The 2024 Tour has been billed as the first real clash of cyclings grand tour big four. But with question marks still hanging over reigning champion Jonas Vingegaards fitness, who can stop Tadej Pogaar securing the first Giro-Tour double in 26 years?

CyclistHistory of the Tour de France jerseys and how they got their coloursThe year is 1919, and the Tour de France is making its comeback after a four-year, war-induced hiatus. Two-thirds of the way into the 5,560km epic and prior to the 325km Stage 11 from Grenoble to Geneva, race director Henri Desgrange decides the man in first place needs to be more clearly distinguished from his competitors. And so, before the 2am stage departure on 18th July 1919, race leader Eugne Christophe of France pulls on the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France.At the time it was merely a way of visibly marking the race leader from his rivals, but it would prove to be the decisive moment for what has become one of cyclings most fabled icons. Related Posts Does the combination jersey at the Tour de France have a place in modern cycling? In celebration of the yellow jersey Mens Tour de France 2024: Route, how to watch and all you need to know Riding the first Tour de France You say you want a revolutionThe inauguration of the yellow jersey was a gradual and partly contentious process (this is cycling, after all) that Tour historian Barry Boyce has spent a lot of time researching.In the early days of the Tour, there were much smaller pelotons than those you get today, so the leader just wore a green armband, he says. But as the popularity of the Tour increased, journalists and riders complained of not being able to indentify the race leader on the road. Belgian Philippe Thys was said to have laid claim to wearing a yellow jersey when he was leading the race in 1913, six years before it was officially introduced, but this is disputed.Desgrange came up with the idea of the jersey to distinguish the race leader, Boyce adds, and its colour was chosen because it was the colour of the paper that LAuto-Vlo, the races newspaper sponsor and predecessor to the modern Lquipe, was printed on.The aerodynamic, glossy apparel that typifies the contemporary peloton would seem rather alien to Christophe and his contemporaries, whose jerseys were baggy and made of wool.Changing clothes during a stage was a punishable offence back then, and long-sleeved jerseys with both chest and back pockets prevailed. The first known manufacturer of the official jerseys, Rhovyl, had a background in underwear, so at least the garments would have been fairly comfortable.Christophe wasnt altogether impressed with his new jersey, though, claiming that spectators laughed and called him the canary, which led to him being given his nickname Cri-cri, aFrench colloquialism for bird. But despite his complaints, the yellow jersey remained unchanged until Desgranges death in 1940, when it was decided that his initials, HD, would appear on the jersey a detail that can still be found today on the rear right-hand waistline.After gaining Le Coq Sportif as official manufacturer in 1951, the Tours second jersey was devised: green.Fausto Coppi beat everyone by such a large margin in 1952 that everyone quit, Boyce says. So the organisers decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary in 1953 by initiating the green jersey the colour inspired by its lawn mower-producing sponsor, La Belle Jardinire. They needed something to keep riders from quitting, so stage placings were awarded with points, and thus the jersey.The first maillot vert was won by Fritz Schr of Switzerland, but rather than todays reward-based system, the riders received penalty points for not finishing with a high place, so in fact the fewest points decided the eventual victor. In 1959 the reverse system was adopted and, barring the introduction of intermediate sprints, and an anomalous occasion in 1968 when the jersey was red, the competition has changed little.Showing your coloursThe significance of jerseys is not just limited to those of the particular race classifications either. From 1930-61 and 67-68, the race was run in a national team format, so the teams became symbols of chauvinism, especially at times of heightened nationalism like before World War Two, says Christopher Thompson, professor of history at Ball State University in Indiana and author of The Tour de France: ACultural History. Even more than the classification jerseys, the jerseys of participating teams became symbols of national identity.The national champions jerseys are strongly associated with national pride too, he adds. National championships are traditionally run just before the Tour starts thats no coincidence. Riders want to show off their new jerseys and make the people proud.In the years after the War, the Tour de France gradually transformed from a vehicle of national identity, and a symbol of overcoming hardship for the war-torn French public, into a commercial sporting event.The motivation behind the other jerseys was to guarantee that teams raced, despite not having an overall contender, Thompson says. They were a great way of sustaining interest for the public, but also a means to boost sponsorship. You gradually began to get commercial backing from non-cycling sectors. They wanted to see their sponsored riders doing well, and they also wanted to sponsor classifications outright. When you sponsor a jersey youre supposedly supporting excellence; people pay a lot for that.Joining the dotsDespite the inexorable rise of the Tours jerseys, the path of the maillot pois rouges the polka dot jersey has been more convoluted.Ever since 1905 LAuto-Vlo chose a meilleur grimpeur the best climber, Boyce says. It started with Ren Pottier, who was the first to summit the Tours first major climb, Ballon dAlsace. An official classification was introduced in 1933, which was first won by Vicente Trueba. But on account of the Spaniards pitiful descending, time bonuses were subsequently allocated rather than points, to further encourage the mountain goats.It wasnt until 1975 that the first polka dot jersey was awarded to the Belgian rider Lucien Van Impe, says Boyce. Why the polka dots? The original sponsor of the jersey was Chocolat Poulain and the wrapper of the chocolate bar was polka dotted.The final jersey in the contemporary Tours quartet is white and its journey has been equally complex.The white jersey hasnt always signified the best young rider, reveals Thompson. It was introduced in 1968, but was worn by the leader of the combin classification the rider who was ranked highest across the board in the other classifications.In 1975 the meaning of the white jersey was changed to represent the best young rider and, after two stage wins that year, it was Italian rider Francesco Moser who took home the honours. Some minor alterations to the selection criteria followed, so that only neo-pros or first time Tour riders could win it, but in 1987 the competition attained its current format of being awarded to the best-placed rider under 26 years of age.But all these changes werent entirely fatal for the combin classification. Thompson says, They reintroduced it in 1980 [after a five-year absence], and switched the jersey to a patchwork that represented the other competitions, he says of the design that included patches of yellow, white, green, polka dot and red.The red patch on the right shoulder of the combin jersey represented a jersey that no longer exists, but was once awarded for the intermediate sprints classification. Recognised from 1971, won by Barry Hoban in 1974, and awarded with a red points chauds jersey from 1984, the competition was ultimately rendered superfluous by an evolving points classification, and met a similar end to the combin.The modern eraIn 1989 the organiser at the time, Jean-Marie Leblanc, decided to cut back on the number of classifications because he thought it was encouraging riders to dope, Thompson says. The number of jerseys meant there were many ways for riders to earn money, and so there was pressure on them to be racing hard all the time.The jerseys for intermediate sprints, the combin and the young rider were all lost, although the latter remained an undecorated classification until 2000, when it was reintroduced as one of the Nike-supplied official Tour jerseys.And so we arrive at the four mainstays of today: yellow, polka dot, green and white. In 2012 the production of the jerseys returned to pioneering sponsor Le Coq Sportif but has since switched to Italian brand Santini.The colours, their consistency and their stories act as a reference point for the public and for the riders, concludes Thompson. They tie the current greats back to previous generations and allow us to connect moments, achievements and riders through history and its all because theyve worn the same jersey. Related Posts Does the combination jersey at the Tour de France have a place in modern cycling? In celebration of the yellow jersey Mens Tour de France 2024: Route, how to watch and all you need to know Riding the first Tour de France The post History of the Tour de France jerseys and how they got their colours appeared first on Cyclist.

Neilson Powless was very visible at the 2023 Tour de France, wearing the polka-dot jersey for a total of twelve days. Although he couldn't hold the lead of the King of the Mountains classification last year, this time around the American has a similar goal and extra fuel for the fire.In the twelve...

A man in his 50s was knocked off his ansa collision involving a motorist driving a car inCo Westmeath yesterday.A spokesperson at the Garda Press Office said: Garda are appealing for witnesses following a serious road traffic collision on the Moat Road in Ballymore, Co Westmeath on Thursday, 27th June 2024.The spokesperson said: Shortly before 1.30pm, Garda and emergency services were alerted to a collision involving a car and a bicycle. The cyclist, a man in his 50s, was taken to Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore where he is currently receiving treatment for serious injuries. No other injuries were reported.Witnesses to the collision are asked to come forward and those with camera footage who were travelling in the area at the time are asked to make this footage available to investigating Garda.Anyone with any information is asked to contact Athlone Garda Station on 090 649 8550, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

This weeks Debrief features Indigo Field Shirts, a question about free hub noise, the new Garmin Edge 1050, La Grande Traverse, Crust x Nitto cages, two events to follow live, and more. Find it all hereThe post Friday Debrief: Free Hub Noise, Indigo Field Shirts, New Garmin Edge 1050, Crust x Nitto Cages appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

Netflix series depicted tension between the DS and rider, a dynamic sources told Cycling Weekly carries a degree of accuracy

According to Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Christoph Roodhooft, Mathieu van der Poel will again use the Tour de France as preparation for bigger goals to come. In 2023 this worked well as the Dutchman took the Rainbow Jersey, could a similar route in 2024 end with the 29-year-old wearing Olympic gold?Last...

American outdoor sporting goods company REI is recalling several of its Co-Op Cycles branded children's bikes due to a fall and injury hazard.

CyclistGallery: Wiliers classic bikesAs far as online descriptions go, Rossano Veneto might just have one of the most mundane of anywhere: Is a town in the province of Vicenza, Vento, Italy. SR245 goes through it.True enough, Strade Regionali number 245 does indeed run through the middle of Rossano, helping to connect the town to its bigger brother to the north, Bassano del Grappa. But what the entry misses is the surprising number of highly successful companies this 8,000-strong community hosts.Lauded motorsport wheel maker OZ Racing was founded here in 1971, as was saddle maker Selle San Marco in 1935. However, Rossano Venetos most celebrated son must surely be Wilier Triestina, established 1906. Or perhaps that should be stepson.Our grandfather bought the Wilier name in 1969, says Andrea Gastaldello, who runs the company with brothers Enrico and Michele. Before then Wilier was located in Bassano, founded by Pietro Dal Molin in 1906. But in 1969, my grandfather moved it here, to Rossano, and we have been here ever since, now into our third generation.The fortunes of Wilier have waxed and waned over the years, but its 113-year heritage makes it one of the elder statesmen of cycling, only eclipsed by Bianchi (1885), Peugeot (1886), Raleigh (1887) and Schwinn (1895).Here, Andrea Gastaldello talks us through some of the pivotal bicycles from Wiliers past. Related Posts Gallery: Pinarellos classic bikes Gallery: Cinellis classic bikes A history of Bianchis classic bikes Colnagos classic bike collection Viva Italia: Inside Wilier Fiorenzo Magni Giro dItalia, 1948Mike Massaro / CyclistThis is the oldest bike we have, says Gastaldello. It was one of the first Ramato-coloured bikes (the traditional colour of Wilier), although the colour has faded through time and weather. A private owner had the bike in his home and 10 years ago we bought it from him for 5,000, which is probably a lot more than it cost when it was made in the 1940s. But it is a very important part of our history, having been ridden by Fiorenzo Magni when he won the Giro dItalia in 1948.Seventy years on, Magni is still one of Wiliers most celebrated riders. Despite being unlucky enough to race in the era of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, hence his nickname of The Third Man, the Tuscan would add two more Giro titles to his palmars in 1951 and 1955, plus three back-to-back Tour of Flanders titles, hence his other nickname, The Lion of Flanders.Mike Massaro / CyclistMagni is also the subject of one of cyclings most iconic images, a photo of him riding hunched over and steely-eyed while biting down on an inner tube attached to his stem in order to help him balance, having crashed and broken his collarbone on Stage 12 of the 1956 Giro. The Lion lived up to his billing and rode the next ten stages broken-boned, somehow finishing second overall.We had our own team from 1946 to 1951, and Magni rode for us for three of them, winning the Giro in 1948, then Flanders in 1949 and 1950. Unfortunately we had to close the team in 1952. Money had become a problem as Italians increasingly turned to motos and scooters for transport.Its interesting to note that in response to this industry-wide problem, Magni helped bring the first non-cycling related sponsor, Nivea, into the sport in 1954 to secure funding for his cash-strapped Ganna-Ursus team.Pantani TT bike, 2002Mike Massaro / CyclistA big step forward for us was sponsoring Mercatone Uno, which was a team built around Marco Pantani for the 1997 season, says Gastaldello. It was not an easy decision for us. At the start Pantani had a very good time with Carrera [Carrera Jeans-Vagabond, 1992-1996] but in 1995 he had a terrible crash involving a car at Milano-Torino and broke his leg in two places. No one was sure if he would ever race competitively again. We had to trust that he would come back a champion.The team was hit by bad luck from the beginning. Marco hit a black cat that ran into the road in the 1997 Giro and had to retire, which was frustrating as he was competitive. But he came back in a good way for the Tour de France and had a good season.But at the end of 1997 we lost sponsorship to Bianchi, a much larger company than us that offered more money to sponsor the team. We were already providing 70 bikes a year plus extra money.The opportunity came back to sponsor Mercatone Uno in 2002, and this is a time-trial bike we made for Marco. The bars are custom from 3T, the frame is Easton tubing, the wheels are branded Eolic by Selle Italia, but really thats just stickers on another companys wheels. Although Mercatone was traditionally yellow, we had to make the bike and jerseys blue for the Tour because of course the leader rides in yellow.Sadly by 2002 Pantani already had problems with drugs so was not competitive in the races. We spent only one season with the team then we had to stop. Strangely, Mercatone a big chain in Italy, like the Italian Ikea went bankrupt only a few months ago.Cento, 2006Mike Massaro / CyclistOur company was started in 1906 by Mr Dal Molin in Bassano del Grappa, 10km from here, says Gastaldello. In Bassano in the 1940s and 50s we had 150 employees, one of whom was my grandfather, Giovanni. Then the company went bankrupt by the 1960s everyone was buying scooters and in 1969 my grandfather, with my uncle Antonio and father Lino, decided to buy the name of the company and to start a bike shop and start making bikes again in our village.My grandfather died in 1979, then in 1988 and 1990 my brothers arrived and my uncle and father decided to split up. My uncle kept the shop, my father the bike business. I started here in 1996.Mike Massaro / CyclistCento means 100, and this was the bike that celebrated our 100th anniversary, our first monocoque carbon road bike for teams and for customers. Designed in Rossano and made in China, it was a very good product.This is Damiano Cunegos Cento from the 2006 season, when he won the white jersey for young riders at the Tour de France. He also won Amstel Gold [2008] and Giro di Lombardia [2007, 2008] with us on the Lampre team we sponsored.Mike Massaro / CyclistIt has custom paint. Here we have symbols on the top tube to represent the guy: he has a family with a child; he was born in 1981; 1.69m tall; weight 59kg it is always good to have your racing weight painted on your bike! Resting heart rate of 42; first place in the Giro dItalia in 2004; he likes ice hockey.Ramato Columbus SL, 1983Mike Massaro / CyclistYou can see it on the Magni bike, but here is what the Ramato colour would have looked like when new, says Gastaldello. Rame means copper, so Ramato is like coppered. This special finish was discovered in the 1940s when the company was still in Bassano. It is a chemical treatment of the chromed steel beneath it.Mike Massaro / CyclistThis bike would have been made here in Rossano and painted by the same external contractor we use today we still have Ramato colours on our carbon frames.This bike was not ridden by anyone famous but it is an important part of our collection because it shows the colour that became a symbol of both the racing team and the company. We still make a replica version of this bike for collectors looking for something different and beautiful.Mike Massaro / CyclistThat replica, the Superleggera, is made in Italy (albeit by a contractor) and, like this 1983 example, sports Campagnolo parts. Yet no matter how beautiful modern Campagnolo groupsets are, they pale in comparison to the 50th Anniversary gruppo featured here, adorned with 24-carat gold inlays, titanium parts and founder Tulio Campagnolos signature engraved on every part. In total 15,000 were made, with the first kept by Campagnolo and the second presented to Pope John Paul II.Mike Massaro / CyclistThe frame pump is a classic Silca Impero, while the bottom bracket lug is Cinelli, from an era when Wiliers compatriots still did a roaring trade in cast lugs, which the company would sell to other manufacturers as well as use for its own bikes.Pantani Alpe dHuez, 1997Mike Massaro / CyclistMade from Easton Elite Taperwall 7005-series aluminium, some of the most advanced aluminium alloy of its day, this bike may well have been one of the lightest on the 1997 Tour de France start line. By the time Marco Pantani reached the top of Alpe dHuez on Stage 13, it was most definitely the fastest.Marco climbed Alpe dHuez in 37 minutes and 35 seconds, which is still the record for the climb, says Gastaldello. It was a very good time for Wilier, a big boost to our growth in international markets because everyone was watching this stage and this guy and looking at this bike. The frame weighed 1,200g and was one of the first TIG-welded frames before us was only Cannondale.Pantani fans will recognise the Il Pirata cartoon on the frame and custom-embroidered on the saddle, but there are other subtle touches specific to the Italian climber.First, an analogue indicator set in-line of the cable housing displayed gear selection using cable movement to push a needle, visible through a plastic window a bit like a pressure gauge. Second, the wheels pushed some serious boundaries.For a while Selle Italia made special lightweight wheels in collaboration with a company called ACI that makes spokes and hubs, and Ambrosio, which makes rims. The spokes are very thin, 1.2mm [2mm was more common in 1997], so thin they would break under heavier riders. But for Pantani, no problem. It might seem normal now, but these wheels were under 1,500g and had 32 spokes each.Ramato Kids bike, c.1975Mike Massaro / CyclistIn the 1970s and 1980s, in the workshop of my grandfathers time, they made these kind of bikes for children, or really for parents who were passionate cyclists!This came to us from a collector in Switzerland, who contacted me around five years ago to say did we want to buy it, so we paid 500, says Gastaldello. I couldnt tell you if that is good value, but I know these bikes were expensive when they were made.The wheels are 20-inch tubulars and the groupset is Campagnolo Nuovo Record. Some owner must have been very keen to give their child the lightest possible proper racing bike because the cranks and chainrings have been drilled out.Mike Massaro / CyclistBy this point the company had been Wilier Triestina for some years. When we were founded in 1906 by Pietro Dal Molin, this area of Italy was under Austrian Empire rule, but people of the territory like Dal Molin wanted it to be Italian, so to promote this idea they would use words with meanings only known to Italians.So Wilier is made up from the letters of the phrase W lItalia Liberate e Redenta, which means Long live Italy, liberated and redeemed. W was a short way in Italian of writing viva. So the name was a kind of secret protest.Triestina was added by Dal Molin when he started our first cycling team, again like a protest or resistance after the Second World War the rule of Trieste [a nearby town] was disputed by Yugoslavia and Italy. Dal Molin wanted it to be Italian, so he advertised this fact with the team name. It is where our Alabarda headbadge symbol comes from it is the symbol for the city of Trieste.Pantani K2 Karbon, 2002Mike Massaro / CyclistIn 2002 we took back sponsorship of Mercatone Uno, and we made this bike specifically for Marco. It was different to the ones from our normal production and the rest of the team, who rode on aluminium bikes with carbon seatstays, says Gastaldello.We made it in collaboration with a company called C4, which made monocoque frames in Italy. It was stiff and light, but there were problems with the quality of the structure. I think we had 10 made and Marco broke three or four of them just riding cracks would start in the head tube and the bottom bracket.This cost around 2,500 to make back then, so 5,000 now. That is far too expensive to ever sell, especially when they would break after one or two years.Mike Massaro / CyclistIndeed, this frame has cracks beginning in the head tube, which says a lot about early exploits into carbon frames given that Pantanis fighting weight was 57kg.However, the K2 remains a marvel of the time, quite unlike the carbon-tubed, aluminium-lugged bikes that arrived in the mid-1980s and the traditional looking all-carbon bikes that followed. Instead of being bonded from separate pieces, the K2 and other C4 creations were made entirely in one piece, from one frame-sized mould.Today C4 operates in the realm of sports diving, its founder, Marco Bonfanti, having moved on from bikes to design fins and spear guns. Yet the companys bikes remain highly collectible, from its own Joker to early collaborations with Bianchi, both of which featured striking seat tube-less designs.Zero.7, 2011Mike Massaro / CyclistMichele Scarponi won the 2011 Giro dItalia on this bike, but he didnt know it at the time, says Gastaldello. He was awarded the win later on when Alberto Contador was stripped of his title.This was our first bike that weighed under 800g. It came in at 780g, which when you write in kilograms is 0.78kg, so we decided to call it the Zero.7. It has the BB386 bottom bracket and one-piece handlebars from FSA, with Scarponis special graphics painted on the stem and bars his eagle.Mike Massaro / CyclistThe Zero.7 name may have been somewhat dubiously awarded as dubiously awarded as Contador felt his retrospective ban for clenbuterol was, with the Spaniard claiming at the time that the abnormal levels returned in his test came from contaminated beef but nevertheless, in 2011 a frame weighing seven-hundred-and-anything grams was a big deal.Contadors ban also handed Scarponi the Volta a Catalunya 2011 title, and although The Eagle of Filottrano would end up getting his own three-month suspension in 2012 after admitting he had worked with disgraced doctor Michele Ferrari, Scarponi would continue to be a fan and sponsors favourite, racing with Lampre before moving to Astana.Mike Massaro / CyclistLatterly, he found himself subject to a new wave of media attention for his training rides, where the Eagle would film an uncannily Astana-coloured parrot, Frankje, flying alongside him. Tragically, it was on such a training ride that Scarponi was killed in a collision with a van driver on 22nd April 2017.Cento Uno, 2010Mike Massaro / CyclistBuilding on the success of the 2006 Cento, Alessandro Petacchis Cento Uno took him to the points jersey at the 2010 Tour, giving him a grand slam of sprint jerseys in the Grand Tours and becoming the first Italian since Franco Bitossi in 1968 to win green in France.This feat was all the more impressive given AleJet was 36 years old. Bitossi nicknamed Crazy Heart due to an arrhythmia that saw him occasionally pause during races was in his prime at 28. Little wonder Wilier was happy enough to give Petacchi such an intricately finished bike for the Champs-lyses.Mike Massaro / CyclistWe launched the Cento Uno in 2008, and Alessandro Ballan won the World Championships on it, says Gastaldello. It gave credibility for the new type of integrated seatpost and the BB386 bottom bracket we developed with FSA [one of the first oversized BB standards], which was the main addition over the original Cento and meant the frame weight was only 1,150g, effectively 200g lighter than before, as the ISP means you do not need a seatpost.By 2010 we had made further refinements. The frame is made in three pieces, the main triangle and then the stays, which are one continuous piece that runs from the seatstay down past the dropouts and through the chainstay.Mike Massaro / CyclistThe stays are very asymmetric because the flex from the right side is more than the left because of where the chain and crank is. We also made the head tube much narrower for aerodynamics. It was incredibly fast and stiff. This finish is a custom weave layer of carbon that is just aesthetic. Related Posts Gallery: Pinarellos classic bikes Gallery: Cinellis classic bikes A history of Bianchis classic bikes Colnagos classic bike collection Viva Italia: Inside Wilier The post Gallery: Wiliers classic bikes appeared first on Cyclist.

Not since Marco Pantani back in 1998 has a rider won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same calendar year. One of those to have attempted the challenge was Chris Froome in 2018, and the seven-time Grand Tour winner has analysed Tadej Pogacar's chances in 2024."Speaking firsthand,...