Daily Cycling Facts 18.04.2013

Maurice Garin was the second winner of Paris-Roubaix, but
was he French or Italian at the time?

Paris-Roubaix took place on this date in 1897, 1949, 1971 and 1982. 1897 was the second edition ever held and the first of two to be won by Maurice Garin, who would also win the first Tour de France six years later (and he would have been credited with winning the second Tour too, if he hadn't been disqualified for cheating). Jules Rossi's 1937 win is usually said to have been the first by an Italian rider, but this might not in fact be the case: Garin had been born in Italy, sneaking into France with his family when he was still a child as what we now term an illegal immigrant. He later became naturalised French, but the year that he did so has never been proven beyond doubt - it could have been 1892, in which case the second and third editions of Paris-Roubaix were won by a Frenchman, but it might have been 1901, in which case they were won by an Italian. 1897 was also the first year in which we know for certain that the race was held on Easter Sunday - it had been scheduled to do so in 1896 but the Catholic Church took offence, pointing out that riders wouldn't have time to attend Mass before the race started and distributed notices in Roubaix outlining their opposition; so the race was postponed for two weeks. Considering the furore and the power the Church then held over people's everyday lives, it seems odd that the race went ahead on Easter Sunday only a year later.

André Mahé
(image credit: Veloptimum)

1949 saw the first use of bikes designed specifically for Paris-Roubaix, including an apparently anachronistic  return to wooden wheel rims which were more forgiving on the rough cobbles. Deciding the winner that year took several months and two conferences: André Mahé had been first over the line after reaching the velodrome in a three man breakaway with Frans Leenen and Jacques Moujica (the latter working so hard to keep up that he broke his bike), but it was subsequently discovered that an official had given them incorrect directions and they'd arrived via a shorter route. A few minutes after the declaration, Serse Coppi (brother of Fausto) arrived among another group and sprinted over the line. Mahé, speaking in 2007 (56 years after Serse and 47 years after Fausto had died), apparently still believed that he was the fair winner and appeared to suggest that Serse had initially accepted that result:

"It's too stupid to talk about. There was a break. Coppi attacked. His brother Fausto gave him a push to get him away. He wanted his brother to win. I waited a bit and then I attacked and I caught him and the break. Then I went off by myself. I was going to win Paris–Roubaix. It wasn't like nowadays, when there's television and everything. Then it was more chaotic and the whole road was blocked. People said I should have known the way into the track. But how do you know a thing like that at the end of Paris–Roubaix, when you've raced all day over roads like that? A gendarme signalled the way to go and that's the way I went.It was a journalist on a motorbike who managed to get up to me. He was shouting 'Not that way! Not that way!' And I turned round in the road and I rode back beneath the outside wall of the grandstand and I saw a gateway that went into the track, a gateway for journalists. And that's the way I went, except that it came out on the other side of the track from the proper entrance. The bunch came in and Serse won the sprint. But then his brother told Serse to go to the judges to object. He told Serse that I hadn't ridden the entire and precise course and that therefore I should be déclassé. But that was below him. Coppi wanted his brother to have a big victory. He was a great champion, Coppi, but to do what he did, to protest like that to get a victory for his brother, that wasn't dignified for a champion. That was below him. A champion like that should never have stooped that low."

By August, the UCI decided the best course of action was to simply declare the race null and without a winner. By November, the judges decided that the two men would share the victory, and it remains the only time that the race has been tied.

Jan Raas
(image credit: Cyclisme en Images)

1971 was won by Roger Rosiers, who seems little-remembered these days despite also winning Stage 17 at the Vuelta a Espana one year previously and the Tour of Luxembourg and Three Days of De Panne in the years afterwards. In 1982 the winner was Jan Raas, who had won Milan-San Rem in 1977 then a first Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1979 and another in 1983, the Omloop Het Volk in 1981 and Paris-Tours in 1978 and 1981, thus earning him a place among the greatest Classics specialists in history; five editions of the Amstel Gold Race and ten stages at the Tour de France also earning him a place among the most successful Dutch riders of all time. Bernard Hinault, probably France's greatest ever with the possible and arguable exception of Jacques Anquetil, returned to Paris-Roubaix in 1982 as defending champion but finished ninth and was furious (actually, le Blaireau was furious much of the time when racing; nowadays he's far more relaxed and merely simmers unless anybody gives him sufficient excuse for an explosion); refusing from then on to have anything whatsoever to do with the race that even when he won he'd called "bullshit." That year, the full 2.4km Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes to Sars-et-Rosières cobbled section was used for the first time, the initial 1.4km having been used two years earlier.

Briek Schotte

The Ronde van Vlaanderen was held on this day in 1948, when it was won for a second time by Briek Schotte, the rider who is considered by many Flemmish cycling fans to be the ultimate example of a Flandrien - that is, someone who continues to ride hard and fast, repeatedly attacking come what may. That year, a prize of 100 francs was provided for the Lanterne Rouge.

La Flèche Wallonne has also fallen on this date, as it did in 2001 - the 65th edition. The 198km course between Charleroi and Huy was short by modern standards, as since 2000 the race has averaged 199.5km. The winner was Rik Verbrugghe, who had been second the previous year. The 76th edition of the race will be held on this day in 2012.

The fourth edition of La Flèche Wallonne Féminine took place on this date in 2001 too, starting and finishing at the same points as the men's race but taking a different route to reduce it to 93km. The winner, Fabiana Luperini, had also won the first edition; and she would win again the following year - thus equalling the men's record of three victories. The 15th edition takes place on this date in 2012.


Maxim Iglinsky was born in Astana, Kazakhstan on this day in 1981 and has spent most of his professional career riding for the team named after his place of birth. He won the Kazakh Time Trial Championship in 2006, then the Road Race a year later before winning the Mountains Classification at the Tour de Suisse in 2008.

Luciano Pagliarini
(image credit: Thomas Fanghaenel CC BY-SA 3.0)

Luciano Pagliarini
Luciano Pagliarini is widely regarded as the most successful Brazilian cyclist of all time. Born in Ararpongas on this day in 1978, his first notable win was Stage 3 at the 1998 Vuelta Ciclista de Chile; followed five years later with victories for Stages 2, 3 and 4 at the Tour de Langkawi, then Stages 7 and 8 at Langkawi and Stage 5 at the Vuelta a Murcia in 2004. After abandoning the road race at the Olympics in 2004 when he experienced mechanical trouble, 2005 looked set to be his breakthrough year as he rode his first Tour de France and finished 5th in Stage 2 - however, he abandoned after Stage 9. 2007 started badly due to illness, but then less than two weeks after the birth of his first child he won Stage 5 at the Eneco Tour of the Benelux, thus becoming the first Brazilian to win a stage in a UCI ProTour event.

In 2008, he won Stage 6 at the Tour of Calfornia and was once again entered for the Olympics, but finished last in his event two days after being diagnosed with renal calculi (kidney stones). The following year was worse still as, soon after he'd signed a new contract with TelTech H2O, the team announced that it had not been granted a UCI licence and folded. After spending several months unable to race and putting on weight, he announced that he would stage a comeback at the Tour of Brazil and begin preparations for the 2012 Olympics. However, it was not to be: in the latest set-back of a career that somehow never quite took off despite coming so close on so many occasions, his new Scott-Marcondes Cesar-São José dos Campos found itself experiencing financial difficulties and, when it failed to pay him, Pagliarini decided he'd had enough and retired to become coach to the national track team.

Denis Verschueren was a Belgian rider born in Berlaar on the 11th of February in 1897. He won some excellent results during the 1920s and 1930s, including two National Interclubs Champioships (1926 and 1929), the Tour of Flanders in 1926, Paris-Brussels in 1926 and Paris-Tours in 1925 and 1928. He died at the age of 57 on this day in 1954.



It's well-known that LOOK invented the clipless pedal (or clip-in, since they have clips - but not toe-clips) in the 1980s, and that Bernard Hinault made them popular by winning the Tour de France on a bike equipped with them. However, that's only partially true - Look invented the first successful clipless pedals; other designs having been around for a very long time.

The first that we know about is covered by a patent filed on this day in 1895 by an inventor named Charles M. Hanson, who lived in Rhode Island; the patent and design were published on the 26th of November that same year. Compared to modern designs, Hanson's device looks decidely clunky and heavy with a large number of moving parts ready to go wrong - which is the probable reason it never caught on.


Other cyclists born on this day: Bernt Johansson (Sweden, 1953); Lucas Sebastián Haedo (Argentina, 1983); Imtiaz Bhatti (Pakistan, 1933); Frederick Hamlin (Great Britain, 1881, died 1951); Lenka Valová (Czechoslovakia, 1983); Kévin Sireau (France, 1987); Yevgeny Vakker (Kyrgyzstan, 1976); Leon Daelemans (Belgium, 1949); Vladimir Kaminsky (USSR, 1950); Frank Small (USA, 1895, died 1971); René Lotz (Netherlands, 1938); Milan Puzrla (Czechoslovakia, 1946); Joslyn Chavarria (Belize, 1959); Elio Juárez (Uruguay, 1942); Trevor Gadd (Great Britain, 1952).

Cycling Evening News 01.05.12

Concerns over GreenEDGE's new sponsor - New women's race - Tour of the Gila - Iglinsky wants a Tour stage - Rabo and Astana at the Giro - Dehaes out for three weeks - No Giro for Dekker - Colorado velodrome closes - BBC Radio to broadcast Beryl Burton play - Other News - London mayor angers cyclists - Newswire

Racing
GreenEDGE's new sponsor is far from Green
GreenEDGE's new sponsor has been revealed to be Orica, a chemicals company with an international presence as the world's largest producer of mining explosives - and an unenviable environmental track record that has seen the organisation widely criticised since 2011 for its apparent reluctance to notify the New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency whenever an accident occurs (for example, the six serious incidents between August and December last year; including the release of 1kg of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium into the environment at Kooragang Island on the 8th of August last year, a leak that affected 70 households and which Orica failed to report to the authorities for 16 hours - the people living in those 70 households didn't get to hear about it for three days; or the arsenic leaked into the Hunter River during the hexavalent chromium clean-up operation; or the 900kg of ammonia leaked into the atmosphere from the Kooragang Island plant, ironically one hour before the EPA announced it was going to take Orica to court over the hexavalent chromium leak; or the mercury leak in December 2011 at a Port Botany plant that drove airborne sample readings to 245% the legal limit, which Orica kept quiet about until the 17th of January 2011).

The deal was questioned as soon as it was announced, chiefly for the reasons outlined above. Many people have since pointed out that 1t4i didn't come under attack when they revealed their own sponsorship deal with the Argos North Sea Group, a Rotterdam-based oil company. However, they're missing the point - it's not what Orica do, but the way they go about it. The oil industry has much to answer for, but Argos have never been charged with the sort of cavalier attitudes and apparent total disregard for the environment and public safety that Orica have displayed in the past (Argos also trade in biodiesel - which isn't entirely "environmentally friendly" but is a damn sight better than standard diesel - and operate "green energy" supplier HummelEnergy, incidentally).

We all know that top-level cycle racing isn't quite as environmentally-sound as we'd like it to be - all those official cars and motorbikes chuck out some serious pollution, as do the helicopters at the major races and the airliners that take the teams to the races. Also, with the world economy in the state it's in, teams can't afford to be too choosy about whose buck they take - chances are one or two others wouldn't hold up too well under close examination, either. It's also possible that Orica have cleaned up their act after some bad years and are now a fine example of how a chemical company ought to behave, and that they want to get involved in cycling as an expression of their new, green policies; but the fact remains that as far as the public are concerned Orica are evil. GreenEDGE's decision to link itself with a company that, in the eyes of many, is the Australian version of Monty Burns' nuclear power plant might prove an unwise one if it results in difficulties attracting sponsors in the future due to loss of current popularity. After all,  we judge people by the company they keep, which is a concept that will be very familiar those GreenEDGE rides who spent 2011 with HTC-Highroad - a team that did more than most to stamp out doping, yet died because sponsors didn't wish to be associated with a sport that they believed was tainted by a bad image.

It would be a very great pity if a team that has already done so much for cycling - including women's cycling, which they have no more obligation to take part in than the various other Pro Teams that do not - turned out to have shot itself in the foot during their very first season.

New women's race
News about women's cycling is, these days, all too often depressing - as has been the case in recent weeks with the demise of two races and shortening of another as organisers have struggled to find the financial backing they need to continue their events.

Very welcome, therefore, is news of a new race: after sixteen years as a men's race, the Baby-Dump Kempenklassement in the Netherlands is to be joined by a women's class that will be named the Kempenklassement voor Vrouwen.

Tour of the Gila

Leah Goldstein won the Tour of the Gila in 2008

The SRAM Tour of the Gila starts on Wednesday at Silver City in New Mexico. Since it began in 1987, the race has been dominated by American riders - American men have won eighteen editions, American women the same number - but changes to the UCI classification have brought ever-increasing numbers of top riders from elsewhere, as was the case last year when the men's race was won by the Spaniard Francisco Mancebo and the women's race by the Canadian Clara Hughes. Champion System - the first Asian ProTour team in cycling - will be making their American race debut at the event

There are some tough climbs along the way: Stage 2 reaches 2,278m above sea level, with the men and the women taking in the climb. Good quality maps and altitude profiles can be downloaded from the official race website, as can the complete "race bible."

Iglinsky wants a Tour stage

Maxim Iglinsky

"The next race I will participate in is theTour of Belgium," Astana's 31-year-old Maxim Iglinsky told press at a team conference. "Then I will ride in the Critérium du Dauphiné and I will compete to win, and then I will fight to win a Tour de France stage. I have always dreamed of winning a Tour de France stage."

Iglinsky denied rumours that his hotel room was searched prior to his unexpected winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier this year, then said he also has his sights set on the World Championships: "All cyclists want to win the World Championship. The one who wins earns the right to put on the rainbow jersey and can then ride in it for the whole year - it is very prestigious. Yes, I've thought about that, too; I will be training for the Championships."

Moser wins in Germany
Moreno Moser won Germany's biggest one-day race the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt after attacking the lead group in the final kilometre. The race was especially notable as the first since being injured during a training ride for the the current World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin, who split the peloton with an attack at the 44km to go point.

Moser's team mate Dominik Nerz was 5" behind him as he crossed the line, hotly pursued by Sergei Firsanov who took the same time.

Top Five
  1.  Moreno Moser Liquigas-Cannondale 4h54'16"
  2.  Dominik Nerz Liquigas -Cannondale +5"
  3.  Sergey Firsanov RusVelo ST
  4.  Tony Martin Omega Pharma-QuickStep ST
  5.  Andre Greipel Lotto-Belisol 24"
Full results (when available)

Rabo and Astana at the Giro
Two more teams have revealed their Giro line-ups. Unsurprisingly, following his two stage wins at the Tour of Turkey, Theo Bos is team leader for Rabobank with Graeme Brown and Mark Renshaw onboard to pick up sprint points while Stef Clement looks after time trials and Juan Manuel Gárate takes care of the mountains. Protecting them and ferrying the bidons are Tom Leezer, Grischa Niermann, Tom-Jelte Slagter and Dennis van Winden.

Astana are sending Roman Kreuziger as leader, backed up by a more all-rounder squad consisting of Alexandr Dyachenko, Enrico Gasparotto, Simone Ponzi, Kevin Seeldraeyers and Andrey Zeits. Tanel Kangert, Evgeny Petrov and Paolo Tiralongo will be the men for the mountains points. The team comes as something of a surprise as the squad was widely expected to include Alexandre Vinokourov.

Three weeks off for Dehaes
Lotto-Belisol's Kenny Dehaes injured his elbow more severely than was initially believed in a crash at the Tour de Romandie - X-rays have since revealed a fracture, and he has been told to rest for three weeks.

Kenny Dehaes ‏ @Kennydehaes
Took x ray from elbow and showed fracture... F*ck!!! 3 weeks out!! #damn.

Thomas Dekker

No Giro for Dekker
Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Barracuda) is pinning his hopes on the Tour de France after doctors told him to stay away from the Giro due to a knee injury sustained at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "Starting the race would just be too risky - I could be forced to abandon after a couple of days. There's no point starting a Grand Tour unless you're 100%," the Dutch 27-year-old said.

Colorado loses one of its two velodromes
Days after the great news that Cleveland in Ohio is about to get a new velodrome - one that will be free for under-18s to ride - comes more depressing news that one of only two velodromes in Colorado will close after only three years. The Boulder track, housed in a converted warehouse alongside an indoor mountain biking course, has attracted far fewer riders than predicted - "The single biggest factor was the seasonality," said Bruce McPherson, president of the facility's management team. "We had riders for essentially four months of the year. We had a core group that rode all year long, but it wasn't enough."

BBC R4 to broadcast Burton play

Beryl Burton will be played by author
Maxine Peake

A dramatisation of Beryl Burton's life will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 towards the end of this year. Titled La Yorkshire Dame a Bicyclette, the play will star Maxine Peake - who also wrote the script, her first - as Burton, who won numerous titles and set world records during the 1950s and 60s.

"Despite beating men and women in championships across the globe, Beryl received no support, training or sponsorship and in fact, very little acclaim in the UK and Maxine wanted to dramatise her story," says producer Justine Potter. No date has yet been set for the broadcast, but it is likely to go out in the station's 45-minute Afternoon Drama (formerly and popularly Afternoon Play) slot.

Radio 4 is available worldwide on the Internet.

Other News
"The Afghanistan women cycling team will compete in Pakistan for the first time in the National Cycling Championship" (Herald Tribune)

"South Korean Pro Cyclists Killed in Road Accident" (Bicycling)

"There’s absolutely no room for complacency, we have got to keep working hard" - Joanna Rowsell on the Olympics (British Cycling)

"Italian women turned away from Box Hill" (Cycling Weekly)

"Sky look ahead to Giro's team time trial" (Cycling Weekly)

"Women’s Cycling: The Winning Formula Continues" (Irishcycling.com)

Kristin Armstrong makes name for herself as Olympic champ (USA Today)

"74-year-old cycling enthusiast had a heart attack while competing in a 60-kilometre club race" (The Press, New Zealand)

"Tacks cause havoc at cycling event Tour of the South" (Herald Sun, Australia)

"Cyclists in inspired return to Trinidad & Tobago" (Guardian Media)


"Goss the key to Giro cycling success" (SBS Australia)

"Paula Radcliffe vows to campaign for tougher bans for drug cheats" (The Independent)

"Tour de France 2012 Videogames Confirmed for PAL Release" (ElectrinicTheatre)


Cycling
Boris' big gob bothers bikers

Boris - a bit of an idiot at times

Boris Johnson has based a large part of his London mayoral campaign on his own cycling credentials and the fine work he says he's done for the capital's cyclists during his time a mayor over the last five years - so it seems rather strange that he risked annoying the very people he's been courting for so long with some ill-advised comments yesterday at a hustings designed to highlight the candidates' commitment to cycling and cyclists' safety.

After showing up on his bike - points there, Boris - the tousel-headed Old Eonian scamp started to dig himself a hole. "I can humbly say to you, I may not conform to your idea of a stereotypical cyclist. I do not have whippet-thin brown legs or dreadlocks, I do not charge around in Lycra, I do not jump lights - and nor are you, but I ask you to recognise that I have cycling in my heart. I love cycling. I think it is wonderful and I will continue to invest in cycling," he told his audience, adding: "We have got to move away from the idea that - and I am sorry to say this, you can lynch me now - that cyclists are somehow morally superior to other road users" before the four main candidates went about trying to pick holes in one another's doubtless expertly massaged figures.

However, Johnson did promise that if re-elected he'll appoint a Cycling Commissioner (or cycling czar, as the newspapers have for some reason decided such a figure should be called) - something that many cyclists will be happy to hear. Provided, of course, that it's somebody capable of independent thought and with a genuine interest in cycling, not one of his jolly chums from school.

According to Londoners on Bikes, a biking advocacy group, he "has lost the bike vote."

Newswire
Britain
"Kingston women's cycling pioneer in line for award" (Your Local Guardian)

"New Cycle Surgery Store Opens Along Popular London Biking Route" (MarketWatch)

"Sky Ride Local group spawns beginner friendly Tees Valley Sportive" (British Cycling)

Worldwide
"Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession at 7 p.m. May 16 to remember those who have been killed or injured by a motorist while cycling on public roadways" (Argus Press, Michigan)

Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Iglinsky takes the most unexpected
Classics win of the season so far

Maxim Iglinsky (Astana) took a superb victory in the final seconds at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, gaining the upper hand over Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) with a combination of sheer power and a cool head after a hard-fought battle up and over some of the steepest hills in the Ardennes.


(Videos at the foot of the page)

Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi), tenth last year and a favourite this time around after his stunning performance in the Tour of the Basque Country got into difficulties when his Orbea let him down on the Stockeau and while successful in getting back to the front, doing so used up a lot of energy as the race entered its final part. A breakaway group of eight - Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar) and David Le Lay (Saur-Sojasun), Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), and Kevin Ista (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems), Reinier Honig (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Gregory Habeaux ( Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems ) and Alessandro Bazzana (Type 1-Sanofi) - were building up a lead by this time, the pace proving too much as they approached Theux and suddenly found themselves down to five men.

However, at no point were they permitted to form a gap that might be described as dangerous - a selection of fast riders hovered around the front of a pack of 40 men and kept things ticking over far to quickly for that. Philippe Gilbert (BMC) was a notable face among them, never far from pole position and evidently now well on his way back to good form after a slow start to the season. With 25km to go, their lead was down to 37" and looked doomed to failure, while a second group trailing Gilbert's pack was gradually making up the difference and bringing with it several riders in with a good chance of shaking things up on the last climbs, among them Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan).

By the time they reached the Cote de la Roche aux Faucons, the break had only 14" and the hill looked as though it might once again prove decisive with its average gradient of around 9.9%. Rodriguez (Katusha)  experienced some difficulty on the way up, dropping back from the front of the group, then so too did Sanchez - an unexpected sight as many believed he'd be out to reach the summit fast and then use his legendary descending abilities to get into a good place for the end. Nibali was first up and cruised over the summit without challenge, then mounted a solo attack with 18.5km still to go and rapidly gained 22". A brave and, in all likelihood, ultimately doomed effort with Côte de Saint-Nicolas and the tricky little climb in the last couple of kilometres to Ans, one would have thought, but guaranteed to bring glory if it worked, much like Tom Boonen's already-legendary win at Paris-Roubaix this year. And, perhaps more importantly, beautiful to watch.

It looked like it was in the bag for
Nibali

Gilbert, Gasparotto (Astana), Iglinsky, Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Rodriguez, Kiserlovski (Astana), Mollema (Rabobank), Rolland (Europcar), Voeckler (Europcar), Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol), Nocentini (AG2R-La Mondiale), Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda), Martin (Garmin-Barracuda), and Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) went after him, but Nibali's attack seemed to have thrown them all into a state of confusion and there was so little organisation to their attempts that with 15km to go the race looked briefly to be a done deal. Perhaps there were simply too many of them - once the chasers had been whittled down to a more manageable seven, they fell into shape and began to work together. Then, the Italian produced a completely unexpected ace from up his sleeve - it turns out he can descend very, very well indeed; sufficiently so to increase his lead to 40" as he neared the final 10km. That threw the chasers into a panic once again so that before too long only Iglinsky was concentrating on the task in hand.

Iglinsky kept up the pressure, clawing his way up to the leader and getting to within 15" as they passed Liège stadium, Nibali looking quite surprised to see him there as they entered the last 3km - and then, incredibly, Iglinsky dropped him as they passed under the 1km banner! Precisely where he found the power after 256.5km is a mystery, but find it he did - and he powered up the last climb to take a 21" advantage and what must be the most unexpected victory of the 2012 Classics so far.

  1.  Maxim Iglinskiy Astana 6h43'52"
  2.  Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas-Cannondale +21"
  3.  Enrico Gasparotto Astana +36"
  4.  Thomas Voeckler Europcar ST
  5.  Daniel Martin Garmin-Barracuda ST
  6.  Bauke Mollema Rabobank ST
  7.  Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel-Euskadi ST
  8.  Michele Scarponi Lampre-ISD ST
  9.  Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Barracuda ST
  10.  Jelle Vanendert Lotto-Belisol ST
(Full results)

Daily Cycling Facts 18.04.12

Maurice Garin was the second winner of Paris-Roubaix, but
was he French or Italian at the time?

Paris-Roubaix took place on this date in 1897, 1949, 1971 and 1982. 1897 was the second edition ever held and the first of two to be won by Maurice Garin, who would also win the first Tour de France six years later (and he would have been credited with winning the second Tour too, if he hadn't been disqualified for cheating). Jules Rossi's 1937 win is usually said to have been the first by an Italian rider, but this might not in fact be the case: Garin had been born in Italy, sneaking into France with his family when he was still a child as what we now term an illegal immigrant. He later became naturalised French, but the year that he did so has never been proven beyond doubt - it could have been 1892, in which case the second and third editions of Paris-Roubaix were won by a Frenchman, but it might have been 1901, in which case they were won by an Italian. 1897 was also the first year in which we know for certain that the race was held on Easter Sunday - it had been scheduled to do so in 1896 but the Catholic Church took offence, pointing out that riders wouldn't have time to attend Mass before the race started and distributed notices in Roubaix outlining their opposition; so the race was postponed for two weeks. Considering the furore and the power the Church then held over people's everyday lives, it seems odd that the race went ahead on Easter Sunday only a year later.

André Mahé
(image credit: Veloptimum)

1949 saw the first use of bikes designed specifically for Paris-Roubaix, including an apparently anachronistic  return to wooden wheel rims which were more forgiving on the rough cobbles. Deciding the winner that year took several months and two conferences: André Mahé had been first over the line after reaching the velodrome in a three man breakaway with Frans Leenen and Jacques Moujica (the latter working so hard to keep up that he broke his bike), but it was subsequently discovered that an official had given them incorrect directions and they'd arrived via a shorter route. A few minutes after the declaration, Serse Coppi (brother of Fausto) arrived among another group and sprinted over the line. Mahé, speaking in 2007 (56 years after Serse and 47 years after Fausto had died), apparently still believed that he was the fair winner and appeared to suggest that Serse had initially accepted that result:

"It's too stupid to talk about. There was a break. Coppi attacked. His brother Fausto gave him a push to get him away. He wanted his brother to win. I waited a bit and then I attacked and I caught him and the break. Then I went off by myself. I was going to win Paris–Roubaix. It wasn't like nowadays, when there's television and everything. Then it was more chaotic and the whole road was blocked. People said I should have known the way into the track. But how do you know a thing like that at the end of Paris–Roubaix, when you've raced all day over roads like that? A gendarme signalled the way to go and that's the way I went.It was a journalist on a motorbike who managed to get up to me. He was shouting 'Not that way! Not that way!' And I turned round in the road and I rode back beneath the outside wall of the grandstand and I saw a gateway that went into the track, a gateway for journalists. And that's the way I went, except that it came out on the other side of the track from the proper entrance. The bunch came in and Serse won the sprint. But then his brother told Serse to go to the judges to object. He told Serse that I hadn't ridden the entire and precise course and that therefore I should be déclassé. But that was below him. Coppi wanted his brother to have a big victory. He was a great champion, Coppi, but to do what he did, to protest like that to get a victory for his brother, that wasn't dignified for a champion. That was below him. A champion like that should never have stooped that low."

By August, the UCI decided the best course of action was to simply declare the race null and without a winner. By November, the judges decided that the two men would share the victory, and it remains the only time that the race has been tied.

Jan Raas
(image credit: Cyclisme en Images)

1971 was won by Roger Rosiers, who seems little-remembered these days despite also winning Stage 17 at the Vuelta a Espana one year previously and the Tour of Luxembourg and Three Days of De Panne in the years afterwards. In 1982 the winner was Jan Raas, who had won Milan-San Rem in 1977 then a first Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1979 and another in 1983, the Omloop Het Volk in 1981 and Paris-Tours in 1978 and 1981, thus earning him a place among the greatest Classics specialists in history; five editions of the Amstel Gold Race and ten stages at the Tour de France also earning him a place among the most successful Dutch riders of all time. Bernard Hinault, probably France's greatest ever with the possible and arguable exception of Jacques Anquetil, returned to Paris-Roubaix in 1982 as defending champion but finished ninth and was furious (actually, le Blaireau was furious much of the time when racing; nowadays he's far more relaxed and merely simmers unless anybody gives him sufficient excuse for an explosion); refusing from then on to have anything whatsoever to do with the race that even when he won he'd called "bullshit." That year, the full 2.4km Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes to Sars-et-Rosières cobbled section was used for the first time, the initial 1.4km having been used two years earlier.

Briek Schotte

The Ronde van Vlaanderen was held on this day in 1948, when it was won for a second time by Briek Schotte, the rider who is considered by many Flemmish cycling fans to be the ultimate example of a Flandrien - that is, someone who continues to ride hard and fast, repeatedly attacking come what may. That year, a prize of 100 francs was provided for the Lanterne Rouge.

La Flèche Wallonne has also fallen on this date, as it did in 2001 - the 65th edition. The 198km course between Charleroi and Huy was short by modern standards, as since 2000 the race has averaged 199.5km. The winner was Rik Verbrugghe, who had been second the previous year. The 76th edition of the race will be held on this day in 2012.

The fourth edition of La Flèche Wallonne Féminine took place on this date in 2001 too, starting and finishing at the same points as the men's race but taking a different route to reduce it to 93km. The winner, Fabiana Luperini, had also won the first edition; and she would win again the following year - thus equalling the men's record of three victories. The 15th edition takes place on this date in 2012.


Maxim Iglinsky was born in Astana, Kazakhstan on this day in 1981 and has spent most of his professional career riding for the team named after his place of birth. He won the Kazakh Time Trial Championship in 2006, then the Road Race a year later before winning the Mountains Classification at the Tour de Suisse in 2008.

Luciano Pagliarini
(image credit: Thomas Fanghaenel CC BY-SA 3.0)

Luciano Pagliarini
Luciano Pagliarini is widely regarded as the most successful Brazilian cyclist of all time. Born in Ararpongas on this day in 1978, his first notable win was Stage 3 at the 1998 Vuelta Ciclista de Chile; followed five years later with victories for Stages 2, 3 and 4 at the Tour de Langkawi, then Stages 7 and 8 at Langkawi and Stage 5 at the Vuelta a Murcia in 2004. After abandoning the road race at the Olympics in 2004 when he experienced mechanical trouble, 2005 looked set to be his breakthrough year as he rode his first Tour de France and finished 5th in Stage 2 - however, he abandoned after Stage 9. 2007 started badly due to illness, but then less than two weeks after the birth of his first child he won Stage 5 at the Eneco Tour of the Benelux, thus becoming the first Brazilian to win a stage in a UCI ProTour event.

In 2008, he won Stage 6 at the Tour of Calfornia and was once again entered for the Olympics, but finished last in his event two days after being diagnosed with renal calculi (kidney stones). The following year was worse still as, soon after he'd signed a new contract with TelTech H2O, the team announced that it had not been granted a UCI licence and folded. After spending several months unable to race and putting on weight, he announced that he would stage a comeback at the Tour of Brazil and begin preparations for the 2012 Olympics. However, it was not to be: in the latest set-back of a career that somehow never quite took off despite coming so close on so many occasions, his new Scott-Marcondes Cesar-São José dos Campos found itself experiencing financial difficulties and, when it failed to pay him, Pagliarini decided he'd had enough and retired to become coach to the national track team.

Denis Verschueren was a Belgian rider born in Berlaar on the 11th of February in 1897. He won some excellent results during the 1920s and 1930s, including two National Interclubs Champioships (1926 and 1929), the Tour of Flanders in 1926, Paris-Brussels in 1926 and Paris-Tours in 1925 and 1928. He died at the age of 57 on this day in 1954.

Other births: Bernt Johansson (Sweden, 1953); Lucas Sebastián Haedo (Argentina, 1983); Imtiaz Bhatti (Pakistan, 1933); Frederick Hamlin (Great Britain, 1881, died 1951); Lenka Valová (Czechoslovakia, 1983); Kévin Sireau (France, 1987); Yevgeny Vakker (Kyrgyzstan, 1976); Leon Daelemans (Belgium, 1949); Vladimir Kaminsky (USSR, 1950); Frank Small (USA, 1895, died 1971); René Lotz (Netherlands, 1938); Milan Puzrla (Czechoslovakia, 1946); Joslyn Chavarria (Belize, 1959); Elio Juárez (Uruguay, 1942); Trevor Gadd (Great Britain, 1952).