Cover stories: issue 18.1 – Eddy and the Angels

Cover stories: issue 18.1 – Eddy and the Angels

Lance in the confessional box, Eddy at the altar, coffee named after a drug… Deification or derision? Paul Maunder counts his blessings in Flanders

Cover Stories cover story Eddy Merckx Heritage issue 18.1 Roeselare rouleur 18.1

A church in a provincial town in Flanders has absorbed into its space an array of relics. Not relics of the religion practiced at the church, but relics of a sport. Sacred cycling artifacts mingling with the iconography of Christianity. 

This is Koers is Religie (Cycling is Religion), an exhibition curated by the Roeselare Wielermuseum in the Fathers’ Church, not far from the original museum building, which has recently completed a lengthy refurbishment. The curators have sought to draw parallels between religion and cycle racing, specifically professional road racing.

There are images of the cycling gods, including a portrait of Eddy Merckx surrounded by angels. The theme of suffering (something that is really rather popular in both religion and cycling) is portrayed through a display of cycling photography. 

Read: a visit to the ‘church of cycling‘ 

The exhibition guide notes how cycling photography portrays the sport’s heroes in similar ways to famous works of religious art, like Michelangelo’s Pietà, which shows Mary cradling Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. 

I can see the argument here – that pro cyclists are the martyrs we love to watch suffer – but to compare photographs of the Tour of Flanders to the Lamentation of Christ seems a bit of a stretch…

Losing my Religion, issue 18.1, on sale January 26

The post Cover stories: issue 18.1 – Eddy and the Angels appeared first on The world's finest cycling magazine.

Cover Stories cover story Eddy Merckx Heritage issue 18.1 Roeselare rouleur 18.1

READ MORE

Giulio Ciccone

The crash that caused chaos: The Giro d'Italia has had an unexpected GC shake-up

On what was supposed to be a simple sprint finish, neither the fastmen nor many of the GC riders will be pleased with how the...

Leer más
Giro d'Italia

Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 15 preview: Up and over Monte Grappa

A stage stacked full of climbing may not be enough to draw out the GC contenders, thanks to the long plateau to the finish

Leer más
Isaac del Toro

Victory by a thousand paper cuts: Can Isaac del Toro's bonus seconds strategy lead to a Giro d'Italia win?

The Mexican has been the most impressive GC rider so far in this Giro, but will face his toughest test in the high mountains next...

Leer más
Mads Pedersen

A sprint like no other: Mads Pedersen’s power rewrites uphill cycling rules

Lidl-Trek have five wins at the 2025 Giro d’Italia after Pedersen’s win on stage 13 in Vicenza

Leer más
Olav Kooij at the Giro d'Italia 2025

Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 14 preview: Last sprint chance before Rome

The Giro's penultimate chance for the sprinters awaits on a flat finish in the Slovenian city of Nova Gorica

Leer más
Explore without borders: Behind the Giro’s stage finish in the border city of Gorizia

Explore without borders: Behind the Giro’s stage finish in the border city of Gorizia

The twin cities of Gorizia and Nova Gorica straddle the border between Italy and Slovenia. Rouleur takes a couple of rides in a region with...

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