery team?” in response to the mention that not only were Café de Colombia mechanics stashing cocaine in their frames but a cycling team was a money laundering operation. I was only joking about my health, the team’s business is hardly a secret if I … Read more

+ More