Places of Cycling: Below the Downs
Check out Paul Maunder's author page.
Check out Paul Maunder's author page.
The first grand tour of the season has a way of serving up unpredictable racing with an ever evolving bag of tricks.
New incentives in professional cycling mean more interesting racing, and a thus-far unpredictable Giro d'Italia.
We caught up with Peloton contributor Bryan Yates to learn about his new ride, The Bovine Classic, in under-the-radar cycling destination Paso Robles, California.
Things are just heating up in the Giro d'Italia.
The Colombian sprinter has had a trying time in the Covid era.
One of the strongest time trialists in the pro peloton discusses the race of truth.
Whilst the start of May means a lap around Italy for the men, it’s a month in Spain for the women’s peloton as the bolstered stage racing block gets underway.
Check out Paul Maunder's author page.
Reflecting on the life and legend that was Marco Pantani.
A visit with frame builder Marco Bertoletti.
An Italian institution.
The Giro d'Italia didn't pick up as much as expected on the first stage on Italian soil, but the race nonetheless has been shaken up.
What we learned from the opening weekend in Hungary.
Mt. Etna's legend exists far beyond cycling and the Giro d'Italia.
Act one of the 2022 Giro d’Italia in Hungary comes to a close as the race convoy begins the long transfer to Sicily.
The pro mountain biker takes us behind the scenes of her busy life.
Bianchi Specialissima review
Italian racing was at a peak in 1983
OJ, Jeremy and Pete run their eyes over the route of the Corsa Rosa, identify the favorites and the potential upstarts, and choose the key stages from what looks a very dramatic and grueling route.
Going through what we learned during the key moments of the weekend.
Admit it. It's okay. Deal with it. You love cycling shoes. Here are a few!
Faster, stiffer, and with more than a little design input from the Tarmac.
The Lion of Flanders looks back on his illustrious career.
Meet the artist who designed Specialized's Paris-Roubaix Femmes bike
There was an uncommon energy in downtown Denain this past Saturday, as this normally quiet working class community was suddenly transformed by the arrival of the team buses before the start of the second edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes.
Gone was the pre-race uncertainty of the inaugural edition which, although twice postponed due to Covid, was ultimately a resounding success. This year, as the ladies prepared their bikes and rolled to sign-in, there was a quiet sense of confidence, as everyone here understood that a new and long chapter in cycling was only beginning to be written.
And the cycling industry was ready to seize the moment as well, celebrating this legendary cobbled classic with new designs and innovation. Unsurprisingly, the Specialized sponsored SD Worx team attracted its fair share of attention with a distinctive new Roubaix frame known as the Grit and Grace that was both stunning and subtle.
Inspecting the new bikes as they came off the team cars was Kayla Clarot, the creative mind behind the bike. “This is actually my first Roubaix,” Clarot admitted. “But I have been dying to go and am so happy to finally be here!”
Kayla Clarot, the designer behind the Grit and Grace Roubaix frames. (Photo: James Startt)
But while she may not have seen the race in person before, Clarot was nothing short of ecstatic to take on the mission of creating a special Roubaix bike. She watched dozens of films, interviewed countless people and studied images of the race, searching for the colors and textures that would communicate the spirit of the race itself. “I really studied the event,” she said. “I watched ‘A Sunday in Hell’ (the iconic film of the 1977 race by Danish director Jørgen Leth) like four times over. It is like a work of art and it’s about cycling, and that is something I am trying to do, make something I do feel like is a work of art.”
“For me that color scheme also embodied the idea of the grit of women really fighting for space in cycling in a very patient and impressive way.”