Publisher - What's Cool In Road Cycling

20 years of PEZ: The 2022 Tour returns to l'Alp d'Huez, so we look back to 2015 with Ed Hood. There's only one thing crazier than Alp d'Huez at the Tour de France - and that's the Dutch Corner on Alp d'Huez at the Tour de France. Ed & Callum were up the road, roadside, and inside the madness that is one of pro sport's maddest moments.

Virtual athletic challenges allow you to stay close to home while racking up the miles, recording them on software that shows you, usually with Google Streetview, where you are (virtually). I have embraced the virtual challenge ethos. One of my favourite virtual challenges was cycling the distance of the 1903 Tour de France, the first edition of the race.

We have been noting this anecdotally for years, but literally, billions and billions of dollars continue to pour into sports with several more examples this week. The value of everything sports-related – athletes, teams, league sponsorships, NFTs, and particularly TV and media rights – is skyrocketing, particularly as concerns about COVID have started to wane.

The Race Across America saw its 2022 edition launch from California on June 14 as 33 solo riders set off for Maryland, to be reached in less than 12 days. June 18 was the day when RAAM team categories set off on the same course. In their number, Team GCN rides with the determination to set the fastest time a RAAM has ever been completed by a pair of riders.

Not being able to 'race chase' la Vuelta a España properly over the last covid years, our man in Spain, Alastair Hamilton, has had to rely on memory. He first saw la Vuelta 23 years ago and remembers one of the big stars - Alex Zülle - the talented short-sighted cyclist with no luck, an intimacy with doping and with a propensity for crashing.

Matt Conn; PEZ writer, top bloke and a very good racing cyclist. As part of the 'Twenty Years of PEZ' celebrations, Ed Hood reminds us of PEZ-friend Matt and what he achieved on a bike, instead of writing about others.