Daily Cycling Facts 26.01.2014

François Faber
Though François Faber was born in France (Aulnay-sur-Iton, 26th January 1887), his father was from Luxembourg and as a result François had Luxembourgian nationality. However, despite his Luxembourgian passport, the rider insisted throughout his life that he was French; he would, therefore, probably not have been pleased had he have known that he would find his place in history as the first foreigner to win the Tour de France.

When he began cycling he rapidly gained the nickname The Giant of Colombes because, at 1.88m tall and weighing 88kg, he was considerably larger than the average man of his day and enormous in comparison to most cyclists. In photographs he looks as strong as his reputation claims him to have been - rather than the flashy, sculpted-yet-soft muscles of a gym obsessive, he had a physique hardened by back-breaking labour as a removal man and docker.

Faber began his professional cycling career with Labor in 1906 and entered his first Tour with them, but did not finish. Two years later, he moved on to Peugeot and entered again, this time winning four stages and achieving 2nd overall, then won the Giro di Lombardia. He departed for the mightly Alcyon, the most successful team in Tour history, in 1909 and it was with them that he not only won the race but, battling through some of the worst weather ever recorded during the event before or since, also won five consecutive stages (six in total) - a record that has not yet been broken after more than a century. He remained with them through 1910 and won three stages that year, coming 2nd overall behind team mate Octave Lapize, also winning Paris-Tours. Now one of the most respected and sought-after riders in the world, he was tempted away to Automoto and spent a quiet two years with them and Saphir Cycles before returning to Peugeot for the next two years, winning Paris-Roubaix, one stage at the Tour of Belgium and a total of four at the Tour de France during the period.

The First World War put paid to European racing until conflict came to an end, and Faber signed up with the Foreign Legion almost as soon as hostilities were declared. He was attached to the 2nd Régiment de Marche of the 1st Regiment, FFL, promoted to the rank of corporal. On the 9th of May 1915, the first day of the Battle of Artois near Arras, his regiment came under attack and lost 1,950 men from a total of 2,900. Faber survived the first waves of the attack unharmed, but then saw that one of his comrades was lying injured in no-man's land. He climbed out of the trench, went to him and had carried him part of the way to safety when he was fatally shot in the back, later being posthumously awarded the Médaille militaire for his bravery.

François Faber was 28 years old when he died. Earlier that same day, he had received a telegram informing him that his wife had just given birth to their first child, a daughter.


Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who was born on the 2nd of September 1812 in Keir, Scotland, died on this day in 1878. While not the inventor of the bicycle - German Karl Drais is usually credited with that, but there are other claimants - he is often said to have been the first to come up with the idea of providing some means of driving the rear wheel, bikes until then being powered by scooting the feet along the ground. He achieved this by means of treadles mounted to a central axle, connected to the rear wheel by con-rods. The wooden frame and heavy iron wheels sound rudimentary today, but the machine was possibly the very first example of what we recognise as a bicycle.

Ercole Baldini, an Italian cyclist who set the Hour Record in 1954,  was born on this day 1933 in a village called Villanova di Forli; and he was so fast he became known as The Forli Train. In 1956, he set another Hour Record after his previous one had been beaten by none other than Jacques Anquetil. The following year he won the Trofeo Barrachi with Fausto Coppi and became National Champion. Then, for 1958, he won the overall General Classification at the Giro d'Italia, beating the legendary climber Charly Gaul in the mountains (though to be fair, Gaul wouldn't have been enjoying the hot Italian weather at all). But even that wasn't enough, so later in the same year he became the World Champion. In 1959, his success began to slacken off a bit, though he was still able to win a stage and come 6th at that year's Tour de France before winning the Grand Prix des Nations and Coppa Placci before requiring surgery on his leg that ended his seventeen year professional career in 1964.

Rigoberto Uran
(image credit: Laurent Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Rigoberto Urán
Born on this day in Urrao, Columbia, in 1987, Rigoberto Urán began cycling at the age of 14 but almost had to give it up when he was forced to take up a job selling lottery tickets three months later after his father (Heriberto; who came 50th overall in the 1986 Tour de France) was murdered by a paramilitary group (some sources say he was killed by crossfire in a battle between drug dealers). Fortunately, it soon became evident that he had talent and by the age of 16 he'd turned professional with the Orgulla Paisa team and gained an impressive collection of Under-17 and, later, Under-19 National titles.

Three years later, he'd made enough of a name for himself to go to Europe and sign a contract with Italy's Tenax, then a year later he joined Unibet, won Stage 8 and came 9th overall at the Tour de Suisse. In 2008, he left the world in no doubt that he had the potential to become a great, coming 3rd in the Giro di Lombardia and 2nd in the Volta a Catalunya. He was 5th in the Tour de Romandie in 200 9and improved his Tour de Suisse finish to 7th overall in 2010. A rider who begins his palmares with results such as these is heading in the direction of the Grand Tours - and once he'd signed up with the British Team Sky, he was entered in the Tour de France. He won no stages (few do in their first Tour), but wore the white jersey for leading the Youth Classification in four stages and may have kept it longer - perhaps even winning the category overall - if he hadn't contracted an illness. Nevertheless, he finished 24th overall, a result with which any Tour debutante who had ridden the race in perfect health would be happy.

His success continued in 2012 with 12th place overall at Paris-Nice; Stage 4 victory and fifth place overall at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya; five top ten stage finishes (best: fourth, Stage 17), first place in the Youth category and seventh overall at the Giro d'Italia and tenth place overall in the Tour of Poland. During the Olympic Road Race, Urán broke away 8km from the finish with Alexander Vinokourov, a rider fourteen years his senior;   many believed that if the race ended in a two-man sprint Urán's youth would win him the race. With 200m to go, he made the mistake of looking back to see if the peloton was chasing them - Vinokourov realised that his rival's attention was diverted, grabbed his chance and sprinted to victory.

Urán stayed at Sky for 2013 and had his best season to date, winning two stages at the Giro d'Italia (Stage 2, the team time trial; Stage 10) before coming second overall 4'43" behind Vincenzo Nibali - something of a surprise as Sky's leader Bradley Wiggins had been a favourite - after seeing him stop to wait for Wiggins when the 2012 Tour de France winner got stuck behind a crash, many fans wondered if he might otherwise have won. Later, he took four top ten stage finishes at the Vuelta a Espana with a best place of second on Stage 16 before coming 27th overall. For 2014, he has left Sky and will ride for Omega Pharma-Quickstep.


Juan José Haedo was born in Argentina on this day in 1981. Known as a lightning-fast sprinter who can battle his way through the peloton to the line, Haedo has achieved podium finishes in most of the races he has entered and has won many of the biggest events in one-day racing as well as stages at the Tour of California, the Vuelta a Murcia, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Vuelta a Espana. For 2013, after spending six years with Saxobank, Haedo moved to Continental team Jamis-Hagens Berman and won eight races. Haedo's father Juan Carlos was also a professional cyclist, winner of sixteen races during a career that stretched from 1970 to 1984 and included a National Road Race Championship victory in 1982. His younger brother Lucas Sebastian is a professional too, riding for Cannondale in 2013.


On this day in 2011, toy manufacturer Hornby announced a new product in its famous Scalextric range - a Chris Hoy-inspired velodrome racing set. Cyclists aged four to - well, every age really - got excited and rushed out with their Christmas money. Then the complaints started coming in. Apparently, quite a few sets either didn't work or broke within minutes.

Other cyclists born on this day: Kim Gyong-Hui (North Korea, 1970); Klaas Buchly (Netherlands, 1910, died 1965); Ivan Cerioli (Italy, 1971); Rafaâ Chtioui (Tunisia, 1986); Nedyalko Stoyanov (Bulgaria, 1955); Jim Nevin (Australia, 1931); Mira Kasslin (Finland, 1978); Lionel Cox (Australia, 1930, died 2010);  Yury Trofimov (USSR, 1984); Jože Valenčič (Yugoslavia, 1948); Maarten den Bakker (Netherlands, 1969); Aleksandr Dokhlyakov (USSR, 1942); Gerrit van Wees (Netherlands, 1913, died 1995); Mieczysław Nowicki (Poland, 1951); Gao Min (China, 1982); Raphael Glorieux (Belgium, 1929, died 1986); Pak Chun-Hwa (North Korea, 1968); Roman Humenberger (Austria, 1945).

Daily Cycling Facts 25.01.2014

Denis Menchov

Denis Menchov
(image credit: Petit Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Born on this day 1978 in Oryol, USSR, Denis Menchov began his professional career with Banesto and, almost always a sign of a great-rider-to-be, won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001. The following year he took the Mountains Classification at the Critérium du Dauphiné, thus revealing himself as having the potential to become a Tour de France contender. He moved on to Rabobank in 2004 and became the team's leader following the departure of American Levi Leipheimer, remaining with them for two seasons and serving as their main General Classification rider in the 2005 Tour; but finished in 85th place due to a chest infection contracted during the race. However, he had made a full recovery by the time of the Vuelta a Espana, repaying Rabobank's faith with his first Grand Tour win, the Combination classification and two stages.

Menchov won one stage and finished in 6th position at both  the 2006 Tour and Critérium du Dauphiné, then concentrated on the Vuelta for 2007 where he won the Mountains and Combination classifications, a stage and the General Classification. He was back at the Tour in 2008 and managed 4th overall, having already finished 5th at the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year; then at the Giro the next year and won two stages and the overall General Classification, also coming second in the Points competition and third in the King of the Mountains - a considerable achievement. In 2010, his last year with Rabobank, he came 2nd in the Vuelta a Murcia and Tour di Romandie, then moved his Tour record up another notch by coming 3rd overall. For 2011, he went to Geox-TMC but didn't have such a good year, his only podium finish being 3rd at the Vuelta a Murcia. He rode the Vuelta a Espana again but this time came 5th, his team mate Juan José Cobo winning overall after a fabulous ascent of Alto de l'Angliru in which he made the infamously hard climb - the steepest in any Grand Tour - look easy.

At the end of the 2011 season sponsor Geox suddenly announced that it would be withdrawing from cycling immediately, leaving the team unable to continue. Menchov was fortunate enough to find a space with Katusha and enjoyed a good season with decent showings at the Vuelta a Andalucia and Volta a Cicilista Catalunya, victory at the National Individual Time Trial Championship, four top ten stage finishes (best: eighth, Prologue and Stage 8) followed by 11th place overall at the Tour de France and Stage 20 victory at the Vuelta a Espana. Katusha was denied a World Tour licence at the end of 2012, leaving it looking as though it would compete as a ProContinental team in 2013, but in February 2013 the Court for Arbitration in Sport ruled that the UCI had to grant it the licence. Menchov was, therefore, able to ride the Grand Tours and showed good form at the Volta ao Algarve in February when he finished in fourth place; however, when he suffered a knee injury during the Giro d'Italia, he retired from professional cycling.

On Menchov's birthday in 2013, the British Guardian newspaper published an article on Team Sky rider Chris Froome. In it, Menchov was incorrectly termed "a formidable climber and doper." In fact, he has never failed an anti-doping test and his 2005 Vuelta victory was awarded restrospectively following the disqualification of initial winner Roberto Heras; the newspaper later corrected its mistake.

From The Guardian, 25.01.2013

Rene Pottier, 1879-1907

René Pottier
By all accounts, René Pottier was the finest climber of his day and was the fastest man up the 1,171m Ballon d'Alsace when he entered the Tour in 1905, beating Hippolyte Aucouturier, Louis Trousellier and Henri Cornet to the summit - the first time that a mountain had featured in the race. Despite his climbing ability, he lost his lead to Hippolyte Aucouturier after a puncture in his only remaining spare tyre caused by fans who had spread 125kg nails on the road - but fortunately for him, Aucouturier was a gentleman and generously handed over one of his own even though the puncture would have put his closest rival out of the race and so he was able to finish. The next day, he abandoned after a crash.

Pottier entered for a second time in 1906 and won five stages  from the total thirteen. He led the race after Stage 1, having wrested it away from Emile Georget and was once again the first man up Ballon d'Alsace - but this year luck was on his side and he finished the stage a full 48 minutes ahead of the next rider. He remained race leader throughout the remainder of the event.

With the Tour won, he competed in the Bol d'Or 24 hour race at the famous Buffalo Stadium (so named because the first velodrome on the site had once hosted Buffalo Bill Cody's traveling Wild West Show) and completed 925.29km to win. However, life was to take an awful plunge for Pottier - some time early in the next year, he learned that while he'd been away winning the Tour his wife had been unfaithful to him. He entered a deep depression and, on this day in 1907, he hanged himself from the hook upon which he usually hung his bike at their home in Lavallois-Perret. He was 27.

There is a memorial to Pottier, erected by Henri Desgrange, at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace.


British mountain biker Dan Atherton was born today in 1982 near Salisbury. Originally interested in BMX, Atherton took up mountain biking when he was 16 and, by 2004, was National 4X Champion. He came 2nd in a round of the World Downhill Championship a year later before adding numerous good results over the next two seasons. In 2008, he became the World 4X Champion. Dan is the older brother of  World Downhill Champions Gee (2010) and Rachel (2008).

Other cyclists born on this day: Brett Aitken (Australia, 1971); Luke Roberts (Australia, 1977); Elisabet "Elsbeth"van Rooy-Wink (Netherlands, 1973); Alan Danson (Great Britain, 1933); Sandra Temporelli (France, 1969); Alayna Burns (Australia , 1980); Harrie Jansen (Netherlands, 1947); Tomokazu Fujino (Japan, 1967).

Daily Cycling Facts 26.01.2013

François Faber
Though François Faber was born in France (Aulnay-sur-Iton, 26th January 1887), his father was from Luxembourg and as a result François had Luxembourgian nationality. However, despite his Luxembourgian passport, the rider insisted throughout his life that he was French; he would, therefore, probably not have been pleased had he have known that he would find his place in history as the first foreigner to win the Tour de France.

When he began cycling he rapidly gained the nickname The Giant of Colombes because, at 1.88m tall and weighing 88kg, he was considerably larger than the average man of his day and enormous in comparison to most cyclists. In photographs he looks as strong as his reputation claims him to have been - rather than the flashy muscles of a gym obsessive, he had a physique hardened by back-breaking labour as a removal man and docker.

Faber began his professional cycling career with Labor in 1906 and entered his first Tour with them, but did not finish. Two years later, he moved on to Peugeot and entered again, this time winning four stages and achieving 2nd overall, then won the Giro di Lombardia. He departed for the mightly Alcyon, the most successful team in Tour history, in 1909 and it was with them that he not only won the race but, battling through some of the worst weather ever recorded during the event before or since, also won five consecutive stages (six in total) - a record that has not yet been broken after more than a century. He remained with them through 1910 and won three stages that year, coming 2nd overall behind team mate Octave Lapize, also winning Paris-Tours. Now one of the most respected and sought-after riders in the world, he was tempted away to Automoto and spent a quiet two years with them and Saphir Cycles before returning to Peugeot for the next two years, winning Paris-Roubaix, one stage at the Tour of Belgium and a total of four at the Tour de France during the period.

The First World War put paid to European racing until conflict came to an end, and Faber signed up with the Foreign Legion almost as soon as hostilities were declared. He was attached to the 2nd Régiment de Marche of the 1st Regiment, FFL, promoted to the rank of corporal. On the 9th of May 1915, the first day of the Battle of Artois near Arras, his regiment came under attack and lost 1,950 men from a total of 2,900. Faber survived the first waves of the attack unharmed, but then saw that one of his comrades was lying injured in no-man's land. He climbed out of the trench, went to him and had carried him part of the way to safety when he was fatally shot in the back, later being posthumously awarded the Médaille militaire for his bravery.

François Faber was 28 years old when he died. Earlier that same day, he had received a telegram informing him that his wife had just given birth to their first child, a daughter.

Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who was born on the 2nd of September 1812 in Keir, Scotland, died on this day in 1878. While not the inventor of the bicycle - the most deserved claimant of that title will probably never be known - he is often credited as the first to come up with the idea of providing some means of driving the rear wheel, bikes until then being powered by scooting the feet along the ground. He achieved this by means of treadles mounted to a central axle, connected to the rear wheel by con-rods. The wooden frame and heavy iron wheels sound rudimentary today, but the machine was possibly the very first example of what we recognise as a bicycle.

Ercole Baldini, an Italian cyclist who set the Hour Record in 1954,  was born on this day 1933 in a village called Villanova di Forli; and he was so fast he became known as The Forli Train. In 1956, he set another Hour Record after his previous one had been beaten by none other than Jacques Anquetil. The following year he won the Trofeo Barrachi with Fausto Coppi and became National Champion. Then, for 1958, he won the overall General Classification at the Giro d'Italia, beating the legendary climber Charly Gaul in the mountains (though to be fair, Gaul wouldn't have been enjoying the hot Italian weather at all). But even that wasn't enough, so later in the same year he became the World Champion. In 1959, his success began to slacken off a bit, though he was still able to win a stage and come 6th at that year's Tour de France before winning the Grand Prix des Nations and Coppa Placci before requiring surgery on his leg that ended his seventeen year professional career in 1964.

Rigoberto Uran
(image credit: Laurent Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Rigoberto Urán
Born on this day in Urrao, Columbia, in 1987, Rigoberto Urán began cycling at the age of 14 but almost had to give it up when he was forced to take up a job selling lottery tickets three months later after his father (Heriberto; who came 50th overall in the 1986 Tour de France) was murdered by a paramilitary group (some sources say he was killed by crossfire in a battle between drug dealers). Fortunately, it soon became evident that he had talent and by the age of 16 he'd turned professional with the Orgulla Paisa team and gained an impressive collection of Under-17 and, later, Under-19 National titles.

Three years later, he'd made enough of a name for himself to go to Europe and sign a contract with Italy's Tenax, then a year later he joined Unibet, won Stage 8 and came 9th overall at the Tour de Suisse. In 2008, he left the world in no doubt that he had the potential to become a great, coming 3rd in the Giro di Lombardia and 2nd in the Volta a Catalunya. He was 5th in the Tour de Romandie in 200 9and improved his Tour de Suisse finish to 7th overall in 2010. A rider who begins his palmares with results such as these is heading in the direction of the Grand Tours - and once he'd signed up with the British Team Sky, he was entered in the Tour de France. He won no stages (few do in their first Tour), but wore the white jersey for leading the Youth Classification in four stages and may have kept it longer - perhaps even winning the category overall - if he hadn't contracted an illness. Nevertheless, he finished 24th overall, a result with which any Tour debutante who had ridden the race in perfect health would be happy.

His success continued in 2012 with 12th place overall at Paris-Nice; Stage 4 victory and fifth place overall at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya; five top ten stage finishes (best: fourth, Stage 17), first place in the Youth category and seventh overall at the Giro d'Italia and tenth place overall in the Tour of Poland. During the Olympic Road Race, Urán broke away 8km from the finish with Alexander Vinokourov, a rider fourteen years his senior;   many believed that if the race ended in a two-man sprint Urán's youth would win him the race. With 200m to go, he made the mistake of looking back to see if the peloton was chasing them - Vinokourov realised that his rival's attention was diverted, grabbed his chance and sprinted to victory.


Juan José Haedo, the Argentinian cyclist currently with Jamis-Hagens Berman after several years with Saxobank, was born on this day in 1981. Known as a lightning-fast sprinter who can battle his way through the peloton to the line, Haedo has achieved podium finishes in most of the races he has entered and has won many of the biggest events in one-day racing as well as stages at the Tour of California, the Vuelta a Murcia, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Vuelta a Espana.

On this day in 2011, toy manufacturer Hornby announced a new product in its famous Scalextric range - a Chris Hoy-inspired velodrome racing set. Cyclists aged four to - well, every age really - got excited and rushed out with their Christmas money. Then the complaints started coming in. Apparently, quite a few sets either didn't work or broke within minutes.

Other cyclists born on this day: Kim Gyong-Hui (North Korea, 1970); Klaas Buchly (Netherlands, 1910, died 1965); Ivan Cerioli (Italy, 1971); Rafaâ Chtioui (Tunisia, 1986); Nedyalko Stoyanov (Bulgaria, 1955); Jim Nevin (Australia, 1931); Mira Kasslin (Finland, 1978); Lionel Cox (Australia, 1930, died 2010);  Yury Trofimov (USSR, 1984); Jože Valenčič (Yugoslavia, 1948); Maarten den Bakker (Netherlands, 1969); Aleksandr Dokhlyakov (USSR, 1942); Gerrit van Wees (Netherlands, 1913, died 1995); Mieczysław Nowicki (Poland, 1951); Gao Min (China, 1982); Raphael Glorieux (Belgium, 1929, died 1986); Pak Chun-Hwa (North Korea, 1968); Roman Humenberger (Austria, 1945).

Daily Cycling Facts 25.01.2013

Denis Menchov

Denis Menchov
(image credit: Petit Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Born on this day 1978 in Oryol, USSR, Denis Menchov began his professional career with Banesto and, almost always a sign of a great-rider-to-be, won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001. The following year he took the Mountains Classification at the Critérium du Dauphiné, thus revealing himself as having the potential to become a Tour de France contender. He moved on to Rabobank in 2004 and became the team's leader following the departure of American Levi Leipheimer, remaining with them for two seasons and serving as their main General Classification rider in the 2005 Tour; but finished in 85th place due to a chest infection contracted during the race. However, he had made a full recovery by the time of the Vuelta a Espana, repaying Rabobank's faith with his first Grand Tour win, the Combination classification and two stages.

Menchov won one stage and finished in 6th position at both  the 2006 Tour and Critérium du Dauphiné, then concentrated on the Vuelta for 2007 where he won the Mountains and Combination classifications, a stage and the General Classification. He was back at the Tour in 2008 and managed 4th overall, having already finished 5th at the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year; then at the Giro the next year and won two stages and the overall General Classification, also coming second in the Points competition and third in the King of the Mountains - a considerable achievement. In 2010, his last year with Rabobank, he came 2nd in the Vuelta a Murcia and Tour di Romandie, then moved his Tour record up another notch by coming 3rd overall. For 2011, he went to Geox-TMC but didn't have such a good year, his only podium finish being 3rd at the Vuelta a Murcia. He rode the Vuelta a Espana again but this time came 5th, his team mate Juan José Cobo winning overall after a fabulous ascent of Alto de l'Angliru in which he made the infamously hard climb - the steepest in any Grand Tour - look easy.

At the end of the 2011 season sponsor Geox suddenly announced that it would be withdrawing from cycling immediately, leaving the team unable to continue. Menchov was fortunate enough to find a space with Katusha and enjoyed a good season with decent showings at the Vuelta a Andalucia and Volta a Cicilista Catalunya, victory at the National Individual Time Trial Championship, four top ten stage finishes (best: eighth, Prologue and Stage 8) followed by 11th place overall at the Tour de France and Stage 20 victory at the Vuelta a Espana. Katusha was denied a World Tour licence at the end of 2012, leaving it looking as though it would compete as a ProContinental team in 2013 - whether Menchov, who at 34 must be drawing towards the end of his years at the top level of the sport, will remain with them of break his contract and move to another team remains to be seen.

On Menchov's birthday in 2013, the British Guardian newspaper published an article on Team Sky rider Chris Froome. In it, Menchov was incorrectly termed "a formidable climber and doper." In fact, he has never failed an anti-doping test and his 2005 Vuelta victory was awarded restrospectively following the disqualification of initial winner Roberto Heras.

From The Guardian, 25.12.2013

Rene Pottier, 1879-1907

René Pottier
By all accounts, René Pottier was the finest climber of his day and was the fastest man up the 1,171m Ballon d'Alsace when he entered the Tour in 1905, beating Hippolyte Aucouturier, Louis Trousellier and Henri Cornet to the summit - the first time that a mountain had featured in the race. Despite his climbing ability, he lost his lead to Hippolyte Aucouturier after a puncture in his only remaining spare tyre caused by fans who had spread 125kg nails on the road - but fortunately for him, Aucouturier was a gentleman and generously handed over one of his own even though the puncture would have put his closest rival out of the race and so he was able to finish. The next day, he abandoned after a crash.

Pottier entered for a second time in 1906 and won five stages  from the total thirteen. He led the race after Stage 1, having wrested it away from Emile Georget and was once again the first man up Ballon d'Alsace - but this year luck was on his side and he finished the stage a full 48 minutes ahead of the next rider. He remained race leader throughout the remainder of the event.

With the Tour won, he competed in the Bol d'Or 24 hour race at the famous Buffalo Stadium (so named because the first velodrome on the site had once hosted Buffalo Bill Cody's traveling Wild West Show) and completed 925.29km to win. However, life was to take an awful plunge for Pottier - some time early in the next year, he learned that while he'd been away winning the Tour his wife had been unfaithful to him. He entered a deep depression and, on this day in 1907, he hanged himself from the hook upon which he usually hung his bike at their home in Lavallois-Perret. He was 27.

There is a memorial to Pottier, erected by Henri Desgrange, at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace.


British mountain biker Dan Atherton was born today in 1982 near Salisbury. Originally interested in BMX, Atherton took up mountain biking when he was 16 and, by 2004, was National 4X Champion. He came 2nd in a round of the World Downhill Championship a year later before adding numerous good results over the next two seasons. In 2008, he became the World 4X Champion. Dan is the older brother of  World Downhill Champions Gee (2010) and Rachel (2008).

Other cyclists born on this day: Brett Aitken (Australia, 1971); Luke Roberts (Australia, 1977); Elisabet "Elsbeth"van Rooy-Wink (Netherlands, 1973); Alan Danson (Great Britain, 1933); Sandra Temporelli (France, 1969); Alayna Burns (Australia , 1980); Harrie Jansen (Netherlands, 1947); Tomokazu Fujino (Japan, 1967).

The State of Women's Cycling 2012

Amber Neben

It's the end of another year in women's cycling. What a year it's been - the racing, as ever, has been first rate, just as you'd expect in a sport full of highly professional, competitive athletes spurred on by their own love for what they do rather than by their love of fat bank balances (and, if any women out there are thinking of taking up cycling as a way of becoming rich, think again. The salaries - if you're fortunate enough to get one, many "professional" female riders don't - remain a joke, as are the prize funds at most races. As an example, the winner of the men's Chrono des Nations received €5,785, the winner of the women's race at the same event received €379. The women's race was shorter at 20.87km, 43% of the 48.5km men's race; but Amber Neben's prize was equal to only 6.55% of that received by Tony Martin).

What's different now compared to where we were at this point last year? Not much, at first glance. The season got under way with the usual bad news that races were being cancelled due to organisers being unable to secure the sponsorship they needed in order to keep them going: the Tour de Languedoc Roussillon and GP Ciudad de Valladolid are two examples of races that are no longer with us (but, with luck, may reappear in future years), the Giro del Trentino Femminile was cut to two days from its usual three and even the famous Holland Ladies' Tour got into trouble with organisers announcing it might have to be cancelled until a new sponsor - the hairdressing chain with a long-standing connection to cycling, Brainwash - came onboard and saved the day. The UCI still says it's fully committed to women's cycling, but still seems unwilling to do very much: women's cycling, it claims, is insufficiently developed at present to justify greater financial input; however, it has apparently decided that rather than putting in the cash required to develop it, it will instead wait for a magical fairy to come along and start the process.

Emma Pooley

Perhaps the two biggest and most depressing stories of the year were Emma Pooley's announcement that she was considering leaving cycling, either temporarily or forever, and Rabobank's decision to pull out of the sport. Pooley, who has for some years now been one of the most prominent voices in the sport, indicated that she'd had enough of her well-thought-out and reasoned campaigns for the women to get a fair deal resulting in nothing of any consequence being done by the UCI and needed time away to concentrate on completing her PhD. Rabobank, which has enjoyed enormous public exposure from the highly successful teams it sponsors (especially the women's team, home to world number one Marianne Vos), announced it would be ending its long connection with cycling because it was no longer confident in the wake of the US Postal/Lance Armstrong investigation that the UCI was able to bring doping to an end. It would, therefore, be ending its sponsorship of both the men's and women's teams, in spite of the fact that doping is virtually non-existent in women's cycling when compared to men's cycling (it said it would, however, continue sponsoring Vos who, as the 21st Century's Eddy Merckx, is every sponsor's dream come true; Vos, being the star that she is, replied that it doesn't work like that and that she and the team come as a package).

Earlier in the year, British Cycling failed to notice that female cyclists competing at the top level of their sport are rock hard, stupendously fit athletes and, in a peculiarly Victorian way, mistook them for weak-willed delicate creatures unable to race on two consecutive days, so it tried to persuade the organisers of the Smithfield Nocturne to drop the women's criterium in order that riders wouldn't be too tired at a (British Cycling) event the following day. The thing is, the Smithfield Nocturne is massively popular event that draws thousands of fans (and generates new ones) in addition to - crucially - getting TV coverage, whereas the British Cycling race isn't. It is, therefore, simply too important to be allowed not to go ahead. Team Mule Bar Girls were first on the case and got a promise from the organisers that, provided a sufficient number of riders signed up, they'd go ahead and run the race anyway. Then, realising that they too could help, fans joined in by Tweeting, Facebooking, blogging and doing all manner of things that have required new words to be added to the English language over the last few years. The race was saved, and it didn't take very long to save it.

The Olympic Women's Road Race was watched by millions

This may yet prove to be the biggest thing that has happened in women's cycling in 2012: the rapid emergence of a new "activism meme" among fans, fueled at least in part by the unexpected success of the Women's Road Race at the Olympics which generated viewing figures far higher than anyone had hoped. We have realised that we do not have to be - and should not be - the silent partner in the riders/organisers and federations/audience triumvirate and that, as the majority of riders, directeur sportifs and race organisers are already doing all that they can, it's down to us to use collective effort to pressure federations, raise funds and get more people to races - by doing so we can help make the changes that the UCI won't, even though the millions of people that watched the Women's Road Race at the Olympics proves a potential audience exists.

Indicative that this is the case is the success of two new projects - namely the Women's Cycling Social Media Jersey and the Fan-Backed Women's Team. When the Media Jersey project began, organisers Sarah and Dan hoped to raise a few hundred dollars to award a t-shirt and a small cash sum as a prize to the rider decided by a poll (which ultimately received 4,605 votes, a fantastic response) to have done most to raise the sport's profile - within only days, it became apparent that they were going to raise enough to much more: the overall winner would receive a t-shirt and $500 and the riders decided to have done most at the Giro Toscana and the Tour de l’Ardèche and Brainwash Ladies Tour would receive $250, while the two runners-up would receive $100. Perhaps the first person to spot the emergence of this trend was Stef Wyman. Wyman is a man with a dream - he wants to see women's cycling become everything it can and should be and he wants professional female cyclists to be on equal footing, both in terms of recognition and salaries, with professional male cyclists - but he is not a dreamer: in fact, as the manager of Matrix-Prendas, the team he has built up through hard times into one of the most successful in cycling, he's about as much a realist as anyone could be. Back in September, Wyman wrote an article for Cyclismas in which he posited the idea that a fan-backed team, in which development would be driven by fans' passion for the sport rather than by sponsors' wallets, might be one way in which women's cycling could be taken forward. It was an idea that proved to have legs as strong as those on the riders in his team and he immediately began getting emails from people who were willing to get involved and provide funds; already the Fan-Backed Women's Team has grown to become more than just one team and is becoming involved with race promotion.

The general feeling is that we don't need to rely on the reluctant UCI - they're not going to help and we don't need them to do so; in the very near future, as a direct result, we might look back on 2012 as the year when women's cycling turned the corner and entered the final sprint into its glorious future. Despite the many problems still facing the sport, I'm more optimistic about the future of women's cycling than I have been at any time since I began following it, and I'm not the only one.

Who Had The Blingest Team Bus?

So the 2012 Tour de France is over, and the sideburns won it - cue OBE, a few weeks in which white vans will give way to cyclists and a general feeling of well-being among British cyclists and fans.

That means it's now time to announce the results of another competition, one that runs alongside the General Classification, King of the Mountains, Points, Youth, Teams and Combativity. It's unofficial, but the sums of money involved are stupendous. It is, of course, the legendary Who Had The Blingest Team Bus? competition.

RadioShack-NissanTrek

RadioShack-NissanTrek's Mercedes (extra blingpoints for the Merc badge) is a fine-looking beast  - and driver Vinny, seen here earning extra pocket money by washing it, is not without his charms either. Hang on a minute, though... Yes! Thought as much! It's the just old LeopardTrek bus given a quick going-over with a can of Dulux "Hot Paprika!" That's not very conspicuous consumption, is it? Minus 20% for that!

However, RSNT have a secret. To save in fuel costs, the bus's engine was removed and the rear wheels were connected to Jens Voigt's stationary bike. This means that it now holds the record for Fastest Bus in the World. Serious bling is, therefore, won back. Also, extra points for replacing the alarm system with a lion.

Cost: N/A if Brian Nygaard paid for it.

RSNT Blingrating: 83%

AG2R-La Mondiale

AG2R-La Mondiale's bus really split opinion among the panel of judges: 30% were reminded of chocolate and liked it, 30% were reminded of poo and didn't, the rest were more interested in how skinny Maxime Bouet's thighs are or had sneaked out for a smoke. Therefore your beloved writer decided to throw democracy to the wind and decide it alone - and it's a thumbs-up, because when it's all shiny and glossy, that shade of brown does indeed look appealing.

It's still a rubbish colour for their shorts though.

Cost: A large enough chunk of the team's budget for there not to be enough left over to buy nicer shorts.

AG2R Blingrating: 70%

Lampre-ISD

Lampre-ISD's pink and blue kit doesn't appeal to everyone, though it's far more popular than the old ; but when the colourscheme is reduced to a few tasteful stripes on their Euromar bus it looks rather stylish. However, since both Lampre and ISD manufacture steel and presumably have access to welding equipment, they could have modified it and come up with a much better vehicle. Fans will, therefore, be very disappointed if Lampre show up next year in anything less impressive that this...

Cost: Probably a fair bit

Lampre blingrating: 10% - it's far too restrained and tasteful to be bling.

Garmin-Sharp

Now that they're co-sponsored by Sharp, Slipstream Sports have more electronic gadgets than the Starship Enterprise and Stephen Fry combined - at a loss as to what they should do with them all, they decided to grab considerable blingpoints by sticking a great big flat-screen TV on the outside of their bus, thus enabling fans to keep up with the action without the effort of actually turning around and facing the direction of the race. Guys, that is class.

Cost: More money than you will ever have in your life

Garmin-Sharp blingrating: 100%

Argos-Shimano

Argos-Shimano are so proud of their bus that they've uploaded a YouTube video showing it off - and they should be proud, too, because it's got a sick paintjob (as the kids would say) and enough gizmos to out-do any one of the modified hot-hatchbacks that hang around the carpark of your local McDonald's every Saturday night. It's also got a multi-screen entertainment system more than capable of pumping out phat beatz, earning the team their unique place as the only non-ProTour squad to make it through to the finals of this exclusive competition. The team has since announced that for the 2013 Tour, the bus will be fitted with a computerised Tyler Farrar detector that will automatically lock the doors and windows if he comes within 10 metres.

Cost: If the bus was filled with 1 Euro coins, it probably wouldn't be enough to buy another one.

Argos-Shimano blingrating: 72% (points deducted for that urinal - why would you want your team bus to look like a public lavvy?)

Orica-GreenEDGE

Other teams thought new kids on the block Orica-GreenEDGE had brought their own private jet when they rocked up to Liège in this barge - which, a highly impressed Ned Boulting reported, was a whole metre longer than Sky's bus! Precisely how long it is was never made clear; Ned tried to estimate it but couldn't due to the rear end of vehicle being over the horizon but, according to rumours doing the rounds at the race, GreenEDGE practiced for some of the shorter stages by riding from one end to the other on the inside as it was being driven to the day's stage town (they didn't practice for the longer stages in the same way, though - that'd just be silly).

According to the International Ned Boulting Fan Club, what really impressed Ned was not the length nor even the revolutionary crash-proof front (achieved by making it an exact copy of a Nokia 3210 cellphone) - it was the on-board fully-fitted washing machine. That, ladies and gents, is bling incarnate.

Cost: Australia's entire GDP between 2006-2011

GreenEDGE blingrating: 100%.

Sky

This is Sky ProCycling's Volvo 9700 Tri-Axle and, no matter where you live, it is better than your house. Stood on end, it would overtake The Shard as Europe's tallest building and it comes fully equipped for intergalactic travel - when in orbit around Earth, it eclipses the sun. It has nine leather seats, sleeping facilities, two showers, two toilets (with super-luxury quilted bog roll), an office that can be converted into a massage suite and - a real essential for nine young men on a road trip - mood lighting. The 10 million watt sound system has reportedly now been reprogrammed to make it unable to play Lesley Garrett CDs.

Cost: probably enough to finance a thousand women's teams for ten years/end world hunger (probably both, with enough change for a bag of chips on the way home), but not nearly as much as sponsor Rupert Murdoch saves through tax avoidance each year.

Sky Blingrating: 95% - judges originally gave it 100%, but deducted 5% when it was pointed out that it doesn't have 24-carat gold wheels.

And the winner is...

Garmin-Sharp and Orica-GreenEDGE both receive 100% blingratings for their mobile überhotels, with GreenEDGE just edging ahead due to theirs being longer than a Jackie Durand solo breakaway. However, while it's not the biggest, Sky's bus with its massage suite is a hard to beat. That they have not one, but two of the monsters means that Sky ProCycling are hereby declared winners of the 2012 Tour de France Who Had The Blingest Bus? competition. Let our rejoicing be without boundaries, and so on.

Another Cyclopunk Exclusive: Schlecks' new sponsors!

Hot on the heels of news that Johan Bruyneel is in a spot of bother and today's revelation that Jakob Fuglsang has been made to go to his bedroom without any tea and has to stay there for the rest of the season, Cyclopunk's Copenhagen-based sister newspaper Overskud Lort has come up with the strongest evidence yet that the Brothers Schleck will be racing for a new team backed by a German sponsor in 2013.

Overskud Lort undercover journalist Spionclopunk has obtained apparently genuine documents showing that well-known candy manufacturer Haarigen Jungen - which amusingly produced black licorice coins named negertaler as late as 1993 - has signed an agreement to supply the new and as-yet un-named team (instructions on how to write and pronounce the new team's name are expected to be published a few months after it's revealed) with one bag of fizzy jelly rainbow-coloured frogs per day. It's understood that the sweets will be used to bribe Jens Voigt, whom the Schlecks recruited some years ago to prevent bigger boys from stealing their lunch money when UCI officials are looking the other way.

It's still not entirely clear how the team is to be financed, though Andy Schleck has been overheard saying that he knows a magical pixie who has promised him a pot of gold.

More Spyclopunk exclusives

News Digest 07.04.12

Energiewacht Tour Stages 4a and 4b - Tour of the Basque Country Stage 6

Energiewacht Tour 2012 Stages 4a and 4b

Stage 4a - click to enlarge
(image credit: Energiwacht Tour)

Stage 4a (Saturday 7th) both starts and ends at Winsum, a town sometimes termed the treasure of the north according to the Tour website - with two traditional Dutch mills and what is reputed to be The Netherlands' oldest pub (Der Gouden Karper) set among quintessentially Dutch countryside.

The parcours leaves Winsom to the north, travelling up to Baflo and then taking a long, fast loop west and south-west to Mensingeweer. Next, it heads east along a road called the Wildeveldseweg (which must sound fantastic in a Dutch accent). Just visible to the south-west from this point is Ezinge, the oldest continually-inhabited village in the country.

The terp at Ezinge, the Netherland's oldest village
(image credit: Ruben Binnendijk CC BY-SA 3.0)

Long before the ancient tribes who would become the Dutch worked out how to drain the boggy landscape, they would create artificial islands upon which to live (now known as terps and, since drainage, resembling low hills) - the example at Ezinge is still evident and is now occupied by the village's 13th Century church. During the early 20th Century, worked who dug peat for fuel began finding strange objects that were obviously of great age in the area, soon attracting the attention of archaeologists who found many more - including Roman artifacts and part of a sword almost identical to another dicovered at the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Great Britain. By dating the objects, they determined that people have lived in Ezinge since at least 600BCE, making it among the oldest continually-inhabited villages anywhere in Europe. The riders will complete five laps of the route, which should allow Ezinge to be seen even if there is early morning mist, bringing them up to a total of 76.6km.

Stage 4b, the team time trial, takes place on Saturday afternoon and covers 26.5km, beginning at Veendam some way off to the south-east from 4a. After beginning in the centre of the town on JG Pinksterstraat (53° 6'19.91"N 6°52'27.74"E), the teams pass through the streets and cross the canal, then the N33 motorway as they head into the flat fields. A route made up of fast straights punctuated with 25 bends and corners will make for a fast stage, but one in which a slower rider could very easily be dropped off the back of the squad and never find her way back. When they arrive at Oude Pekela, they follow Feiko Clockstraat into town, then turn left to arrive at the finish on Raadhuislaan (53° 6'17.39"N 7° 0'24.65"E).

Stage 4b - click to enlarge
(image credit: Energiwacht Tour)

Marianne Vos has pointed out that Stage 4b is likely to prove the pivotal point in the campaign of any rider - including herself - who hopes to win this race, because a race leader's General Classification advantage can very rapidly be wiped out by a slow team. For fans and rivals, this is our first opportunity to see how well the Rabobank Women's team, which was formed with the express intention of supporting Vos, performs under team time trial race conditions; making this stage one of the most important races so far this season.


Cyclopunk's prediction: GreenEDGE take the stage, but with an insufficient advantage to knock Marianne off the top spot in the GC

Weather: The riders face a chilly start to the day - it's currently only 4C at Baflo, and with a northerly wind of 25kph it feels more like -2C, possibly -4C in exposed places. At present, it's raining lightly - it should dry up later, but further showers are likely. Veendam looks set to be similar, though afternoon temperatures of 7C will at least feel above freezing though not by much, perhaps 3C.

As ever, the best way to get information during the race is by following the official Twitter @ewacttour, hashtag #EWT12 and @richiesteege. Local TV RTL7 is broadcasting a short highlights show daily: Stage 4a will be shown at 14:45 BST (+1 hour for local time/CEST), Stage 4b will be shown along with Stage 5 tomorrow at the same time.

Stage 1 (video) / 2 / 3 / 4a / 4b / 5 / Guide / Video Vault

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

Stage 6 - click to enlarge
(image credit: Diario Vasco) 

Far away to the south, the Tour of the Basque Country enters its sixth and final stage (final stage? Seriously? How did that happened already?!). It's an 18.9km individual time trial and the only stage in this race without mountains, though there are two small hills to take the edge off top speeds.

By the looks of things, it's going to be a a very interesting stage, too: a look at the General Classification reveals numerous riders who could win overall simply by winning today - the top 17 riders are all within a minute of one another. Climbers Joaquin Rodriguez (currently 1st in GC, Katusha) and Samuel Sanchez (currently 2nd, Euskaltel-Euskadi) have got some serious work to do today, not just if either one of them would like to win this year but simply in order to finish in the top 10.

So you're racing Tony Martin in an
individual time trial? Good luck with
that one, chaps.
(image credit: Petit Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Will they do it? Hard to say. The riders currently in the top positions are, unsurprisingly, almost all climbers; but there are some good all-rounders seeded among them - Michele Scarponi (5th, Lampre-ISD), Ryder Hesjedal (8th, Garmin-Barracuda), Chris Horner (10th, RadioShack-Nissan). Most dangerous of all, however, is Tony Martin of Omega Pharma-QuickStep. 56" is a big gap to make up, but Martin is the man who took the World Time Trial Championship from Fabian Cancellara. If anyone can do it, Martin's your man.

Weather: More rain. Worse still, it'll come as scattered showers, so some riders may have enjoy a dry course while others have to tackle it wet - which can make all the difference and lose the race. Currently, the temperature in Onati is a chilly 6C, which probably feels more like 0C with the 17kph westerly wind. It should warm up to around 12C this afternoon and, since the wind will change to south-west (coming over land rather than sea) it'll feel like 12C too.


Euskal Irrati Telebista provide a free and legal stream of the race each day from 14:15 (BST - add 1h for CEST).


Tour of the Basque Country: 1 (video) / 2 (video) / 3 (video) / 4 (video) / 5 / 6

Women's who's who at the 2012 Track World Cup

Complete women's start list with details here.

Daily Cycling Facts 26.01.12

François Faber
Though François Faber was born in France (Aulnay-sur-Iton, 26th January 1887), his father was from Luxembourg and as a result François had Luxembourgian nationality. However, he insisted throughout his life that he was French, despite his Luxembourg passport and as such would not have been at all pleased had he have known he would find his place in history as the first foreigner to win the Tour de France.

When he began cycling, he rapidly gained the nickname The Giant of Colombes because, at 1.88m tall and weighing 88kg, he was considerably larger than the average man of his day and enormous in comparison to most cyclists. Photographs show a man who looks phenomenally strong - as indeed he was, his natural physique honed by hard labour as a removal man and docker. He began his professional cycling career with Labor in 1906 and entered his first Tour with them, but did not finish. Two years later, he moved on to Peugeot and entered again, this time winning four stages and achieving 2nd overall, then won the Giro di Lombardia. He departed for the mightly Alcyon in 1909, the most successful team in Tour history and it was with them that he not only won the race but, battling through some of the worst weather ever recorded during the event before or since, also won five consecutive stages (six in total) - a record that has not yet been broken after more than a century. He remained with them through 1910 and won three stages that year, coming 2nd overall behind team mate Octave Lapize, also winning Paris-Tours. Now one of the most respected and sought-after riders in the world, he was tempted away to Automoto and spent a quiet two years with them and Saphir Cycles before returning to Peugeot for the next two years, winning Paris-Roubaix, one stage at the Tour of Belgium and a total of four at the Tour de France during the period.

The First World War put paid to European racing until conflict came to an end, and Faber signed up with the Foreign Legion almost as soon as hostilities were declared. He was attached to the 2nd Régiment de Marche of the 1st Regiment, FFL, promoted to the rank of corporal. On the 9th of May 1915, the first day of the Battle of Artois near Arras, his regiment came under attack and lost 1,950 men from a total of 2,900. Faber survived the first waves of the attack unharmed, but then saw that one of his comrades was lying injured in no-man's land. He climbed out of the trench, went to him and had carried him part of the way to safety when he wa fatally shot in the back, later being posthumously awarded the Médaille militaire for his bravery.

François Faber was 28 years old when he died. Earlier that same day, he had received a telegram informing him that his wife had just given birth to their first child, a daughter.

Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who was born on the 2nd of September 1812 in Keir, Scotland, died on this day in 1878. While not the inventor of the bicycle - the most deserved claimant of that title will probably never be known - he is often credited as the first to come up with the idea of providing some means of driving the rear wheel, bikes until then being powered by scooting the feet along the ground. He achieved this by means of treadles mounted to a central axle, connected to the rear wheel by con-rods. The wooden frame and heavy iron wheels sound rudimentary today, but the machine was possibly the very first example of what we recognise as a bicycle.

Ercole Baldini, an Italian cyclist who set the Hour Record in 1954,  was born on this day 1933 in a village called Villanova di Forli; and he was so fast he became known as The Forli Train. In 1956, he set another Hour Record after his previous one had been beaten by none other than Jacques Anquetil. The following year he won the Trofeo Barrachi with Fausto Coppi and became National Champion. Then, for 1958, he won the overall General Classification at the Giro d'Italia, beating the legendary climber Charly Gaul in the mountains (though to be fair, Gaul wouldn't have been enjoying the hot Italian weather at all). But even that wasn't enough, so later in the same year he became the World Champion. In 1959, his success began to slacken off a bit, though he was still able to win a stage and come 6th at that year's Tour de France before winning the Grand Prix des Nations and Coppa Placci before requiring surgery on his leg that ended his seventeen year professional career in 1964.

Rigoberto Uran
(image credit: Laurent Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Rigoberto Urán was born on this day in Urrao, Columbia, in 1987. He began cycling at the age of 14, but almost had to give it up when he was forced to take up a job selling lottery tickets three months later when his father was accidentally killed in a gunfight involving drug dealers. Fortunately, it soon became evident that he had talent and by the age of 16 he'd turned professional with the Orgulla Paisa team and gained an impressive collection of Under-17 and, later, Under-19 National titles. Three years later, he'd made enough of a name for himself to go to Europe and sign a contract with Italy's Tenax, then a year later he joined Unibet, won Stage 8 and came 9th overall at the Tour de Suisse. In 2008, he left the world in no doubt that he had the potential to become a great, coming 3rd in the Giro di Lombardia and 2nd in the Volta a Catalunya. He was 5th in the Tour de Romandie in 2009and improved his Tour de Suisse finish to 7th overall in 2010. A rider who begins his palmares with results such as these is heading in the direction of the Grand Tours - and once he'd signed up with the British Team Sky, he was entered in the Tour de France. He won no stages (few do in their first Tour), but wore the white jersey for leading the Youth Classification in four stages and may have kept it longer - perhaps even winning the category overall - if he hadn't contracted an illness. Nevertheless, he finished 24th overall, a result with which any Tour debutante who had ridden the race in perfect health would be happy.

Juan José Haedo, the Argentinian cyclist currently with Saxobank-SunGard, was born on this day in 1981. Known as a lightning-fast sprinter who can battle his way through the peloton to the line, Haedo has achieved podium finishes in most of the races he has entered and has won many of the biggest events in one-day racing as well as stages at the Tour of California, the Vuelta a Murcia, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Vuelta a Espana.

On this day in 2011, toy manufacturer Hornby announced a new product in its famous Scalextric range - a Chris Hoy-inspired velodrome racing set. Cyclists aged four to - well, every age really - got excited and rushed out with their Christmas money. Then the complaint started coming in. Apparently, quite a few sets either didn't work or broke within minutes.

Other births: Kim Gyong-Hui (North Korea, 1970); Klaas Buchly (Netherlands, 1910, died 1965); Ivan Cerioli (Italy, 1971); Rafaâ Chtioui (Tunisia, 1986); Nedyalko Stoyanov (Bulgaria, 1955); Jim Nevin (Australia, 1931); Mira Kasslin (Finland, 1978); Lionel Cox (Australia, 1930, died 2010);  Yury Trofimov (USSR, 1984); Jože Valenčič (Yugoslavia, 1948); Maarten den Bakker (Netherlands, 1969); Aleksandr Dokhlyakov (USSR, 1942); Gerrit van Wees (Netherlands, 1913, died 1995); Mieczysław Nowicki (Poland, 1951); Gao Min (China, 1982); Raphael Glorieux (Belgium, 1929, died 1986); Pak Chun-Hwa (North Korea, 1968); Roman Humenberger (Austria, 1945).

Daily Cycling Facts 25.01.12

Denis Menchov

Denis Menchov
(image credit: Petit Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

Born on this day 1978 in Oryol, USSR, Denis Menchov began his professional career with Banesto and, almost always a sign of a great-rider-to-be, won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001. The following year he took the Mountains Classification at the Critérium du Dauphiné, thus revealing himself as having the potential to become a Tour de France contender. He moved on to Rabobank in 2004 and became the team's leader following the departure of American Levi Leipheimer, remaining with them for two seasons and serving as their main General Classification rider in the 2005 Tour; but finished in 85th place due to a chest infection contracted during the race. However, he had made a full recovery by the time of the Vuelta a Espana, repaying Rabobank's faith with his first Grand Tour win, the Combination classification and two stages.

He won one stage and finished in 6th position at both  the 2006 Tour and Critérium du Dauphiné, then concentrated on the Vuelta for 2007 where he won the Mountains and Combination classifications, a stage and the General Classification. He was back at the Tour in 2008 and managed 4th overall, having already finished 5th at the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year. He went back to the Giro the next year and won two stages, the Points classification and overall. In 2010, his last year with Rabobank, he came 2nd in the Vuelta a Murcia and Tour di Romandie, then moved his Tour record up another notch by coming 3rd overall. For 2011, he went to Geox-TMC but didn't have such a good year, his only podium finish being 3rd at the Vuelta a Murcia. He rode the Vuelta a Espana again but this time came 5th, his team mate Juan José Cobo winning overall after a fabulous ascent of Alto de l'Angliru in which he made the infamously hard climb - the steepest in any Grand Tour - look easy.

At the end of the 2011 season sponsor Geox suddenly announced that it would be withdrawing from cycling immediately, leaving the team unable to continue. Riders have since been trying to obtain new contracts elsewhere and Menchov has been fortunate enough to find a space with Katusha.

Rene Pottier, 1879-1907

René Pottier
By all accounts, René Pottier was the finest climber of his day and was the fastest man up the 1,171m Ballon d'Alsace when he entered the Tour in 1905, beating Hippolyte Aucouturier, Louis Trousellier and Henri Cornet to the summit - the first time that a mountain had featured in the race. Despite his climbing ability, he lost his lead to Hippolyte Aucouturier after a puncture in his only remaining spare tyre caused by fans who had spread 125kg nails on the road - but fortunately for him, Aucouturier was a gentleman and generously handed over one of his own even though the puncture would have put his closest rival out of the race and so he was able to finish. The next day, he abandoned after a crash.

Pottier entered for a second time in 1906 and won five stages  from the total thirteen. He led the race after Stage 1, having wrested it away from Emile Georget and was once again the first man up Ballon d'Alsace - but this year luck was on his side and he finished the stage a full 48 minutes ahead of the next rider. He remained race leader throughout the remainder of the event.

With the Tour won, he competed in the Bol d'Or 24 hour race at the famous Buffalo Stadium (so named because the first velodrome on the site had once hosted Buffalo Bill Cody's traveling Wild West Show) and completed 925.29km to win. However, life was to take an awful plunge for Pottier - some time early in the next year, he learned that while he'd been away winning the Tour his wife had been unfaithful to him. He entered a deep depression and, on this day in 1907, he hanged himself from the hook upon which he usually hung his bike at their home in Lavallois-Perret. He was 27.

There is a memorial to Pottier, erected by Henri Desgrange, at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace.


British mountain biker Dan Atherton was born today in 1982 near Salisbury. Originally interested in BMX, Atherton took up mountain biking when he was 16 and, by 2004, was National 4X Champion. He came 2nd in a round of the World Downhill Championship a year later before adding numerous good results over the next two seasons. In 2008, he became the World 4X Champion. Dan is the older brother of  World Downhill Champions Gee (2010) and Rachel (2008).

Other births: Brett Aitken (Australia, 1971); Luke Roberts (Australia, 1977); Elisabet "Elsbeth"van Rooy-Wink (Netherlands, 1973); Alan Danson (Great Britain, 1933); Sandra Temporelli (France, 1969); Alayna Burns (Australia , 1980); Harrie Jansen (Netherlands, 1947); Tomokazu Fujino (Japan, 1967).

Another team in difficulty

The management Pure Black, the cycling team that launched in 2010 with the aim of becoming the first from New Zealand to be granted a UCI ProTour licence, have officially confirmed that the team is in financial difficulties and may face closure. The outfit was developed from Bici Vida, a team built around a core of promising young riders who scored excellent results in Under-23 competitions, and had a very successful 2011 season.

Reasons for the team's demise have been given as problems finding funding during the Rugby World Cup and in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake. "This weekend we have had to tell our team that we don't have the funding in place to commit to our planned next step in 2012 at this stage and ultimately this could mean our most exciting road cycling talent will continue to be lost offshore," says manager Greg Cross.

Team members have been told they are free to seek contracts elsewhere. Tim Gudsell revealed his dismay vie Twitter: "Still can't quite believe I no longer have a job for next year. Anyone know of anything out there?"