The Bicycle Club

The bicycle was introduced in the 19th century in Europe by German Inventor Karl von Drais. He is credited with developing the first bicycle. He introduced it to the people in Paris in 1818. It is supposed to originate from the human-powered vehicle called Draisines. Drais invented a walking machine that would help him get around the royal gardens faster. It was known by many names, including the “velocipede,” “dandy horse,” “hobby-horse,” “draisine” and “running machine. It had no pedals and its frame was a wooden beam. It had two same-size in-line wheels with the front one steerable and mounted in a frame which was straddled. In 1839, Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith, allegedly completed construction of a pedal driven…

Giro dItalia Stage 14 Race Report: Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) soloed to victory on stage 14 of the Giro dItalia in Novo Gorica. The Dane was off the front for 180 kilometres with the break of the day before he rode solo to the finish on Saturday. Not far behind him, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) brought in what was left of the peloton. Many of the GC rider lost time due to a crash in the wet conditions.Stage 14 finaleFrom Treviso, the fourteenth stage is on flat roads to Nova Goriza/Gorica, an Italian/Slovenian city. The final has a few short climbs, but another bunch sprint is expected.In the final there is the San Martino and Saver climbs in the finale. Although…

Giro dItalia Stage 10 Race Report: Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) was the surprise winner of the second individual time trial stage 10 of the Giro dItalia. The Dutch time trial champion beat the obvious pre-stage favourite; Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) in Pisa. In the battle for the overall, Primoz Rogli (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) put up the best time, but Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) held the pink jersey.Stage 10 TT finaleA time trial awaits the Giro peloton after the second rest day. The race against the clock is between Lucca and Pisa and described as ‘very fast and ridden in a south-westerly direction’. The route is much the same as the time trial that was won by the Norwegian Knut Knudsen…

Giro dItalia Stage 7 Race Report: Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates XRG) won the seventh stage of the Giro dItalia. The Spanish rider was the strongest on a summit finish after a battle between the GC riders. Ayuso’a teammate Isaac Del Toro finished second, ahead of Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) in third. Primoz Rogli was fourth, but took the overall lead.The first GC battleStage seven has the first summit finish of the 2025 Giro dItalia. The 168 kilometre stage starts in Castel di Sangro, the first climb is Roccaraso (6.6km at 6.4%), followed by the steep Monte Urano (4.5km at 9.4%) and the long Vado della Forcella (21.6km at 3.6%).The final climb begins after 155 kilometres, strangely the Red Bull kilometre…

2025 Giro d’Italia Route: After the 108th edition of the Giro dItalia started in Albania on Friday 9th of May, the race travels back to Italy today to begin the proper stages of the season’s first Grand Tour. This years Italian Grand Tour starts relatively easily, then moves to the traditionally very tough final week. Here’s a refresher on the stage routes and profiles of the 2025 Giro d’Italia.# Read the ‘PEZ Rider Preview’ HERE. #Giro d’Italia 2025 | The RouteThe 2025 Giro dItalia has La Grande Partenza in Albania on Friday (don’t forget). The Balkan country is becoming a tourist hot spot for Western Europeans, but these first stages will be no holiday for the sprinters. The first stages…

2025 Giro d’Italia Rider Preview: Where the 2024 Giro dItalia was dominated by one man, Tadej Pogaar, we expect an exciting battle for the final pink jersey this year. A different Slovenian is our top favourite this time, but there will be several other strong riders at the start in Albania on Friday. Primoz Rogli is looking for his second Maglia Rosa, but it’s no forgone conclusion. Here are the PEZ ‘Top Tips’ in our Rider Preview:# You can see the ‘PEZ Giro d’Italia Route Preview’ HERE. #The brutal truth about Primoz Rogli at Giro dItalia 2025 by FloBikesSpain’s Juan Ayuso looks to be a formidable opponent for the now 35-year-old Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team leader. The 22-year-old Spaniard of UAE…

In the third volume of his Cycling Legends series, author Chris Sidwells focused on the first man to win all three Grand Tours in his career and the first to win the Tour de France five times. Monsieur Chrono was the nickname given to Jacques Anquetil, who built his reputation through his brilliance as a time trial racer. With his sporting heyday from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s and with his early death at 53 in 1987, many of today’s cycling fans are not that familiar with his impressive accomplishments. The first English-language biography of him only appeared in 2008. This new book is subtitled The Man Behind the Mask and the author’s aim was to reveal who…

The Ligurian Coast from Genao to Lucca is one of my favorite regions of la bel’Italia. I’ve spent some quality time here and can attest the area is filled with excellent rides along the coast and into the mountains that define it. This ride from Levanto to Sestri Levante is a classic, and takes in the Passo del Bracco on the stage route.The Ligurian Coast is a well visited region for the Giro, with a wonderful mix of uneven climbs, small twisting roads, and spectacular scenery – excellent for riding and training. This also means riders will need to be focused on the job at hand, (so don’t expect any sleepy sprinters’ stages here) but the roads can be dangerous…

Star Rider Interview: Sean Kelly was the ‘King of the Classics’ for many years, but the man from Carrick-on-Suir also won the Vuelta a Espaa and many shorter stage races. His record at Lige-Bastogne-Lige is only beaten by Argentin and Merckx. Ed Hood caught up with the Irishman for his thoughts on the ‘Old Lady’ of the road.*** Read the ‘PEZ 2025 Lige-Bastogne-Lige Preview’ HERE. ***In January we lost our friend and colleague Ed Hood, two years after his devastating stroke. We will never forget Ed and his knowledge, connections in the cycling world, his writing style and love for the sport. Ed wrote thousands of stunning articles for PEZ, so we will pay homage the ‘King of the Blackberry’…