Giro d’Italia 2022 Stage 21 (Verona 17,4 km ITT)

Gianni Motta, Vittorio Adorni, Jacques Anquetil and Felice Gimondi are having fun at the Giro d’Italia in 1966. The race was won by Gianni Motta ahead of Italo Zilioli and Jacques Anquetil. Related blogpost(s) Iconic Places: Puy de Dôme Cycling Who’s Who: Vittorio Adorni The first Vuelta-Tour double (Jacques Anquetil, 1963)    

The first stage of Tour de France in 1936 run in pouring rain.

Between 1946 and 1951 a special jersey was awarded to the last cyclist in the general classification of the Giro d ‘Italia, called Maglia Nera. The idea came from a story in the 1920s. A football player, called Giuseppe Ticozzelli was such a cycling enthusiast, that he attended the race as an individual rider in … Read more

Lisette Marton, “Mademoiselle Lisette”, or  Amélie le Gall”,  the women’s world champion in 1896 was born in 1869, in Quintin, France. In the early days in cycling history, the bicycle was first of all a new vechicle for the every day life, which had to be intruduced to potential costumers, and there were plety of … Read more

Cycling in extreme weather: Charly Gaul on the famous stage 20 up to Monte Bondone at the Giro d’Italia 1956   Race director Vincenzo Torriani was asked to cancel the stage due to the rough weather conditions were forecasted. But he declined it, he may have thought, this could make the unexciting race exciting again. … Read more

Giovanni Gerbi (1885-1955) is the oldest contestant in the history of Giro d’Italia ever. He was 47 years old, when he attended his last Giro in 1932. The Red Devil Giovanni Gerbi, who earned the nickname “Red Devil” (Diavolo Rosso) was one of the most iconic figures of road cycling races in the early years … Read more

Hippolyte Aucouturier, one of the most iconic riders in the early days of road cycling races, was born on the 17th October in 1876 in La Celle (France). Aucouturier won Paris-Roubaix among a rather chaotic circumstances in 1903. During the early years of the race, riders traditionally changed their bikes at the entrance of the … Read more

Henri Pelissier, Bartolomeo Aymo and Ottavio Bottecchia on the Aubisque, Tour de France 1925, Stage 8 (Bayonne-Luchon 326 km, 1st July, 1925) Top 10 riders of the stage: Adelin Benoît: 15hr 18min 56sec Omer Huyse 8min 34sec Ottavio Bottecchia 11min 15sec Nicolas Frantz 21min 19sec Albert Dejonghe 22min 4sec Romain Bellenger 35min 50sec Théophile Beeckman … Read more

The Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes was the first successful cycling related enterprise of Henri Desgrange (“the founding father of the Tour de France”) and his business partner Victor Goddet (the uncle of future Tour de France director Jacques Goddet). It was build in 1897, and included 3000 seats and a 666,66 m  track, … Read more

The founding father of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange (1865-1940)  was a cyclist in his younger days. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 km (1893) Apparently, Desgrange saw a bicycle race for a very first time while visiting the finish of Bordeaux-Paris in 1891. First he raced … Read more