Explaining the cycling iceberg: Festina affair & Tour de Dopage. 1/44

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The 1998 Tour de France started with a prologue on the 11th of July in Dublin, Ireland. Instead of talking about pre-race favorites as Marco Pantani & Jan Ullrich, most media covered a doping story that broke shortly before the Grand Depart. 2/44

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Maxim Iglinskiy wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege. 1/17

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Maxim Iglinskiy signed his first pro deal with Domina Vacanze in 2005. The Kazakh was not the biggest talent, but did show potential. In 2004 Iglinskiy finished 5th in the Tour de l'Avenir. After a season with Domina he went to Milram. In 2007 he signed with Astana. 2/17

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Oliver Zaugg wins Il Lombardia, his first and last pro win. 1/13

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Il Lombardia 2011 went from Milano to Lecce. The final of the 260km race was opened 50k from the line with the Madonna di Ghisallo. After a long downhill, the Villa Vergano was the final climb with 10k to go. 2/

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Vingegaard breaks Pogacar on the Granon. 1/38

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Tadej Pogacar (UAE) was, by a country mile, the favorite to win the 2022 Tour de France. The Slovenian won the two previous editions of the Tour. After a thriller in 2020, he dominated in 2021. He won by 5.20, the biggest margin of victory since 2014. 2/38

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Hinault leaves the tour with knee pain despite allegedly getting doping from the tour doctor. 1/26

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Bernard Hinault (Renault) was the clear favorite to win the 1980 Tour. The badger had won the two previous editions and his 1980 season was also very strong strong. He won Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the snow. A month later he won the Giro. Dutch Newspaper Het Parool wrote: 2/26

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Lance Armstrong gives Jan Ullrich 'the look'. 1/16

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As winner of the 1999 & 2000 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong (US Postal) was the outright favorite to go three in a row in the 2001 Tour. Short before the Tour, Armstrong illustrated his status as favorite by winning the Tour de Suisse. 2/16

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Hour record war. The history of the Hour Record. 1/35

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The previous iceberg featured the Hour Record attempt of Francesco Moser. Today more on the history of the record.
The hour record is one of the most prestigious records in cycling. The record belongs to the person who cycles the furthest distance in 1 hour. 2/35

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Doping doctor Michele Ferrari. 1/22

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Michele Ferrari is the most notorious doping doctor in cycling history. Having obtained his Medicine & Surgery degree in 1978, Ferarri initially started working as a consultant to the Italian Track & Field federation. He was also the physician of the Italian Biathlon team. 2/22

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Pieter Weening vs Andreas Kloden, the closest Tour stage finish ever. 1/15

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The start of the 2005 Tour de France was perfectly in line with what can be classified as traditional early 2000's Tour Starts.
The race started with a short TT. There was a TTT early in the first week, but above all there were many sprint stages. 2/15

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Lance Armstrong's cancer recovery & Livestrong foundation. 1/20

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Born & raised in Texas, Lance Armstrong started his cycling career as a triathlete. He left the swimming and running behind to become a full time road rider in 1992 when he signed a pro contract with American team Motorola. 2/20

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Swiss fans crash out Belgian Marcel Kint so Swiss rider Hans Knecht becomes world champion. 1/23

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The first cycling world championships post WW2 took place in 1946. What city was better capable of hosting it than Zurich, in the always neutral Switzerland? It would soon turn out the Swiss fans were even less neutral than their country. 2/23

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Mathieu van der Poel in jail before Wollongong World Championships. 1/19

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Mathieu van der Poel was one of the main favorites to win the 2022 world title. The hilly course in Wollongong should suit the multidisciplinary superstar, but his road to the event was all but straightforward. In the summer of 2021 a crash in the Olympic MTB race... 2/19

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Tashkent Cowboy Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. 1/19

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Djamolidine Abdoujaparov was borin in Tashkent Uzbekistan, which was under soviet rule in 1964. His family was Crimean and were forcefully deported to Tashkent by the Soviet regime. Like many, Abdoujaparov was a graduate of the Soviets sports program. 2/19

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Poulidor pushes Anquetil to the limit on the Puy de Dome. The legendary 1964 Tour de France. 1/42

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Having already won the Tour de France 4x, Jacques Anquetil (Raphael) was again the favorite for the 1964 Tour. There were however question marks around his freshness. He won the Giro 2 weeks before the Tour, but was surprisingly pushed to the limit by several Italians. 2/42

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Tom Simpson dies on Mont Ventoux. 1/28

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Tom Simpson was a pioneer of British cycling. After making a name for himself in the British, scene he moved to French Brittany in 1959. It was an all or nothing move. All the 21 year old Brit had were 100 pounds, 2 bikes and a dream to become a pro cyclists. 2/28

Explaining the cycling iceberg: 8 seconds of Paris. The closest Tour de France ever. 1/45

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The 1989 Tour de France started with quite some contenders for victory. Pedro Delgado (Banesto) had a slight advantage on the rest. Perico was the defending champion and had already won the Vuelta in 1989. Second on the list of favorites was Laurent Fignon (Super U). 2/45

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Roger Walkowiak, the most unwanted tour winner. 1/29

The cycling press was critical ahead of the 1956 Tour de France course. With few mountain stages and no summit finishes, the route was deemed to easy. Real champions couldn't excel on a course like this. Quite fittingly, the great champions also didn't start the Tour. 2/29

Explaining the cycling iceberg: If i don't get killed, i will win the Tour. Cheating riders & rioting fans in the 2nd Tour de France. 1/2

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After the inaugural Tour de France in 1903, organizing newspaper l'Auto announced the successful race would return in 1904.
There was not much change. The route was a copy from 1903. 6 stages, with 4 of them being over 400km. The 2 other stages were 270 and 375km. 2/24

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Roberto Heras, the 4x Vuelta winner. 1/24

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Roberto Heras, raised in a lower Spanish middle class family, picked up cycling at the age of 13. He stood out as a climber. In 1997, at the age of 23, he signed his first pro contract with Kelme.
It did not take long for Heras to make a name for himself in the pro peloton. 2/24

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Vuelta master Tony Rominger. Primoz Roglic before Primoz Roglic. 1/26

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A successful cycling career was not written in the stars for Tony Rominger. He was born in Denmark to a Danish mother & Swiss father, with who he moved to Switzerland.
Here he learned to become an accountant, but he discovered the thrill of cycling. 2/26

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Froome vs Cobo, the absurd 2011 Vuelta. 1/26

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All eyes were on Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) at the start of the 2011 Vuelta. He started the opening TTT in Benidorm as the favorite to defend his title. He was the most well rounded GC contender to have shown form. Many of his rivals were the same names he battled in 2010. 2/26