Explaining the cycling iceberg: Free Landa. 1/30

#cyclingiceberg
In 2015, Mikel Landa broke through on the world stage of cycling. In his fifth year as pro, he landed his first World Tour victory in the Tour of the Basque Country. Knocked out of GC contention, he attacked from the breakaway on the final climb to win the fifth stage. 2/30

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Coppi breaks his word to win the 1953 Giro. 1/23

#cyclingiceberg
The 1953 Giro attracted a formidable start list. At the historical peak of Italian cycling, the Giro was briefly able to compete with the Tour as most prestigious Grand Tour. This was partially because Tour organizer L'Auto was seen as too close with the Nazis during the war 2/23

Explaining the cycling iceberg: The Jiffy-bag scandal. 1/26

#cyclingiceberg
I got notified by a very thoughtful follower that I had accidentally skipped over two iceberg stories. So it turns out i have 4 iceberg stories left rather than 2 :)
Today the Jiffy-Bag scandal, later this week the 1953 Giro. 2/26

Explaining the Cycling Iceberg: Lance Armstrong's doping confession. 1/3

#cyclingiceberg
The final 3 iceberg stories.... Today, the most infamous interview in cycling history
During his career, Lance Armstrong faced persistent doping allegations. His performances, in an era following several EPO scandals such as the Festina affair, drew skepticism. 2/38

Explaining the cycling iceberg: W52-Porto. 1/15

#cyclingiceberg
We are down to the final 4 Iceberg stories! A highly anticipated one today, as we will cover W52.

Founded in 2004 as Casactiva–Quinta das Arcas–UCS, W52-Porto operated as one of the bigger Portuguese amateur teams during the first nine years of the team’s history. 2/15

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Le Tour, C'est Le Tour. 1/22

#cyclingiceberg
Today a relatively short iceberg story. The stories i planned for this when i drafted the iceberg (over 2 years ago!) have been absorbed in standalone stories over time. Today I will still cover some French chauvinism in the tour! 2/22

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Paris-Roubaix 2004. 1/20

#cyclingiceberg
Paris Roubaix 2004 would be the final dance of Johan Museeuw (Quickstep). The 3x winner of the hell of the north had announced he would retire after the Scheldeprijs, making Roubaix his final big race. A win in his final Roubaix would make him joint record holder. 2/20

Revisiting the cycling Iceberg: Kamikaze Kelly wins Milan San Remo with one of the best descents ever. 1/11

I have been rewriting and reformatting all iceberg stories for the book, and with MSR i have a good excuse to revisit the 1992 edition. Moreno Argentin (Ariostea) lined up for Milan-San Remo 1992 as the top favorites. The Italian was chasing his first Milan-San Remo victory, having previously won Liège-Bastogne-Liège four times, as well as the Tour of Flanders and Il Lombardia. 2/11

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Museeuw becomes world champion a week after announcing his retirement. 1/16

#cyclingiceberg
Johan Museeuw, nicknamed the Lion of Flanders, was the best classics of the late 1990's. Having started his career as a sprinter, the Belgian grew to become a great cobbled rider at GB & Mapei.
One of the big goals for Museeuw in 1996 was to win the World Cup. 2/16

Explaining the cycling iceberg: The US Postal era. The 7 (scrapped) Tour wins of Lance Armstrong. 1/20

#cyclingiceberg
Counting down the 10 last iceberg stories! Today a bit shorter story. Most of what i had originally planned for this one has been absorbed by other stories, but here we are. A short glance at the US Postal era of cycling in which Armstrong won 7 Tours. 2/20

Explaining the cycling iceberg: The greatest sacrifice in Tour history. 1/25

#cyclingiceberg
The 1934 Tour was raced with national teams. In 1930 organizer Henri Desgrange had gotten upset with the influence of private teams. These teams were sponsored by bike companies, which led to teamtactics. These team would often be supported by solo riders on the same bike. 2/2

Explaining the Cycling Iceberg: Jumbo Visma's amazing 2023. 3/3
The trilogy 1/24
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After winning the Giro & Tour, Jumbo wanted to win the 2023 Vuelta. If they succeeded, they would become the first team to win all three Grand Tours in a single season. They brought Vingegaard and Roglic as leaders. Their first test was the opening TTT in Barcelona. 2/24

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Paris-Roubaix 1994, Tchmil vs Museeuw. 1/22

#cyclingiceberg
There were 4 favorites for Paris-Roubaix 1994. Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (GAN) was a specialist. The Frenchman won on the Velodrome in 1992 & 1993. Franco Ballerini was the leader for Mapei. The two other favorites were Johan Museeuw Maglificio) and Andrei Tchmil (Lotto). 2/22

Explaining the cycling iceberg: Chris Froome salbutamol gate. 1/25

#cyclingiceberg
Chris Froome (Sky) was the best GC rider of the mid 2010's. Backed by the dominant sky train, Froome won the Tour de France in 2013, 2015 & 2016. As a three time winner, he was logically the favorite for the 2017 Tour which started with a wet TT in Dusseldorf. 2/25

Explaining the cycling iceberg: TI Raleigh's absurd 1980 season: 7 Tour stage wins in a row. 1/25

#cyclingiceberg
In the late 1970's Dutch team TI Raleigh was one of the best teams in the world. The team was led and founded by former Paris-Roubaix winner Peter Post. Between 1972 and 1983 the team won over 900 races. Raleigh was especially feared in team time trials. 2/25

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

#cyclingiceberg
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

#cyclingiceberg
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

#cyclingiceberg
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

#cyclingiceberg
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

#cyclingiceberg
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

#cyclingiceberg
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