Tag:

Rider History

Men's Cycling

Michael Boogerd: the Dutch fan favourite who kept the spring alive

Michael Boogerd occupied an unusual place in Dutch cycling. He was never the most decorated rider of his era, but for more than a...
Women's Cycling

Noemi Cantele – a classy all-rounder from Italy’s deep women’s cycling generation

Noemi Cantele belonged to an Italian generation so deep that being one of the best riders in the world did not always make you...
Women's Cycling

Hanka Kupfernagel: a multi-discipline force long before that became fashionable

Hanka Kupfernagel was crossing cycling's disciplinary boundaries decades before doing so became a celebrated part of the modern sport. She was the first women's...
Men's Cycling

Joop Zoetemelk: patience, durability and a career built on always being there

Joop Zoetemelk is still too often introduced through the races he did not win. Six second places at the Tour de France became the...
Men's Cycling

Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle: the late-blooming Paris-Roubaix winner who refused to fade away

Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle was 37 when he finally won Paris-Roubaix and 38 when he returned to the Roubaix velodrome a year later and did it...
Men's Cycling

Freddy Maertens: speed, fragility and one of cycling’s sharpest career arcs

Freddy Maertens did not gradually become one of the best riders in the world. He arrived, started winning at an extraordinary rate and, for...
Women's Cycling

Marianne Martin: the first Tour de France Féminin winner and a story worth rescuing

Marianne Martin's place in cycling history is both enormous and strangely easy to overlook. In July 1984, the 26-year-old American arrived in France having...
Men's Cycling

Jan Raas – the Dutch master who turned control and timing into an art form

Jan Raas was never the rider who needed the road to become impossibly hard before he could take control of a race. His best...
Men's Cycling

Andrea Tafi: the hard man of the cobbles who fitted Paris-Roubaix perfectly

Andrea Tafi looked as though he had been designed for Paris-Roubaix. The Tuscan was powerful enough to drive across broken pavé for hour after hour,...
Men's Cycling

Claude Criquielion: flair, bad luck and a palmarès too often defined by what got away

Claude Criquielion won a world title, the Tour of Flanders, two editions of La Flèche Wallonne, the Clásica de San Sebastián and the Tour...
Men's Cycling

Alex Zülle: Grand Tour brilliance, bad luck and the contradictions of a 1990s contender

Alex Zülle was one of the finest stage racers of the 1990s, but almost nothing about his career fits neatly. He won the Vuelta a...
Women's Cycling

Giorgia Bronzini: sprint craft, timing and a career built on racing intelligence

Giorgia Bronzini was a sprinter who appeared to understand the final kilometre before most of the field had worked out the road in front...