Giro d’Italia 2022 Stage 21 (Verona 17,4 km ITT)

Giusto Cerutti (1903-1993) had at least one bad day at the Tour de France in 1928.We don’t know much about the grumpy cyclist with the broken bicycle. But one thing is sure, he is the unlucky (anti)hero of one of the most searched vintage cycling images on the internet.According to  ProCyclingStats, Cerutti abandoned the race … Read more

The 70th Ronde van Vlaanderen was held on the 6th April 1986. After the Koppenberg, a 10-man breakaway group formed. With 30 km to go, Eddy Planckaert and Steve Bauer rode away from this group. On the Muur Kappelmuur (Muur van Geraardsbergen) Planckaert dropped, menawhile Sean Kelly, Jean-Philippe Vandenbranden and Adrie van der Poel joined … Read more

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 … Read more

Henri Pelissier, Bartolomeo Aymo and Ottavio Bottecchia on the Aubisque, Tour de France 1925, Stage 8 (Bayonne-Luchon 326 km, 1st July, 1925) Top 10 riders of the stage: Adelin Benoît: 15hr 18min 56sec Omer Huyse 8min 34sec Ottavio Bottecchia 11min 15sec Nicolas Frantz 21min 19sec Albert Dejonghe 22min 4sec Romain Bellenger 35min 50sec Théophile Beeckman … Read more

Cycling in extreme weather: Charly Gaul on the famous stage 20 up to Monte Bondone at the Giro d’Italia 1956   Race director Vincenzo Torriani was asked to cancel the stage due to the rough weather conditions were forecasted. But he declined it, he may have thought, this could make the unexciting race exciting again. … Read more

Josef Fischer, the winner of the first Paris-Roubaix (1896) was born on the 20th January, 1865 in Atzlern (near München, Germany).  Fischer participated in several of the earliest long-distance bicycle races, like the 582,5 km long Vienna-Berlin race in 1893, where he triumphed. The route took him 31 hours. Next year, among others, he attended … Read more

The picture was taken on a training ride before Paris-Roubaix in 1970. Eddy Merckx earned his first Paris-Roubaix victory in 1968.  Next year he became second. The 68th edition of the “Hell of the North”  on the 12th April in 1970 witnessed his second triumph. Merckx also won the race in 1973.

Defending champion Fausto Coppi didn’t attend the Tour de France in 1953. He was  rather preparing for the World Championships. However, he trained in the Alps during July. So, he visited the Tour de France as a tourist. During the 1950s, there was a unique  4-man group in the peloton, later called the “G4” by … Read more

André Leducq, the two-time Tour de France winner (1930 and 1932) claimed his first great triumph at  Paris-Roubaix in 1928. The race took place on the 8th April 1928. 89 riders departed in Le Vésinet but only 52 riders completed the 260 km long route. The defining moment of the race happened in Arras, where … Read more

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 … Read more