Category: Features
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Ronde Van Vlaaderen 100
This Sunday we witness not only a pre-cursor to the infamous Paris-Roubaix, but see history unfold as well. For it is the 100th anniversary of the Ronde Van Vlaaderen – the Tour of Flanders. Yes, they ride up the Koppenberg, the picture that takes up much of this page! Classic Royalty As much as the…
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Blooming Marvellous
Walk with me Every now and again I get a cycling revelation that makes a world of difference, boosting my confidence on the bike and demanding respect for those who choose to give it full welly on the pro-peloton. This past fortnight is such a moment. I learn four amazing facts: firstly, there’s no shame in walking. At the…
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Love the TDU
“Let’s go to Adelaide for dad’s birthday” my wife said. I didn’t dismiss the idea completely. Sure it was going to cost me a silly amount of money to fly myself, wife and 3 kids over to Adelaide, but I had just finished reading the Tour Down Under ride guide and I was sure…
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From Russia With Love
If Daniel Craig forged a new era for 007, then Team Katusha has certainly reshaped the image of Russian Cycling. Repeated triumphs by the team and team leader, Joaquim ‘El Purito’ Rodriguez, has catapulted Katusha to the premier league in what is possibly their most successful year to date. Nonetheless, on Monday 10 December, the…
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You got something to say
It’s now more popular than ever to ride a bike. A pleasing phenomenon not just occurring in our country lanes, but in our bustling high streets too. A walk down Oxford Street and you’ll see push-bikes everywhere: on the roads and in fashion stores as well. It’s the all new handbag, and smart-phone for the…
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Lance Man Standing
Southern France, Thursday 23 July, 2009. Stu spreads a local map on the dinner table and invites us to share in his revelation: that we could actually fit in an extra stage of the Tour de France, in addition to the penultimate stage on top of Mount Ventoux. That’s two stages of Le Tour in…
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Extracts from Colombia
The first of many Preparations made, and debts having been settled, I arose uneasily at 5.30am to the hammer of my alarm. I am not an early riser, unless I rise early. I hadn’t slept for fear of what was about to happen. The idea of cycling to the bottom of the world seemed fairly…
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Riding in the shadows of Legends
space Headliners Only en velo do you get to score at Wembley, headline Glastonbury or walk on the moon. The velodrome at Herne Hill, South London is 120 years old this year and in its day was a cycling equivalent of Wembley, hosting the 1948 Olympics and cycling legends like Jacques Anquetil, Fausto Coppi and…
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Rhythm
The proposal is simple: just NuStu and me out on our fixed steel steeds. No gears, no fears. Unsurprisingly its a grey day which doesn’t matter in the slightest as the calm and unassuming magnificence of the Surrey Hills coupled by conversations of life, kids and kit are set to keep us friendly company over…