A theme across cycling history
Nutrition, training and science
From chops and instinct to fuelling plans, laboratories and watts.
See all seven themes →Michele Ferrari, training science and the doping era
Michele Ferrari helped make training measurable and was later banned for life by USADA. His story separates measurement, explanation and documented doping violations.
Open →Story · 1959–1960Coppi’s last journey and the missed malaria
Fausto Coppi returned ill from Upper Volta. Fellow traveller Raphaël Géminiani had the same disease, but malaria was recognised too late in Coppi’s case.
Open →Story · 1984The blood bags at the 1984 Olympics
The US cycling team’s transfusion programme sat between medical experiment, sporting ambition and rules that had not caught up.
Open →Story · 2017The comfort break that nearly cost Dumoulin the Giro
Tom Dumoulin had to stop with stomach trouble on stage 16 of the 2017 Giro and defend the pink jersey alone.
Open →Story · 1978The condom that cost Pollentier the yellow jersey
Michel Pollentier won on Alpe d’Huez and took the yellow jersey. That evening, the doping control revealed a container of someone else’s urine beneath his jersey.
Open →Story · 1982–1989When heart rate joined the rider on the road
A chest strap and a small wrist receiver made it possible to follow the heart without laboratory cables. Training acquired a new number to discuss.
Open →Story · 1980’erneWhen pasta took over the breakfast table
Steak did not vanish in a morning, but during the 1980s carbohydrate became something teams could measure, mix into bottles and put on the plate.
Open →Story · 1980The day snow emptied Liège–Bastogne–Liège
A field of 174 began in the cold and only 21 finished, while Bernard Hinault rode roughly 80 kilometres alone and suffered lasting damage to his hands.
Open →Story · 1930’erneWhen the Tour had to provide dinner
National teams made the Tour organiser responsible for the riders’ food and lodging. Menus were heavy, advice plentiful and nutritional science still far from the measuring cup.
Open →Story · 1947When the Tour returned to a hungry France
The Tour returned after the war and had to feed a race over 4,640 kilometres while France cut the daily bread ration to 200 grams.
Open →Story · 1896Teddy Hale and 142 hours in New York
In December 1896, Teddy Hale won the individual six-day race at Madison Square Garden after 142 hours and roughly 3,074 kilometres.
Open →Story · 2018When Froome attacked with 80 kilometres remaining
On the Colle delle Finestre, Chris Froome rode away alone and overturned a Giro he began that day 3 minutes 22 seconds from the lead.
Open →Story · 2006The blood bags that reached the Tour before the start
Operación Puerto led from a Madrid clinic to the Tour start in Strasbourg, where Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich never took the line.
Open →Story · 2001–2009When Bjarne Riis built Team CSC
A struggling Danish team became an international organisation built around clear roles, training data and a team spirit tested far from the road.
Open →Story · 1984When Moser rode 51.151 kilometres in an hour
In Mexico City, Francesco Moser made aerodynamics, disc wheels and a new riding position visible on the stopwatch.
Open →Story · 1970’erneSteak at five and coffee with cognac
Before gels and precise carbohydrate plans, the soigneur packed sandwiches, fruit and tarts, filled the bottles and tried to keep riders eating through a long working day.
Open →Story · 1956When the snow broke the Giro peloton
On the 242-kilometre stage to Monte Bondone, Charly Gaul rode through snow and cold from eleventh place into the pink jersey.
Open →Story · 1952When “necessary” meant almost always
In a RAI interview, Fausto Coppi spoke unusually openly about the peloton’s use of “la bomba” in an age without effective doping controls.
Open →Story · 2003The white wilderness and the chicken farmer’s thirst
The bottle was empty on Mont Ventoux. Then a Danish Tour rider from 1958 helped decide whether the reader should accept water.
Open →Story · 1967The day Tom Simpson died on Mont Ventoux
Heat, dehydration, exhaustion and stimulants came together on the bare mountain during the 1967 Tour de France.
Open →Story · 1966When the Tour peloton protested against doping controls
Shortly after leaving Bordeaux, the riders stopped. New doping controls had entered an old working culture.
Open →Story · 2013When the rainwear came up in the sunshine
A rucksack full of dry clothes, long trousers and a jacket travelled about 30 kilometres up the Großglockner — in 28-degree heat.
Open →Story · 1890s–1930sInsomnia, butter and cold beer
Chops, cigarettes and imitation: when one rider’s meal could become the entire peloton’s nutrition theory.
Open →Story · 1998When the Festina affair brought the Tour de France apart
A car full of doping products was stopped before the Tour. Three weeks later a team was expelled, riders were protesting and the peloton was nearly halved.
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