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Serse Coppi with his older brother Fausto Coppi after finishing Paris-Roubaix in 1949

Faces from the peloton: Serse Coppi (1923-1951)

Fausto Coppi’s brother, Serse was born on the 19th of March in 1923 in Castellania, Italy. He started to race professionally in the Bianchi team as the most trusted domestique of his older sibling in 1946. Nevertheless, he had his own personal success either: he won Paris-Roubaix in 1949, although under disputable circumstances. Originally, André Mahé crossed the finish line first and Serse won only the sprint among the chasers. But it was told, that a policeman navigated Mahé into the velodrome through a wrong gate. Thus, he violated the rules of the race, but it wasn’t his fault. The superstar Fausto Coppi used his influence wanting the jury to disqualify Mahé and name Serse… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Serse Coppi (1923-1951)

Max Bulla the first Austrian cyclist to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France sitting at a desk and smiling into the camera

Faces from the peloton: Max Bulla (1905-1990)

Austrian cyclist Max Bulla (1905-1990) attended Tour de France twice. In  1931  he finished 15th, in 1932 19th in overall. He also had a 34th place at the Giro d’Italia in 1934 and a 5th place at the first Vuelta a Espana in 1935. In 1931 he won a Tour de France stage and was wearing the yellow jersey for one day. He was the first Austrian cyclist to do so. Bulla’s success was even more remarkable, because he competed as “tourist-routier”, an independent rider, being no member of any team. (Let’s don’t forget, this was the era of the system of national teams at the Tour de France). The tourinst-routiers started 10 minutes after… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Max Bulla (1905-1990)

The Pogacar-fun continues

After winning the one-day race Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior  on Monday, the Slovenian rider won also the opening stage of Vuelta a Andalucia  Ruta Ciclista del Sol. As you can see the profile of the stage below, the program of the day included a several 1st category climbs, the last of them, called Despiernacaballos,  was located only 10,6 km before the finish line. This was the ascent, where, with 12 km to go, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) launched his attack. Although Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) tried to go with him for a while, the 2-time Tour de France winner Pogacar went solo again.  And won the stage.

Extract of the map of Giro d'Italia 2023

Giro d’Italia 2023 stages

The 106th edition of Giro d’Italia will be held between 6 and 28 May 2023. Take a look at the stages Stage 1 6 May 2023 Costa dei Trabocchi ITT Fossacesia Marina – Ortona 19,6 km Stage 2 7 May 2023 Teramo – San Salvo 201 km Stage 3 8 May 2023 Vasto – Melfi 216 km Stage 4 9 May 2023 Venosa – Lago Laceno 175 km Stage 5 10 May 2023 Atripalda – Salerno 171 km Stage 6 11 May 2023 Napoli – Napoli 162 km Stage 7 12 May 2023 Capua – Gran Sasso d’Italia (Campo Imperatore) 218 km Stage 8 13 May 2023 Terni – Fossombrone 207 km Stage 9 14… Read More »Giro d’Italia 2023 stages

Slovenian cyclists Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line at Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior

Tadej Pogacar kicked off his season with victory

As he did in the previous seasons, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) started his new season with a victory. Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior is a relatively new one-day race in Andalucía, Spain. The first edition was held in 2022, won by Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qasaqstan Team). Its gravel sections makes the race similar to Strade Bianche. Pogacar, who started his season 2023 with this event, crossed the finish line first after he delivered a 36 km long solo ride. Second became Ben Turner (Ineon Grenadiers), Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) finished the race 3rd.

Cyclist riding on a dusty road at Tour de France 1919

The years of La Sportive consortium (1919- 1921)

Although Henri Desgrange was always keen to preserve Tour de France as a competition for individuals1,  cyclists who were sponsored by the same bicycle manufacture naturally worked as a team. Alcyon for example, delivered four overall victories (François Faber, 1909; Octave Lapize,1910 ; Gustave Garrigou, 1911; Odyle Defraye, 1912) before 1914 and dominated most of the editions of the race during the 1920s. World War I had a devastating impact on the French economy2, obviously on the life of the bicycle manufactures too. When Tour de France was held for the first time after the war in 1919, even the most notable companies were struggling to help their riders properly. But they wanted to keep… Read More »The years of La Sportive consortium (1919- 1921)

Portraits of the cyclists Oscar Egg and Marcel Berthet

Duel between Marcel Berthet and Oscar Egg for the hour record

The hour record, riding the longest distance as possible during exactly 60 minutes was a populare challenge since the birt of the bicycle. Actually there were several “first” records during the 19th century: James Moore, a British cyclist set the record of 23,3 km in 1873, but most likely it wasn’t an accurataly measured distance, only approximated. The American Frank Dodds managed to ride 16,508 km on a penny farthing bicycle in 1876. This was the universally accepted record till Henri Desgrange came and set the first official record in 1893. His result was 35,325 km. A great rivalry evolved between the French Marcel Berthet (1887-1953) and the Swiss cyclist Oscar Egg (1890-1961) during the… Read More »Duel between Marcel Berthet and Oscar Egg for the hour record

Cyclists at the start Giro d'Italia in 1912

Vintage cycling image of the day: Start of Giro d’Italia 1912

Giro d’Italia 1912 was a unique grand tour edition, where teams were competing and no individual winner was awarded. The race started on 19th May in 1912 in Milano. 54 cyclists started the 2443,7 km long (9 stages) race, 24 finished. If there would have been an individual competition, Carlo Galetti eould have been the winner. The final results: Atala-Dunlop (Carlo Galetti, Giovanni Micheletto, Eberardo Pavesi, Luigi Ganna): 33 points Peugeot (Carlo Durando, Angelo Gremo, Ugo Agostini, Domenico Allasia: 23 Gerbi (Giovanni Gerbi, Giovanni Rossignoli, Pietro Albini, Lauro Bordin): 8 Goericke (Domenico Dilda, Enrico Sala, Giovanni Cocchi, Carlo Vertua): 8 Globo (Sante Goi, Cesare Goi, Mario Santagostino, Alberto Maverna): 7 Legnano (Ernesto Azzini, Vincenzo Borgarello,… Read More »Vintage cycling image of the day: Start of Giro d’Italia 1912

French cyclist Henri Pépin on a magazin portrait from 1894

The Tour de France contestant who hired two other cyclists just for having fun

Henri Pépin was neither an eccentric aristocrat, nor a rookie cyclist when he hired two other persons to join him to ride the Tour de France just for fun. Pépin (1864-1915) was an active cyclist in the 19th century already. He even published a book about him and (possibly) his son riding a tandem from Paris to Agen in 57 hours and 45 minutes in 1895. (The short book was published two years later). He used to tour around Europe by bicycle and take photographs. Carrying the heavy set with him seemed to be a bit more complicated, than we can imagine from our 21st century point of view. He certanly was a man of… Read More »The Tour de France contestant who hired two other cyclists just for having fun