Introducing the Tour de France edition

Introducing the Tour de France edition

The Giro d'Italia may have ended, but that only means the Tour de France is on its way. It also means the launch of our special Tour de France edition. Every cloud... Editor Andy McGrath reveals what's inside.

From the magazine Issue 104 Words: Andy McGrath

After three breathless weeks of racing at the Giro d’Italia, Egan Bernal is pretty in pink and back in the game. I’m so looking forward to intense battles between him and fellow fresh-faced prodigy Tadej Pogačar for the next decade. 

But for the here and now, Pogačar is the star feature of our marvellous and many-sided Tour de France issue, which is out now. I set out to deliver a comprehensive portrait of the Slovenian defending champion: show his real personality, talk to the people that know him best and get some original stories.

See a preview of the Tour de France edition

So alongside managers and team-mates, I phoned up his mum and dad. Marjeta and Mirko didn’t disappoint; they even sent over some photos from the family album for the article. It turns out that shy Tadej is full of surprises – did you know that he used to be a unicyclist? That the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are on his horizon? That his first pro salary was “only” €70,000? (It didn’t stay that way for long).

Will Pog be top dog this year? Well, not according to our very scientific predictor – a booze-fuelled dry run of the 2021 Tour through the medium of a board game, Flamme Rouge. By the end, there was lasagne and mini board game cyclists everywhere. Absurd, but very amusing.

We do both the lowbrow and the highbrow very well here at Rouleur. Philippa York has penned compelling letters from a fictional Lance Armstrong fanatic that chart both the poignant waxing and waning of an obsession and the champion’s transformation from beloved protagonist to sporting Voldemort. As someone who was a teenage supporter at the height of Lancemania, I can relate to many of the emotions that are evoked.

Just three excellent reasons to sign up if you haven’t already for our Tour de France issue, often our bestseller of the year. And that’s not even counting Sean Hardy’s art gallery-worthy front cover. 

Andy McGrath | Editor 

From the magazine Issue 104 Words: Andy McGrath

READ MORE

Can comeback queen Anna van der Breggen win La Vuelta a España Feminina?

Can comeback queen Anna van der Breggen win La Vuelta a España Feminina?

Team SD Worx-Protime rider takes her 63rd career victory at stage four of La Vuelta a España Femenina, four years after her last win

Leer más
Front row seat: A wild Strade Bianche VIP chase with Sportive Breaks

Front row seat: A wild Strade Bianche VIP chase with Sportive Breaks

Rouleur joins Sportive Breaks for a hair-raising, behind-the-scenes dash around the gravel roads of Tuscany following, seeing and experiencing the chaos of Strade Bianche

Leer más
Richard Carapaz

Richard Carapaz returns to the Giro d'Italia as a former winner — and an underdog

Richard Carapaz will head into the 2025 Giro d’Italia as one of the pre-eminent GC riders of his day, a former winner of the race...

Leer más
Giro d'Italia 2024 peloton

Giro d’Italia route 2025: Everything you need to know about the stages of this year's race

The white roads of Strade Bianche, fearsome mountain passes and a Balkan Grande Partenza

Leer más
Juan Ayuso and Primoz Roglic

Giro d’Italia 2025 contenders: who will win the 108th edition?

Rouleur takes a look at the contenders to win the Maglia Rosa in Italy this month

Leer más
XDS Astana's Great Escape is definitely on: 'Why shouldn't we be confident?'

XDS Astana's Great Escape is definitely on: 'Why shouldn't we be confident?'

Alexander Vinokourov's team are making the impossible rather quite possible

Leer más

READ RIDE REPEAT

JOIN ROULEUR TODAY

Get closer to the sport than ever before.

Enjoy a digital subscription to Rouleur for just £4 per month and get access to our award-winning magazines.

SUBSCRIBE