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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, which was twice bigger then the usual cycling tracks of those days.  Also, it was a bit far from the city centre, thus many people thought it would be a failure, but Desgrange was able to make the place profitalbe. During the pre-Tour de France era one of the biggest spectacle (and financial success was the cycling match between Marshall… Read More »Iconic Places: Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes

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)    

Giovanni Brunero was born on the 4 October 1895 in San Maurizio Canavese, Italy. Brunero was the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia 3 times (1921, 1922, 1926), which was a remarkable result during the era of Costante Girardengo and  Alfredo Binda. On the other hand, Brunero’s triumphs seemed to be not entirely undisputable. The Giro d’Italia in 1922 called the race of “mille polemiche”, a. k . a “The Giro of Thousand Arguments”. After an illegal wheel change on the first stage of the race, he only got a penalty of 25 minutes. The teams of Costante Girardengo (Maino) and Gaetano Belloni (Bianchi) wanted him to be excluded from the race. When they… Read More »Cycling Who’s Who: Giovanni Brunero

Alfredo Binda was the scond Campionissimo in the history of Italian road cycling. He was the first rider to win 4 Giro d’Italia titles (1925, 1927, 1928, 1929). This picture was taken during the Giro d’Italia in 1929. After Binda has won his record breaking 4th Giro d’Italia, the organizers were worried about the race might be too boring for the audince. So they paid Binda to absent the race next year. Related story The cyclist who was paid to skip the Giro d’Italia Read other stories from the history of Giro d’Italia The story of the Maglia Nera (Giro d’Italia 1946-1951) Fiorenzo Magni and the Giro d’Italia 1956      

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Alfredo Binda ( 1902-1986), the second “Campionissimo”of the Italian cycling dominated at the Giro d’Italia in the second half of the 1920s. In 1929 he managed to win the race for the 4th time (after 1925, 1927 and 1928). This was a new record then.

Read More »The cyclist who was paid to skip the Giro d’Italia

Finally, the Giro d’Italia is here, again, in May, where its place is. As prepraration for one of the most important races of the year, I’ve selected 7 climbs from the program, which might be decisive for the outcome of the competition. Montemolino (Stage 4, Piacenza – Sestola, 187 km) The stage includes two other 3rd category climbs, and Montemolino is neither the first, nor the last of them. So why then?  Taking a look at the length of the ascent, and the steepness of the last 2 km, especially at the steepest part with 18%, this might be the first challenging climb for the GC riders. This can provide the first insight of their… Read More »The 7 Most Anticipated Climbs of Giro d’Italia 2021

The 4th edition of Amstel Gold Race stretched 259 km, started in Helmond, finished in Meerssen. Hail and snow made the competition difficult, 132 riders started the race, but only 36 finished it. This was Reybrouck’s only one victory at Amstel Gold Race.  Jon Huysmans finished 2nd, Eddy Merckx 3rd.

The weather on the day of the 80th Paris-Roubaix was dry. The road from Compiegne to Roubaix was 270,5 km long. 174 riders  were at the start,  57 of them were able to the route. With 20 km to go, a 9-man group led the race, including Jan Raas, Ludo Peeters, Bernard Hinault and Roger de Vlaeminck. Peeters, who was working for Raas on this day, escaped from the group, so Hinault and co. had to chase him. When they caught him, Raas attacked, reached the velodrome in Roubaix alone and won the race. This was his only Paris-Roubaix victory.