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Cycling Climbs Giro d'Italia History and Legends Races

Mount Etna

Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. With a height of currently 3,329 meters / 10,922 ft (this varies with summit eruptions), it is the highest active volcano in Europe outside the Caucasus, and also the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps. To date, the Giro d’Italia has visited the volcano four times, three times to the Rifugio Sapienza and once to Piano Bottaro lower down. The last visit was in 2017, where Jan Polanc, the Slovenian rider of UAE Team Emirates won stage 4, as the last survivor of a four-man breakaway. The fifth visit will be in the 2018 edition.

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Il Lombardia Classics History and Legends Races

Il Lombardia

Il Lombardia (formerly known as the Giro di Lombardia), “Classica delle foglie morte” (the classic of the dead [falling] leaves), is traditionally the last of the five classic “Monuments” of the cycling season.

The first edition was 1905. It was then called Milan-Milan. It gained the name “Giro di Lombardia” in 1907. The route has changed many times. Milan, Sesto San Giovanni, Bergamo, Varese, Monza, Como have been start or finish place.

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Tour de France Cyclists and Teams Races

Nibali joins the greats

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.

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Cyclists and Teams History and Legends

Nicknames of Cyclists – A

Early 20th journalists started creating nicknames for the cyclists. This effort popularized the cycling sport and make the racers interesting to the people who were not interested in cycling much. This tradition is still continuing today. Here the list of cyclists’ nicknames in alphabetical order (by surname, starting with A).