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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 on the track, but it turned out very soon, the endurace races suited him more. His performance on 11 May 1893 was the first “recognised hour record in the history of cycling races. He also established records at 50 and 100 km and 100 miles. He won even the tricycle championship in that successful year of 1893. [su_box title=”Read more… Read More »Henri Desgrange, the cyclist

The penny-farthing bicycle was the first vechicle called bicycle. With its large front wheel, it was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, before the modern bicycles became fashionable.Read More »What was the penny-farthing bicycle?

I had coffee out on the terrasse with the team manager of one of the big bicycle manufacturers. He said it had been a very pleasant race, and would have been worth watching if Bottechia had not abandoned it at Pamplona. The dust had been bad, but in Spain the roads were better than in France. Bicycle road-racing was the only sport in the world, he said. (Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises)  

“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.” (Mark Twain: Taming the Bicycle)  

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

Read More »Pouring rain at the Tour de France 1936

Passo dello Stelvio (Stelvio Pass) is a 2757 m high pass in the Alps. The ascent was introduced to the Giro d’Italia in 1953. That stage was won by Fausto CoppiRead More »Aldo Moser on the Stelvio (Giro d’Italia 1965)

2000 Andrei Tchmil (Lotto–Adecco) 2001 Gianluca Bortolami (Tacconi Sport–Vini Caldirola) 2002 Andrea Tafi (Mapei–Quick-Step) 2003 Peter van Petegem (Lotto–Domo) 2004 Steffen Wesemann (T-Mobile Team) 2005 Tom Boonen (Quick-Step–Innergetic) 2006 Tom Boonen (Quick-Step–Innergetic) 2007 Italy Alessandro Ballan (Lampre–Fondital) 2008 Stijn Devolder (Quick-Step) 2009 Stijn Devolder (Quick-Step) 2010 Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank) 2011 Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank–SunGard) 2012 Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) 2013 Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack–Leopard) 2014 Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) 2015 Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) 2016 Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) 2017 Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) 2018 Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors) 2019 Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) 2020 Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Fenix) 2021 Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck–Quick-Step [su_box title=”More Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) on… Read More »Ronde van Vlaanderen winners since 2000

In September 1893, a young sixteen-year-old girl rode on bicycle from  Brighton to London and back. The road between the two cities was 190 km (120 mi) long and it took her 8 hours and 30 minutes to return to Brighton from the capitol, wich was considered a new record.   Tessie Reynolds was the daughter of Robert James Reynolds, a gymnastic instructor and cycling agent, who promoted active sport among his children. Also her mother was involved in the new craziness of cycling, she run a boarding house catering for cyclists especially. Thus, basically, Tessie grew up in a family, where riding a bicycle and challenging herself physically was normal even for a young woman.… Read More »Cycling record of a sixteen-year-old girl

“When you have reached the point in bicycling where you can balance the machine tolerably fairly and propel it and steer it, then comes your next task–how to mount it. You do it in this way: you hop along behind it on your right foot, resting the other on the mounting-peg, and grasping the tiller with your hands. At the word, you rise on the peg, stiffen your left leg, hang your other one around in the air in a general in indefinite way, lean your stomach against the rear of the saddle, and then fall off, maybe on one side, maybe on the other; but you fall off. You get up and do it… Read More »How to mount a bicycle

Edmond Jacquelin, one of the first stars in the history of cycling races was born on the 15th March 1875 in Santenay, France. He started his professional career in 1893. This was the time period when cycling races were predominantly track events. Jacquelin won the Grand Prix Turin in 1898, the Grand Prix de Paris and the World Championship in 1900. His career is still most memorable from the famous cycling duel between him and the American Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor in the Parc des Princes velodrome. Edmond Jacquelin retired from cycling in 1914. Although he earned a fortune as cyclist, he spent all his money too quickly and  had to work as a day… Read More »Cycling Who’s Who: Edmond Jacquelin