Today’s historic photo of the day – the legendary Ottavio Bottecchia climbing Col du Tourmalet, stage 6 of the Tour de France 1924.
The previous Tour de France was won by Henri Pélissier. But the Frenchman was clear as to who the rising star was: He had said that the runner-up Ottavio Bottecchia would go on to win the race – “Bottecchia will succeed me.”
Today’s historic photo of the day is about one of the most iconic figures of cycling history – Jens Voigt. When he was riding for Saxo Bank team, he participated in the Tour de France 2010 edition as a domestique to his leaders, the Schleck brothers.
After completing his domestique duties on the mountainous stage 16, he crashed heavily on the descent of the Col de Peyresourde, and his bike became destroyed. After getting back up, he realized that all the team cars had passed and that he would not be handed a new bike. Desperate, he borrowed a bike much too small for him, from a children group’s car which was following the race. He rode on it for about 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) before reaching a policeman who had another bicycle which had been left for him by his team.
Vincenzo Nibali, the Italian rider of the Astana team won the Tour de France 2014 edition and joined the greats, becoming the sixth cyclist to win all three grand tours.
“The Shark” previously won the Vuelta a España in 2010 and the Giro d’Italia in 2013.
Cannondale’s Ted King published a new blog post on his personal website and wrote about his early exit from the Tour de France.
Ted King’s ride at the Tour de France ended abruptly on Monday as he was forced to abandon after a Stage 10 crash. He also did crash earlier in the race, once in Stage 3 and again in Stage 4, forcing him to race with tight bandages on both sides of his body. Furthermore, he fell ill on Monday, adding to his tough luck in a stage current yellow jersey holder Vincenzo Nibali called “the hardest stage I’ve ever done in a Grand Tour.”
Cannondale Pro Cycling Team has announced its roster for the 101st edition of the Tour de France. The American bike manufacturer made nine unique, custom-painted Cannondale EVO bikes for nine Tour riders, with the slogan of “The Nine Wonders of 2014 Tour de France”.
Marcel Kittel, the sprinter of the team Giant-Shimano, in a video prepared in collaboration with the ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation – the Organizer of the Tour de France) gave the cycling fans some safety advice.
Kittel says: “Thanks for coming to the Tour to support us. Please respect the riders, protect yourself and especially your children.”
The advertisement of Greg LeMond’s 1989 Tour de France winner Bottecchia (in Italian). A beautiful and extraordinary bike. LeMond was racing for the AD Renting-W-Cup-Bottecchia team.
During the 1980s and at the beginning of the ’90s, the size of the front wheels of the time-trial bikes was 650c, unlike today’s bicycles.
Tyler Hamilton, the ex-teammate of Lance Armstrong during 1999, 2000, and 2001 Tour de France where Armstrong won the Yellow jersey has declared that he believes Chris Froome of Team Sky won the 2013 Tour de France riding clean.
Hamilton told The Times that “There’s no reason to believe they’re doping. I think we have a true Tour de France winner.” in South Africa.
Pinarello was the most successful bike supplier of the pro-peloton at the Tour de France 2013. Chris Froome of Team Sky won the yellow jersey, and Nairo Quintana of Movistar team won both polka dot jersey of the KOM (King of the mountains) and white jersey of “the best young rider” classifications on Pinarello Dogma bikes. Pinarello also produced a special edition to honor the polka dot jersey.
The famous Italian bike manufacturer revealed its 2014 models.
David Walsh, the famous Irish sports journalist, who is the chief sports writer of the British newspaper The Sunday Times, has announced that he is believing that Chris Froome is the worthy winner of the Tour de France.
On The Sunday Times, Walsh published two articles titled “Why I believe in Chris Froome” and “Yellow Jersey is a grand reward for team effort” today (you need to subscribe to The Sunday Times website to read these articles, the subscription is not free).