RACING
Updates, stories and opinions from inside the world's greatest sport, written and captured by Rouleur journalists
Recollections: How Marco Pantani’s Tour winning attack changed my life
Twenty years ago a famous escape for Marco Pantani on the Galibier enlivened the 1998 Tour and led Giles Belbin into discovering the world of professional cycling
Darkness and light: remembering Fabio Casartelli
An exploration of love, loss and life with Annalisa Casartelli, widow of the last competitor to die during the Tour de France
There’s nothing new about gravel roads in the Tour de France
Nor Peter Sagan’s podium goggles for that matter. Stage 10 of the 2018 Tour includes a couple of kilometres of dirt track on the Plateau de...
The longest day: Thierry Marie’s monster Tour de France break
He was a prologue specialist familiar with winning over short distances. But looking to right a historic wrong on home turf, Thierry Marie soloed 234km to a...
Causeway for concern – Tour de France 1999
It should have been a spectacular ride across the ocean, but the 1999 Tour’s disastrous crossing from Noirmoutier spelt an early bath for several riders...
Matt Seaton column: The Plight of Icarus
The Sochi scam, The Cold War and Trump, how politics and sport are so often intertwined. Matt Seaton believes the problem is us
A load of old bollards: an unusual park that celebrates cycling’s heroes
Tucked away in a park in Trentino is a collection of paracarri – stone road markers, from Italy and beyond – each dedicated to riders past...
Philippa York: saints, desire and religion
An emerald-green Colnago bike can be the object of desire and the ultimate betrayal. Philippa York’s Rouleur column on growing up in Glasgow’s Presbyterian society
Forgotten Finishes
From football stadiums to hippodromes, Classic finishes are moveable feasts. But what makes an iconic finish, and what do the places mean to past winners?...
Rough love: the Giro and the Colle delle Finestre
When the gravelled Colle delle Finestre first appeared in the Giro in 2005, it was an instant hit
Canvassing Opinion: Painting the Giro d’Italia
Venice in pink, the bunch dreams and ‘Grazie Fausto’: Jeff Parr captures the spirit of the Giro on canvas
Mid-race conversations: how Rolf Sorensen won Liege in 1993
Rolf Sorensen developed a reputation as a Classics and hilly race specialist and still has vivid memories of his 1993 win in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, his –...
Dirk Demol: winning Roubaix can change your life
Breakaway hopeful Dirk Demol recalls his 1988 victory in Paris-Roubaix, a day everything aligned and altered the course of his career
Steve Bauer – the man who lost Paris-Roubaix by millimetres
In 1990 Steve Bauer finished second by a centimetre — behind Eddy Planckaert — in a race that was his favourite Classic. “I don’t have any...
Why George Hincapie rode the Tour of Flanders 17 times
The American hard man on boozy fans, brutal bergs and what makes the Tour of Flanders special
The tears of Van Hooydonck – the two time Flanders winner burnt by the EPO era
Edwig Van Hooydonck knew exactly where he could attack on the Bosberg and keep his speed to the top. But practice and knowledge couldn’t compete with 90’s new...
Gent-Wevelgem 1989: Sean Yates and Gerrit Solleveld’s race-long break
It was a wet Wednesday in Wevelgem but there was no hanging around for Sean Yates and his fellow escapee. After 246km out front, they...
Coureur – The Sporting Cyclist: online archive of Rouleur forerunner
A major inspiration behind Rouleur, all 132 editions of Jock Wadley’s pioneering publication uploaded
Toni Maier – how Assos championed lycra, carbon and aero wheels
As Swiss company Assos celebrate over 40 years in the sport, we take a look at the profound influence founder Toni Maier has had on cycling
Jørgen Leth on the making of a cinematic cycling classic
Jørgen Leth is the director of some of the most celebrated cycling films ever made. Jakob Kristian Sørensen visited him in a Haiti where they headed...
Snow relation: cycling’s many ties to the Winter Olympics
Are those ski pants you’re wearing? Didn’t a triathlete invent the aero bar? What have cycling and winter sports got in common? Quite a lot actually
“Young, dumb but lots of fun” – dressing for cold weather back in the good old days
Two former pros reflect on winter cycling kit and extreme conditions in the 1970s and 1980s
Joop Zoetemelk, a poster-geezer for old blokes everywhere
Joop Zoetemelk won the Tour de France at 33, the world road championship at 38 and a Classic at 40. There’s hope for us all....
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
Why you don’t want to get on the wrong side of Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault was the last French rider to win the Tour de France and the last French rider to effectively terrify the peloton. He’s still...
Office politics: Philippa York on the nuances of team car seating etiquette
Back before team buses, personal motorhomes and private jets, riders travelled in their team car. But there was still a complex pecking order at play.
Bird on the Wire, an extract from the Tom Simpson biography
Winner of the 2017 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, Tom Simpson: Bird on the Wire, by Rouleur editor Andy McGrath, explores the feats and complexities of Simpson’s life...
Txomin Perurena: Light in Dark Years
Racing through the Franco era, Basque separatism, and losing the Vuelta by 14 seconds… “I’ll never get that silence out of my head”
Felice Gimondi: Rise of The Phoenix
“My first race was in Treviglio, and we had a little three-wheeled van belonging to a greengrocer as a team car, with us sitting in...
Norway ’93: Lance Armstrong’s Worlds win revisited
Twenty-six years ago a brash Texan asserted himself as the new star of the English speaking cycling world. William Fotheringham was there
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