2015 World Tour Rider Age and Nationality

Matteo Tosatto

There are 474 riders from 41 nations registered with the 17 UCI World Tour teams for 2015.

The average age of a rider is 28 years and 3 months. The oldest rider is the 40 year-old Matteo Tosatto (Tinkoff-Saxo) who is pictured above and just seven years younger than his boss Oleg Tinkov. Lampre-Merida’s Colombian neo-pro Eduardo Estrada is the youngest pro, aged 19.

Here’s a look at the 2015 World Tour peloton in numbers. There’s a look at rider age, the “oldest team” and also analysis of how many pros come from each country and more.

Read more

Happy New WADA Code

Denis Menchov, race stealer

A new year and it’s straight into the heavy stuff with the revised WADA Code for 2015. It brings stronger anti-doping rules, like a four year ban, and is now in effect. Here’s a summary of the changes.

Read more

Film Review: Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert

Ghislain Lambert

“The loser” is a regular in comedy films yet celebrated in cycling where the lanterne rouge can be a hero. Add on scenes from retro Belgium circa 1970, insert a comic actor with good timing and an elastic face and things get better.

This Belgium film dates from 2001 and is widely available, complete with English subtitles. If cycling films are rare, this is a gem.

Read more

10 Neo-Pros to Watch for 2015

After picking 10 established pros to watch for 2015, here are some neo-pros to keep a look out for. You’ll know some already, the definition of a neo-pro is someone in their first two years. But a good first year doesn’t always bring glorious second year, just ask Moreno Moser or Brice Feillu.

Below there’s a mix of sprinters, climbers, classics contenders and future stage race stars.

Read more

2015 Pro Cycling Calendar

Happy New Year to all readers. Look at the calendar above and you can now see some pro races appearing with the Tour de San Luis in Argentina before the World Tour season starts with the Tour Down Under.

It’s a 2015 calendar of all the major men’s and women’s races and over the course of the year the calendar was the most viewed page. But you don’t have to come here every time you want to know what’s on, included below are instructions to download it to your smartphone or electronic diary.

Read more

10 Riders to Watch for 2015

Mark Cavendish
Here’s a selection of ten established riders to watch for 2015. Some stand on the cusp of a big win, others face challenges on the road, some have other struggles.

Read more

2015 Wildcards

Enrico Battaglin Giro Oropa 2014
One of the best stories in sport is seeing the underdog triumph. Enrico Battaglin’s stage win at the Giro was one example, the conclusion to a thrilling stage with two riders from wildcard teams sprinting for the stage win against Sky’s Dario Cataldo. It took plenty but started with a wildcard invitation, the modest Bardian-CSF team isn’t guaranteed a start in any race.

Europcar’s ejection from the World Tour and the merger of Cannondale and Garmin means only 17 teams have guaranteed entry to the top races. The other places can be given on an invitational basis. For the second division teams, officially labelled “UCI Pro Continental” teams, there’s no bigger prize than an invite to the Tour de France. Here’s a look at the candidates for an invite and the system as a whole. Decisions for an invite are due next month.

Read more

Race Radios Banned

Race Radios

In recent years race radios have been a key part of team tactics in the big races, many times we’ve seen riders cup their ears to better hear a message relayed from the team car. Now in-race communications will be banned for all road races in 2015 according to a new UCI rule.

All change? Or just a new round of protest between the teams and the UCI and a test of authority for President Brian Cookson?

Update: radios won’t be banned. The UCI is promising to update the rulebook early in the new year and radios will once again be allowed.

Read more

The Christmas Quiz Answers

Andy Hampsten Gavia
1. He’s dressed in red and makes his way through the snow but it’s not Santa. Can you name the rider pictured above?
Andy Hampsten of the 7-Eleven team in the Giro. The American won the race outright in 1988 but the photo looks like it’s from 1989. Among other things today he runs a successful travel company in Italy. The after-dinner tales must be good

Read more

The Christmas Quiz

Here’s a selection of questions to test your memory and knowledge of pro cycling, ranging from geography to history, family to money, tech to trivia.

Some are easy, some just can’t be googled and for one or two maybe there’s just no correct answer.

Read more

+ More