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How to watch Paris-Roubaix?

Paris- Roubaix is like no other road cycling race. How to watch it, if you never seen one before? A newbie for road cyclig races Everyone is a newbie at one point in time, and everyone has a  different story, why they started watching cycling races. For instance, my father, having a severe illnes, which prevented him to travel, used to watch road cycling because of the beautiful landscape of places he never visited. One day I sat down and watched the race with him. It was the day, when Marco Pantani won the Tour de France stage finished on the top of Alpe d’Huez in 1997. And I thought, I’d probably watch the next… Read More »How to watch Paris-Roubaix?

Road cycling history on PelotonTales blog

There is nothing extraordinary in the fact, that cycling history is the main topic of PelotonTales blog, when its author is also a researcher (an independent scholar) of historical fiction (more precisely, the ficitonal representation of the past). Indeed, seeing the past as endless source of fascinating stories is my daily routine, which I naturally transfer also into my other projects, like PelotonTales. For humans, life is understandable in form of stories. Just think about it! Even the random pictures created by our brains while sleeping (a.k.a dreams) we tend to remember as coherent, compact stories. Nowadays, in the era of social media, there is a general habit of looking at black&white picture with a slightly… Read More »Road cycling history on PelotonTales blog

A huge crash on the Koppenberg, riders are stumbling upon eachother at the Ronde van Vlaanderen in the 1980s.

Ronde van Vlaanderen is coming… what to read on PelotonTales this week

Ronde van Vlaanderen is coming this weekend, and then next big race, of course, will be Paris Roubaix. The “Holy Week” of road cycling is back  after last year, when the schedule was a bit shaken up due to the French presitential election. Now Ronde van Vlaanderen (2 April) and Paris-Roubaix (9 April) will be held back to back again.  It’s a huge success to win both races in the same season, you might take a look at the list of the riders, who managed it. (Surprisingly few people, considering it’s a century-long story.) Ronde van Vlaanderen is the youngest of the five Monuments, and was held in 1913 for the first time. The first… Read More »Ronde van Vlaanderen is coming… what to read on PelotonTales this week

French three-time Tour de France winner and world champion Louison Bobet at the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1955

27 March 1955 Louison Bobet won Ronde van Vlaanderen

Three-time Tour de France winner (1953, 1954, 1955)  and French cycling legend Louison Bobet was a succesful rider also in the world of one-day races. In fact, he won four of the five monuments (Milano-Sanremo  and Giro di Lombardia in 1951,  Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1955 and Paris-Roubaix in 1956). The 39th Ronde van Vlaanderen was held on 27 March 1955.  It was 263 km long and included Kluisberg, Kruisberg, Edelareberg, Muur (Geraardsbergen). From the 203 starters, 47 cyclists arrived in the finish. Rik Van Steenbergen was the favourite of the race. He went away with Louison Bobet, Bernard Gauthier and Hugo Koblet in Geraardsbergen. They together had a 60 km long breakaway ride. Bobet… Read More »27 March 1955 Louison Bobet won Ronde van Vlaanderen

Cheering crowd supporting a cyclist in a mountain stage at Tour de France 1930

How to support PelotonTales blog

PelotonTales is a blog focusing on road cycling history, written by Anita Pethő literary critic and cultural historian. Thus the search for unique and fascinating stories (both epic and small ones) in the history of road cycling races is the main quest of the blog. Stories, that you, the audience might find unique and fascinating too. If  you would like to appreciate the work, efforts and creative energy behind writing the blog and consider to support the journey through history of road cycling,  you can do it with a small donation using the donation button below:   Thank you for the support! Undoubtebly, the Tour de France with its rich history plays a central role in… Read More »How to support PelotonTales blog

Program of Tour de France 2023 stage 5

The first HC category climb at Tour de France 2023 (Stage 5, Pau-Laruns)

5th Stage 5 July 2023 Pau -Laurus 162,7 km I’m LIVE TEXTING DURING THE STAGE   CLICK HERE TO REFRESH THE PAGE   🇭🇺 For my Hungarian speaking readers: kattints ide a TOURázzunk együtt azonos témájú bejegyzéséért JAI HINDLEY WINS THE STAGE. Last 2km Hindley still at the front. Vingegaard with three riders 40″ behind him. Pogacar was waiting for Adam Yatest, they’re are more than a minute behind Vingegaard. 19 km For a while, Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar rode together. No Vingegaard attacks. Pogacar doesn’t react. There is a gap between them. Meanwhile, Hindley is still leading the race. 20 km to go Jumbo-Visma takes over the lead in the  the… Read More »The first HC category climb at Tour de France 2023 (Stage 5, Pau-Laruns)

Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merkcx sprints for the victory at Milano-Sanremo spring classic race in 1966

20 March 1966 Eddy Merckx’s first Milano-Sanremo victory

Eddy Merckx won Milano-Sanremo seven times (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976). When he crossed tge finish line on Via Roma in Sanremo before anyone else on 20th March 1966, he was only 20 years old, which makes him the youngest ever Milano-Sanremo winner. MOE EDDY MERCKX ON PELOTONTALES [su_posts posts_per_page=”3″ tax_term=”83″ order=”desc” orderby=”rand”]

Eddy Merckx in the final individual time trial of Paris-Nice 1969

16 March 1969 Eddy Merckx wins Paris-Nice for the first time

During his extraordinary career, Eddy Merckx won Paris-Nice three times (1969, 1970 and 1971). The edition in 1969 was one of those few times, when he had the chance to compete against Jacques Anquetil, who rode his last Paris-Nice that year. Merckx became 1st, Anquetil 3rd, and it’s quite symbolic, that the thord man on the final podium was Raymond Poulidor. MORE EDDY MERCKX ON PELOTONTALES BLOG [su_posts posts_per_page=”3″ tax_term=”83″ order=”desc” orderby=”rand”] MORE RAYMOND POULIDOR ON PELOTONTALES BLOG [su_posts posts_per_page=”3″ tax_term=”740″ order=”desc” orderby=”rand”] MORE JACQUES ANQUETIL [su_posts posts_per_page=”3″ tax_term=”78″ order=”desc” orderby=”rand”]

Irish cyclist Sean Kelly crossing the finish line

14 March 1982 First stage victory for Sean Kelly at Paris-Nice

Sean Kelly’s stellar performance of seven consecutive overall victories (1982-1988) is still unmatched in the history of Paris-Nice. He also collected a total of 14 stage victories. (However, he won the race without winning a stage in 1985). Kelly’s first succesfull year at Paris-Nice was 1982. He managed to win 4 stages (3rd , 5th and 7th/a and 7/b). First of them was a triumph in a 182 km long stage between Vichy and Saint-Étienne on 14th March 1982. MORE “ON THIS DAY” POSTS ON PELOTONTALES [su_posts posts_per_page=”4″ tax_term=”6″ order=”desc” orderby=”rand”]