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…

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’…

Toolbox: When a Netflix documentary gets more attention than actual research, I fear for whatever may come next. Im obviously referring to the recent documentary #Gamechangers that is getting everyone turned on and apparently making the general population and athletes wanting to go vegan (sorry, the current label is now plant-based). But the advice is based on faulty science and anecdotal evidence at best.It may be inevitable for cyclists to also start questioning the benefits of eating a plant-based diet for their health and performance. So lets check the evidence beneath the bold and oversimplifying claims of this documentary. People who were already vegan, loved the documentary. People who are against vegans, hated it. And others reacted like this:It is…

Some Amstel History The Amstel Gold Race was first run in 1966, making it one of the youngest Classics. The Dutch race was a dream of Herman Krott who ran the Amstel Bier team, a team which nurtured riders like Fedor den Hertog, Joop Zoetemelk, Gerrie Knetemann, Gert-Jan Theunisse and Leo van Vliet, but he was working on a Dutch Classic. He wanted a race that would be on a par with the Tour of Flanders and Milano-Sanremo. His intended route was from Amsterdam to Maastricht, but that turned out to be unfeasible. Breda was the start town and the finish was in Meerssen and held on Queens Day (Koninginnedag) 1966.# You can see the ‘PEZ 2025 Amstel Gold Race…

Two very exciting races through the ‘Hell of the North’ at the weekend, with two worthy winners. We have all the Paris-Roubaix news with videos, reports, results and what the rider’s thought. Plus we wind-up the Itzulia Basque Country.TOP STORY:INEOS Grenadiers wanted to take over Mathieu van der Poel’s teamRider news:A full bidon thrown at Mathieu van der PoelAdrie van der Poel after Paris-Roubaix: I am more surprised by Mathieu every springMathieu van der Poel received a big fine after Paris-RoubaixTotalEnergies boss makes a request to Tadej PogaarTom Boonen: Pogaar has the potential to have a larger palmars than MerckxVictor Campenaerts injured in the Basque CountryTeam news:Abarca Sports strengthens its position with the entry of Quantum Pacific as shareholderRace news:2025…

2025 Paris-Roubaix Preview: If this year’s Paris-Roubaix is as good as Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, there won’t be any complaints from the road/TV side. The cobbled Classic has two BIG favourites: World champion Tadej Pogaar and the winner of the last two Roubaix’s, Mathieu van der Poel. As we all know, anything can happen on the northern French pav, but there is a queue of other riders who can step up. Here is the PEZ ‘Hell of the North’ preview:—————Watch some of the biggest events in the world including the Tour de France, Giro d’ Italia, UCI and more all on FloBikes.Paris-Roubaix 2024:2024 Paris-Roubaix highlights—————Mathieu van der Poel won Paris-Roubaix for the second time in a row with a long…

Flanders Race Report: Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is the winner of the women’s 2025 Tour of Flanders. After a race of 170 kilometres, the World champion was the best of a leading group of four at the finish line in Oudenaarde. The leading group had ridden away on the last climb of the Oude Kwaremont. This is Kopecky’s third De Ronde win, making her the record holder. Pauline Ferrand-Prvot (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Liane Lippert (Movistar) were second and third.Flanders’25 highlightsThe women’s Tour of Flanders was 168.9 kilometres, with an identical finale to that of the men. All the action would come in the last 50 kilometres, with the Koppenberg, three cobbled sections, the Taaienberg, the Oude Kruisberg/Hotond,…