Publisher - What's Cool In Road Cycling

On October 8, 2022, the much-anticipated attempt by pro cyclist Filippo Ganna to break the Hour Record, one of cycling's most prestigious accomplishments, took place at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen, Switzerland. His team, INEOS Grenadiers, has recently made available on YouTube a behind-the-scenes look at the attempt.

Recently we ran a piece about riders who had transitioned from track to road – or in the case of Theo Bos, back to track, again. But what about riders who have come in to bike racing from an entirely different sport? Currently we have three shining examples of this radical change of direction.

In the early hours of Thursday the 30th of November 2023, one of Italy's greatest track cyclists died. Sante Gaiardoni passed away at the age of 84 in Motta Visconti, Lombardia. Gaiardoni was a prolific winner in the 60's and was famous for taking two Olympic gold medals in the Games of 1960 in Rome.

There is an old saying to the effect that “lightning never strikes the same place twice.” While this may be scientifically unproven, but at least we have a positive example in the 2021 release of “Pro Cycling Style,” the follow-on publication to Oliver Knight's previous book.

After his recent interview with Roberto Visentini and the 'doings' of the 1987 Giro d'Italia with Stephen Roche, Ed Hood has turned his eye to some other cases of 'skulduggery' in the peloton, or was it just professional etiquette?

The year is 1929 and in Spain there are already two big bike races: The Volta a Catalunya, started in 1911, and the Tour of the Basque Country, first run in 1924. In Spain, the love for two wheels is focused more on the velodrome. But at the time, the bicycle was becoming more and more common as a means of transportation. It is in this context that the VCV – Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana was born in 1929.