Daily Cycling Facts 07.11.2013

James Moore (right) with an 1869 model S-Works Venge

The very first Paris-Rouen race took place on this day in 1869, making it one of the oldest official and organised bicycle races in history - and, it's believed, the first bike race to be held between two cities.

The winner, taking 10 hours and 40 minutes to complete the 123km, was James Moore, an Englishman who had been born in Bury St.Edmunds in 1849 but grew up in Paris; he received a huge prize of 1,000 gold Francs. 120 people, among them two women, started the race, but 24 hours after the start only 32 had finished - including one of the women, who had entered as Miss America (she was in fact English, and her real name was Mrs. Turner - bicycle racing, in Britain and elsewhere, was not considered to be a sport befitting gentlemen, never mind ladies, and the idea of women taking part in public athletic competition was widely frowned upon; Mrs. Turner therefore felt the need to conceal her identity - a great pity, as it means we know nothing more about her) and crossed the line in 29th place after 22 hours and 50 minutes. The race had been inspired by the popularity of a shorter event at St-Cloud in Paris the year before, an event that Moore also won and which is often - despite convincing evidence of earlier events - said to have been the first organised bike race in the world. A day after that, he won Britain's first organised race at Brent Reservoir, near to which he is believed to be buried.

The race - which imposed some strict rules, such as banning riders from being towed by dogs or fitting sails to their bikes - was organised by a magazine, Le Vélocipède Illustré, and businessmen the Olivier Brothers who are usually credited as being the first to realise the commercial potential of the bicycle and the first to begin mass-producing them after going into partnership with Pierre Michaux. Michaux, a blacksmith, had invented the velocipede (briefly also known as a "Michaudine") when he came up with the idea in the early 1860s of adding pedals* to the draisienne, the hobby-horse that had changed little in the half-century since Karl Drais** invented it - curiously, Moore had befriended the Michaux family in Paris during his youth.

*Just as nobody knows for certain if the race in St-Cloud was the world's first or where Moore is buried, nobody really knows if Pierre Michaux really was the first to think of fitting pedals to a draisienne to make a velocipede. It might have been his son Ernest, or even by Pierre Lallement who may have come up with an earlier design and later had connections to the Olivier brothers, and possibly even worked for Pierre Michaux for a while.

**For that matter, we don't know for certain that Drais invented the hobby-horse, either. He might have been copying something he'd seen.

Antonella Bellutti

Bellutti at the 1996 Olympics

Born in Bolzano on this day in 1968, Italian Antonella Bellutti was a distinguished athlete in her youth, winning seven Junior National titles for the 100m hurdles and setting a national Junior record. Later, she fell in love with cycling and took second place in the Individual Pursuit at the National Track Championships in 1992, then won the event and the National Individual Time Trial Championship on road two years later. In 1995, she won the Pursuit at the Manchester round of the World Cup and at the National Championships where she also won the 500m, then came second in the Pursuit at the World Championships and managed ninth place at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

1996 would be an excellent year: she won the Pursuit at the Cali round of the World Cup, the Pursuit and 500m for a second year running at the National Championships, took second place in the National ITT Championships, third place in the Pursuit at the World Championships and won the Pursuit at the Olympics, beating Marion Clignet and Judith Arndt.

In 1997, Bellutti win the Pursuit at the Adelaide, Cagliari, Fiorenzuola d'Arda and Cali rounds of the World Cup and began to dominate in the Points race too, winning it at Athina and Cali. She also won the Omnium at the European Championships before going to the Nationals, where she won the Pursuit, Points, 500m and Sprint, and kept the Pursuit and 500m National titles the following year, also winning the Pursuit and Points at Cali.

Bellutti made a return to road racing in 1999 and won the Giro Pordenone shortly after taking a bronze in the Points at the Moscow round of the Track World Cup. The middle part of the year was based on the track again and she won the 500m, Points and Sprint, then went back to the road and came third at the Chrono Champenois. In 2000, having won the 500m and Pursuit (and come second in the Points) at the National Championships, she went to the Olympics and won gold in the Points race before calling an end to her cycling career - two years later, at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she came seventh in the two-woman bobsleigh event with Gerda Weissensteiner.

In addition to showing talent in several very different sports, Bellutti has turned her hands to some very different jobs: between 1992 and 1995 she was a physical education teacher, then some years later she contributed several articles to newspapers and was included on the national register of journalists. In 2001 she was elected to a position on the Italian Olympic Commission and, a year later, became technical director of the men's national track team (a role she gave up as it was seen to conflict with her role at the Commission). In 2003, she was athletes' representative at the national anti-doping agency, and since 2012 she has been one of the chief organisers of the XXVI World Universities Winter Games, due to be held in December 2013.


Happy birthday to Tanya Dubnicoff, the retired Canadian track cyclist who represented her country in three Olympics and won four gold medals in the Pan-American Games. She now lives in California where she works as a cycling coach, training the Canadian national squad among many other teams.

Hilton Clarke, who was born in Ormond, Australia on this day in 1979, has won a large number of events primarily at home, in New Zealand and in North America. In 2011, he became the first rider to win the CSC Invitational) twice. Known as a sprinter, he has ridden for United Healthcare since 2011.

Tom Meeusen, born in Brasschaat on this day in 1988, won the Debutant's race at the National Cyclo Cross Championships in 2004 and the Junior National Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships of 2005 and 2006. In 2007, he won the tough Junior competitions at the Ruddervoorde and Koppenbergcross cyclo cross events, then in 2008 he became Under-23 National Cyclo Cross Champion and in 2009 he came third in the U-23 European Championships. 2010 was his first year at Elite level and he was third in the National 'Cross Championships. In 2011 he made a return to mountain biking and won a race at Averbode in Belgium, then another at Apeldoorn in 2012; in 2013 he kept up both disciplines and won a 'cross race at Zonnebeke, an MTB race at Steenwik and then in October the 'cross race at Marianne Vos' hometown Den Bosch. Meeusen has ridden for Telenet-Fidea throughout his career.


This day in 2004 saw the inauguration of Sri Lanka's Cyclone, a mass participation bicycle rally aimed at establishing cyclist's rights and promoting the bike as a means of transport in the Asian nation.

On this day in 1942, Fausto Coppi set a new Hour Record at 45.798km at the Vigorelli track.

More cyclists born on this day: Per Kærsgaard Laursen (Denmark, 1955); Kenji Takeya (Japan, 1969); Emil Beeler (Switzerland, 1937); Pat Murphy (Canada, 1933); Harald Wolf (East Germany, 1955).

Valverde wins Stage 3 at Paris-Nice

Alejandro Valverde made his return to cycling at the
Tour Down Under this year following a two-year
suspension for doping offences
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY-SA 3.0)

Alejandro Valverde just pipped Simon Gerrans of GreenEDGE to the post in today's Stage 3 at Paris-Nice in a short final climb and chaotic bunch sprint that saw the first 62 riders record the same time. Both men crossed the line within a hairs' breadth of one another, resulting in Twitter posts declaring the win divided equally between them. His Movistar team put on a textbook display of tactics, positioning him in precisely the right position some way down the road and ensuring he'd have a good shot at the victory with half a kilometre to go.

Michael Morkov, Roy Curvers and Jimmy Engoulvent attacked early on in the 194km stage, forming a breakaway group that vacuumed up a healthy dose of points and built up a lead of more than 4'30" for a respectable portion of the race, but their time out in front began to look limited once the reached the first of the two Category 3 climbs and the peloton took the opportunity to reel them back in one by one.

The final part of the stage was characterised by attacks from unexpected quarters as first Sergey Lagutin tried his luck, getting some 12" ahead, then Lieuwe Westra had a go as soon as Lagutin had been caught. Meanwhile, stronger men were being dropped all over the place: Thor Hushovd went and Tom Boonen, winner of yesterday's stage, wasn't far behind him - which many rivals will see as an indication that the God of Thunder hasn't got the form he'll need if he's to achieve his stated aim at the Monuments this year.

Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins rode cleverly, avoiding the temptation to join in with further breakaway theatrics and instead kept working away just off the front of the pack while concentrating on maintaining a good time. It worked - the British rider holds onto the yellow jersey with a 6" lead in the overall General Classification. Team mate Geraint Thomas grabbed two points during the stage, giving him second place behind Engoulvent who took three.

Tomorrow, Stage 4 climbs two Cat 2 mountains - the Cotes du Fangas and Quotidiane. With Wiggo's apparently excellent early season form and current time trial prowess, British fans hoping for Tour de France success will be eager to see how he copes.

Stage 3 Top 10

1. VALVERDE Alejandro 31 MOVISTAR TEAM 4h 36' 19"  
2. GERRANS Simon 41 GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
3. MEERSMAN Gianni 197 LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
4. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon 91 RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
5. FLORENCIO Xavier 173 KATUSHA TEAM 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
6. CAPECCHI Eros 182 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
7. MONFORT Maxime 15 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
8. HIVERT Jonathan 204 SAUR-SOJASUN 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
9. GAVAZZI Francesco 83 ASTANA PRO TEAM 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
10. WESTRA Lieuwe 108 VACANSOLEIL-DCM 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"


20. WIGGINS Bradley 21 SKY PROCYCLING 4h 36' 19" + 00' 00"
Full results

General Classification Top 10

1. WIGGINS Bradley 21 SKY PROCYCLING 9h 09' 51"  
2. LEIPHEIMER Levi 6 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 9h 09' 57" + 00' 06"
3. VAN GARDEREN Tejay 167 BMC RACING TEAM 9h 10' 02" + 00' 11"
4. CHAVANEL Sylvain 3 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 9h 10' 05" + 00' 14"
5. MONFORT Maxime 15 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 9h 10' 09" + 00' 18"
6. VALVERDE Alejandro 31 MOVISTAR TEAM 9h 10' 11" + 00' 20"
7. WESTRA Lieuwe 108 VACANSOLEIL-DCM 9h 10' 13" + 00' 22"
8. ROJAS Jose Joaquin 38 MOVISTAR TEAM 9h 10' 20" + 00' 29"
9. SPILAK Simon 176 KATUSHA TEAM 9h 10' 24" + 00' 33"
10. KISERLOVSKI Robert 86 ASTANA PRO TEAM 9h 10' 27" + 00' 36"
Full results

Tour de France: Stage 21 Preview

Cadel Evans, the first Australian to
win the Tour de France, will wear the
yellow jersey into Paris.

Today marks a whole three weeks since the Tour de France set off along the slippery flagstones of the Passage de Gois and 3335.5km travelled, with 95 to go. There has been tragedy and joy, surprise and confirmation of the expected, vendettas and self-sacrifice in the name of comrades; but what this Tour delivered most, like all Tours before it, was wonder and beauty.

The final stage, since 1975 ending at the Champs-Élysées, is not as other stages - largely ceremonial, the yellow jersey is traditionally not attacked and the wearer permitted to ride into Paris swathed in glory. It could be attacked, but with Andy Schleck the closest rider to Cadel Evans that won't happen today. The King of the Mountains has already been decided which leaves only the Points competition - which can, and with just 15 point between Mark Cavendish and Jose Joaquin Rojas this year possibly will, be decided on the last stretch.

The start line is in Créteil, one of the so-called Gateways to Paris and a stage town for the third time. Once standing alone, the town is contiguous (as much due to its own expansion as that of Paris) with the capital and is located a mere 11.5km from Kilometre Zero near the West Front doors of Notre Dame, the official centre of Paris and the point from which all French roads are measured. The town, as Cristoïlum, was first mentioned in a catalogue of martyrs compiled by Benedictine monks in the 9th Century; Créteil earning its place in the catalogue as it had been the site of the martyrdom of Saints Agoard and Aglibert some half a millennium before. The early adoption of Christianity and the "Crist-" component of the latinised name have given rise to somewhat fanciful theories that the town is named after Christ or even that it has some connection to him, but in reality it's more likely to be derived via various modifications from the Celtic words crist (ridge) and ialo (glade). The modern variant dates from around 1406.

The polissoir.

However, the locale has been inhabited since much earlier times - the discovery of palaeolithic remains in the area are evidence of a culture dating back to at least 10,000 years ago, analogous with the decline of the Würm glaciation at the end of the last Ice Age. On display in the town is a Neolithic "polissoir," a huge stone similar to a modern whetstone used to sharpen and polish knives and other bladed implements. Bronze Age axes heads from the region are displayed at the British Museum in London.

History from the Middle Ages onwards was not always been kind to Créteil: it was attacked ruined by Anglo-Burgundian troops in the 15th Century, looted by Huguenots in the 16th, evacuated due to violence in the 17th and subject to famine in the 18th. Rich Parisians began building grand villas in the town early in the 19th Century, only for it to be attacked and occupied by Russian forces in 1814 and then razed to the ground by Prussian troops in 1870, returning it to little more than a rural backwater, then bombed heavily by the US Air Force during World War 2, causing several deaths amog the local civilian population. It has suffered numerous major floods, the worst of which took place in 1830 and 1910 and the last in 1970.

Les Choux, an example of the fine modern architecture to be
seen in Creteil. (No, I don't know why it's named after the
cabbage either.)

It began to grow in the years following World War 2 and the population increased by almost 17,000 in the eight years after 1954. This period saw rapid urbanisation, including the development of the Mont-Mesly prefecture which is now home to more than 23,000 people, ensuring that the town now boasts some of the finest modern architecture in France. Yet it has much to offer in the way of older buildings, too - the tower of Église Saint-Christophe dates from the 11th Century and is adjoined to a 13th Century church, the whole being built atop an 8th Century crypt which is used to house relics of Saints Agoard and Aglibert. Excavations around the church have revealed graves from the 9th Century. Créteil is also home to the largest dovecote in the country, with space for 1500 birds, which with unusual consideration towards the importance of heritage for the time was moved in 1971 to allow new houses to be constructed on its original site.

The stage begins on the Avenue du General de Gaulle (D1B), from where Les Choux can be seen, and loops about a roundabout before travelling south-east along the wide avenue with its grassy central reservation and large bronze monument to the Resistance. It soon turns south and passes alongside Lac de Créteil, formerly a gypsum quarry that was allowed to flood after decommission in the 1970s, now picturesque and as important a site for leisure as it is for nature. On the other side of the road is the Centre Commercial Créteil Soleil, which looks for all the world like a component from a giant computer motherboard. It then negotiates another roundabout before turning left into a tree-lined avenue and past Le Port 59, a perfectly circular artificial bay on the lake surrounded by some terrifying expensive apartments but belonging really to the swans who live there.

Soon it turns into the Rue Falkirk, named after the Scottish town with which Créteil has been twinned since 1983, then south and south-east again along the Avenue François Mitterrand which takes us over several pedestrians crossings to a crossroads where the parcours veers sharply north-east via a tight corner. It turns north-west and north-east again along the Rue des Corbieres past an area of wooded parkland and past a tall modern water tower, named in a quite charming way the Château d'eau. It then turns north and passes through a narrow passage under a building, which is going to constrict the peloton tightly and may lead to accidents if too many riders attempt to pass through at the same time, and into another area of parkland where modern architecture - including a truly remarkable building at the junction with the Rue Rene Arcos - sits side-by-side with trees, the combination working well and forming an attractive whole.

Eglise Saint-Christophe

A very tight left-hand corner, potentially lethal when wet, leads to another easier one and then an equally technical turn onto the Avenue du Dr. Paul Casalis - home to Tov'Mie which, should you ever happen to be in Paris and find yourself of kosher bread products, I can personally assure you sells the finest bagels in the city. At the end of the road is a traffic island with some trees where the peloton changes direction north east on another tight corner and heads along the Avenue du General Leclerc (D19) which is long, almost perfectly straight and has few hazards until it reaches the junction with the D48E, where the route turns left towards the west. Sights to look out for include a fountain, the Église Saint-Christophe and, in parts, views to the river which runs a short distance away to the east.

Turning left, the route follows the D48E Aveue de la Rebublique until a bridge across a railway where the road becomes the Rue Emile Zola, a section which has many attractive buildings such as the Hôtel-de-Ville at Maisons-Alfort and Camelias, one of the few older commercial buildings left in the area. The parcours crosses the Seine by the imposing Pont du Port à l'Anglais suspension bridge, with a main span of 124m. Suspension bridges always make for excellent footage as the peloton passes across with the helicopters able to get shots from all sorts of interesting angles; with Paris as a backdrop, the results are virtually guaranteed to be even more spectacular than usual here. A big roundabout on the western bank takes the riders onto the Avenue du President Salvador Allende which leads to another railway bridge and on to Avenue Jean Jaures - named after the very same Jean Jaures associated with Carmaux which the Tour reached right back at the end of Stage 10. There's a large and expertly-done mural of a fierce-looking heron on a wall where the Avenue becomes the Avenue Henri Barbusse (D55A).

The Avenue Henri Barbusse is short and ends with another roundabout at the Place de la Liberation, the location of the excellent MAC/VAL contemporary gallery and assorted public works of art. The building itself is a good example of Bauhaus-inspired minimal modernism, as much a work of art as many of its contents. The parcours turns right onto the Avenue Eugene Pelletan (D5) which heads north-west, becoming the Boulevard de Stalingrad after a short while, then the Avenue de Verdun and running straight and wide for some distance before turning sharply left into the Rue Henri Martin which carries the race onto the wide Avenue du Paris for a short way before they turn north-east onto the D54 as it passes through the Cimetière Parisien d'Ivry, last resting place of Louis Caput - third place in the 1942 Circuit de France, one of the stage races that replaced the Tour while it was suspended during WW2.

Fort de Charenton.

The D54 takes a series of sharp corners before the parcours changes to the D50 past the Place Voltaire to the Parc des Cormailles, where there is an artificial hill with a spiral path stretching to the top, then back over the railway and on to the Boulevard Paul Vaillant Couturier (D19) and onto the Pont d'Ivry which carries the peloton across the Seine once more and onwards for a second visit to the Avenue du General Leclerc before switching to the Avenue Gambetta running straight and full of street furniture to the Pont de Maisons-Alfort which crosses one of the most attractive stretches of river in Paris. The route then passes by the docks which, although much gentrified, are still home to working boat yards allowing all manner of watercraft old and modern to be seen as they wait for repairs. The peloton will then join another section of the Rue Henri Barbusse along the D123 heading south-east towards the Avenue de la Liberation (D45). Nearby is the Fort de Charenton, built according to the government to help prevent Paris ever again being subject to the foreign occupations that took place following the decline of Napoleon and according to the left-wing opposition to subdue the populace should they ever again rise up against the establishment.

After switching north-east, another bridge takes the peloton onto the Avenue Charles Floquet, then the N4 nd a long stretch of the N303 to the D30 just south of two river islands, then across the Pont de Bry from where there are good views to the Quai d'Artois with its fine homes. Travelling north-west on the Avenue du General de Gaulle the peloton heads straight to the Rond Point where the riders switch onto the D44 heading west past the Parc des Epivans, an athletics centre, then the Boulevard Gallenini and Avenue de la Republique. A sweeping bend turns south to the Rue de France, with the vast Residence Val de France housing development, a series of tower blocks joined together and winding around.

Chateau de Vincennes

The parcours changes south-east and then south on the Avenue de la Pepiniere into the Bois de Vincennes park where it passes to the north and west of the not-very-picturesque Fort Neuf, which remains the property of the French Ministry of Defence and to which access is limited. On the other side of the road is the far more aethetically-pleasing Château de Vincennes, established in the 14th Century and much redeveloped in the 17th. In addition to being a fortress, the chateau has served as a porcelain factory and a prison - it was once housed the Marquis de Sade and, in the early 20th Century, Mata-Hari who was executed here. Although the Tour is using only a small part of the park, it's very beautiful overall despite the Fort and the helicopters will no doubt be making the most of it. The Avenue Daumesnil past the artificial lake with its two islands and Avenue de Saint-Maurice past the Ancient Cemetery take the peloton back out of the park, where it reaches the Charenton-le-Pont and officially enters Paris.

A very welcome sight after 3430.5km!

The route follows the N6 along the banks of the river, passing the Iles Saint-Louis and de la Cite and Notre-Dame, crossing the Pont Royale just west of the Louvre at one of the best places to view the museum and Jardin des Tuileries. From now on, the peloton are on the final circuits, during which they will travel around the Place de la Concorde and up the Avenue des Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, around and back down nine times times, each circuit being 6km, with the intermediate sprint coming after the third circuit. The Grand Finale is at the Arc following 95km, estimated to be some time shortly after 17:00 local time.

And that, folks, is your lot for the next 49 weeks. C'est la vie. Luckily, it's not long until the Vuelta a Espana.

Weather: It should be dry over the entire parcours, but showers are an outside possibility. Temperatures will be around 22 degrees C, which is ideal for cycling, but winds of up to 20kmph are just strong enough to be a pain when blowing from the side or the front.

Predictions: How about we go out on a limb and say Cadel Evans? Who, though, will win the intermediate sprint? Many people are going to try, especially Jose Joaquin Rojas who is just 15 points from winning the overall sprinter's competition - but he has little chance of beating Mark Cavendish.