When does Giro d’Italia 2023 start?

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

Every road cycling legend, every great champion has that first epic moment that defines their career. The moment that takes everyone by surprise, yet deep down, everyone knows this cyclist was always capable to do it. In 1967 Eddy Merckx was already a two-time  Milano-Sanremo champion, after he repeated his success in previous year. He … Read more

You might have always wondered what is that strange picture of Fiorenzo Magni holding something between his teeth with an heroic effort displayed on his face. As most of the legendary cycling images, this one has its extraordinary backstory too. According to the pre-race predictions, Giro d’Italia 1956 was dubbed as the fight between the … Read more

Passo del Mortirolo, usually a mid-stage ascent, was introduced to Giro d’Italia in 1990. The first rider on the top was the Venezuelan Leonardo Sierra. There is a monument to Marco Pantani at 8 km from the top (from the side of Mazzo di Valtellina).Also,  there is a special prize for the rider first atop, … Read more

There are only four riders who led the general classification of Giro d’Italia thtough the entire race. Although the number of days they spent in leadeship differs due to the different stucture of the race though the years. Costante Girardengo 1919 (10 stages) During the first edition of Giro d’Italia after World War I Girardengo … Read more

Mario Cipollini won the most Giro d’Italia stages  He became the sole record holder on the 9th stage of Giro d’ Italia in 2003See the list of the top 25 riders:Mario Cipollini 42Alfredo Binda  41Learco Guerra  31Costante Girardengo  30Eddy Merckx  25Giuseppe Saronni  24Francesco Moser  23Roger De Vlaeminck 22Alessandro Petacchi 22Fausto Coppi  22Franco Bitossi  20Miguel Poblet … Read more

In the year when Giro d’Italia organizers decided to pay Alfredo Binda for not to participate the race, a 21-year-young neo-pro rider, Luigi Marchisio had the chance of his lifetime in the Legnano team. And that’s it. This is pretty much his story, because besides winning the Giro d’Italia in 1930, he had very few … Read more

Although nowadays Luigi Malabrocca is remembered by the unheroic fight for the maglia nera, the last place of the Giro d’Italia, he also managed to earn some real victories during his professional career between 1945 and 1958. Malabrocca, usually one of the domestiques for Fausto Coppi during road cycling races, was a two-time Italian cyclocross … Read more

The youngest Giro-stage winner ever, Olimpio Bizzi (1916-1976) was active as professional cyclist between 1936 and 1952. Practically, he was racing in the shadow of the greatest generation of Italian cyclists, including Learco Guerra, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, or Giorenzo Magni Nevertheless, Bizzi had his own successes during his career. Besides some minor one-day race … Read more

Cyrille Van Hauwaert (1883-1974) was one of the most successful Belgian cyclist in the pre -WW1 era. His story  began like a folktale. The big and strong Flemish farm boy, who didn’t speak French arrived in the office of the La Française team’s directeur sportif, Pierre Pierrard two days before Paris-Roubaix in 1907. Van Hauwaert … Read more

A cyclist running while carrying his bike on his shoulder. Surely, you’ve seen this vintage cycling image several times. Now it’s time to learn a bit more about the protagonist of the picture. Victor Fontan (1892-1982) in the Faces from the peloton series of PelotonTales blog. A local rider World War I (as did World … Read more

The first Tour de France started at 3 pm on the 1st of July in 1903 from the Café au Reveil Matin (Paris).

Tour de France 1914 started on the same day, 28th June, as the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg  were assassinated in Sarajevo. When the riders lined up in the middle of the nigh for the start of the first stage in Paris, they knew nothing about that this day … Read more

Defining historical events of the 20th century often left  their marks on road cycling history. Just think about, for istance, the impact of World War 1 on the mythology of some famous races, like Paris-Roubaix. The born of the famous phase of “Hell of the North” is a quite well known story among cycling fans. … Read more

Although the idea of a French cyclist in a striped shirt might seem like a little bit of a cliché, sometimes stereotypes are carrying quite much truth in themselves. Just take a look at Hippolyte Aucouturier! One of the most iconic characters from the early days of road cycling races. Nevertheless, he was not only … Read more

It was a great moment and yet one of the weirdest situations in the history of Tour de France, when and, it seems to be more important,  how the organisers decided to put Col du Tourmalet in the program. Crossed Tourmalet stop. Very good road stop. Perfectly passable. -stood in the telegram Alphonse Steinès sent … Read more