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Cobbled Classics
The cobbled classics are four cycling classics held in March and April. Cobblestones, like mountainous terrain, are important elements in courses of cycling. Many classic cycle races in northwestern Europe contain cobbled sections. The two Monuments of this race type are the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix, with over 20 cobbled sectors. History The first race with cobbled sections is Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which traditionally opens the Belgian classics season, followed the next day by Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. Starting late March, the Flemish Cycling Week (''Vlaamse Wielerweek'') kicks off the most important period for cobbled cycling classics. Currently it features the Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, the E3 Harelbeke on Friday, and Gent–Wevelgem on Sunday. During the following week, the stage-race Driedaagse van De Panne keeps the riders busy, concluding with the Monument Tour of Flanders on Sunday. The Scheldeprijs on the following Wednesday prepares the riders fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classic Cycle Races
The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most revered races are often described as the cycling monuments. For the 2005 to 2007 seasons, some classics formed part of the UCI ProTour run by the Union Cycliste Internationale. This event series also included various stage races including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España, Paris–Nice, and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. The UCI ProTour replaced the UCI Road World Cup series (1989–2004) which contained only one-day races. Many of the classics, and all the Grand Tours, were not part of the UCI ProTour for the 2008 season because of disputes between the UCI and the ASO, which organizes the Tour de France and several other major races. Since 2009, many classic cycle races are part of the UCI World Tour. Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris–Roubaix Femmes
Paris–Roubaix Femmes is a one day women's bicycle race on cobbled roads (or pavé) in northern France, held annually in early April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The equivalent men's race is a cycling monument, and after the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, is the third to stage a women's edition. History Paris–Roubaix is one of cycling's oldest races, and was first held in 1896. The announcement of the inaugural women's edition of Paris–Roubaix came as a surprise addition to the revised 2020 UCI Women's World Tour calendar. The race was scheduled for 25 October 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first edition of Paris–Roubaix Femmes took place in 2021, with Lizzie Deignan winning following a 80km solo attack described by commentators as one of the greatest Roubaix rides of all time. Course The race is famous for its rough terrain, mud and cobblestones (pavé) - and has been nicknamed ''l'enfer du Nord'', or ''He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrei Tchmil
Andrei Tchmil (born 22 January 1963) is a retired Soviet (until 1991), Moldovan (1992–1995), Ukrainian (1995–1998) and Belgian (since 1998) professional road bicycle racer. He competed in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Cycling career Tchmil was born in Khabarovsk, Russia. His family moved to Ukraine during the days of the Soviet Union. He started cycling and showed enough talent to be moved to a cycling school in Moldova. The glasnost in the Soviet Union allowed him to try a professional career with the Italian Alfa Lum team in 1989. After the collapse of the Soviet Union he became a Ukrainian citizen, although he eventually moved to Belgium early in his professional career. ''"People are cynical when I talk about Belgium. They think I'm only Belgian on paper. That is not true. Yes, I was a Russian, even a proud one.... Now I am proud to be Belgian. The first thing I did was learn French. Now there are some books in my suitcase to learn Flemis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (born 25 August 1954) is a former French professional road racing cyclist who was a specialist at one-day classic cycling races. He raced from 1977 to 1995, one of the best French riders of a generation that included Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon. Born in Lembeye, Duclos-Lassalle was a specialist of Paris–Roubaix, but it took "Duclos", as the public called him, a long time to win. After finishing second to Francesco Moser in 1980 and Hennie Kuiper in 83, he won in 1992, finishing on Roubaix Velodrome 20 seconds ahead the German Olaf Ludwig. Duclos-Lassalle was 37 years old. But the next year he won again, beating the Italian Franco Ballerini on the line. Ballerini, who thought he won, lifted his arms in triumph after the line but had been beaten by Duclos-Lassalle in a very close finish. Not a climber, Duclos-Lassalle was never a contender for the Tour de France but he rode well in one-week races such as Paris–Nice or the Critérium du Midi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacky Durand
Jacky Durand (born 10 February 1967 in Laval, Mayenne) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Durand had an attacking style, winning the Tour of Flanders in 1992 after a breakaway, and three stages in the Tour de France. Durand turned professional in 1990. He was national road champion in 1993 and 1994 and won Paris–Tours in 1998, the first French winner in 42 years. Durand rode seven Tours de France, finishing last in the 1999 race. In 1995 he was the surprise winner of the prologue, starting before it began raining. He wore the yellow jersey for two days. Durand won the combativity award in the 1998 and 1999 Tour de France; the latter year he also took the Lanterne Rouge. He retired at the end of 2004. He has since worked for Eurosport as a commentator. Amateur career Durand was born to a poor farming family in the Mayenne region of northern France. He started racing in the ''minime'' class, the very youngest, but never won a race there or in the older ''cadet' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Cipollini
Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 professional wins, 192 including criteriums) and his colourful personality. His nicknames include ''Il Re Leone'' (''The Lion King'') and ''Super Mario''. He is regarded as the best sprinter of his generation. Life and career Cipollini was born in San Giusto di Compito, surrounded by the mountains of Capannori south of Lucca, Tuscany. He came from a cycling family – his father, Vivaldo, had been a successful amateur racer in his youth, whilst his brother Cesare had raced as a professional and his sister Tiziana had also competed as a cyclist. Mario was a prolific winner in his youth career, scoring a total of 125 victories in age group and amateur races before joining the professional peloton in 1989. His career highlights include th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johan Museeuw
Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classics of Flanders and Northern France and was considered one of the best classic races specialists of the 1990s. He won both the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix three times and was road world champion in 1996. Other notable career achievements include two individual stage wins in the Tour de France, two final classifications of the UCI Road World Cup, two national road race championships and several classic cycle races. In 1996 he received the Vélo d'Or, awarded annually to the rider considered to have performed the best over the year. Early life and amateur career Born in Varsenare, Museeuw grew up in Gistel, West Flanders. His father Eddy had been a professional cyclist for two seasons, albeit without much success. As a junior and amateur, Muse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Madiot
Marc Madiot (born 16 April 1959) is a French former professional road racing cyclist and double winner of Paris–Roubaix. He also competed in the individual road race event at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Retired from racing in 1994, he is now best known as the directeur sportif of , a UCI WorldTeam. He is also known as the president of the French Ligue National de Cyclisme (LNC). In 1987, he made disparaging remarks about the sport of women's cycling, calling it ugly and unesthetic. In 2008, he was made a knight of the French Legion of Honor. It was presented by president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée palace in Paris. He is the older brother of fellow retired racing cyclist and French national road racing champion Yvon Madiot. Major results ;1979 : 1st Overall Boucles de la Mayenne ::1st Stage 2 : 1st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs : 2nd Manche Atlantique ;1980 : 1st Troyes–Dijon : Sealink International ::1st Stages 1 & 2 : 9th Olympic Games, Road Race ;1981 : 1st Overall Tour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djamolidine Abdoujaparov
Djamolidine Mirgarifanovich Abdoujaparov ( uz, Jamoliddin Mirgarifanovich Abdujaparov; born 28 February 1964) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Uzbekistan. Abdoujaparov was a sprinter, nicknamed "The Tashkent Terror" as he was so ferocious in the sprints. His unorthodox and often erratic sprinting caused a number of crashes. He competed in the individual road race at the Olympic Games on two occasions: in 1988 for the Soviet Union and in 1996 for Uzbekistan; he placed fifth in 1988. Career Abdoujaparov was born in Tashkent to a Crimean Tatar family which was forcibly deported to Uzbekistan during Soviet rule. A graduate of the Soviet sports programme, he came into his prime just as his country gained independence; after initial difficulties (including Uzbekistan's not being affiliated to the UCI, which caused problems with the Cycling World Championship) he signed for a Western professional team and became one of the world's top sprinters. Abdoujaparov had n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olaf Ludwig
Olaf Ludwig (born 13 April 1960 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former German racing cyclist. His career began at the SG Dynamo Gera / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo. As an East German, he raced as an amateur until reunification of Germany allowed him to become professional with Panasonic team. As a sprinter, the highlight of his career was winning the points classification in the 1990 Tour de France. Other highlights include the Olympic road race in Seoul in 1988, a record 38 stage victories in the Peace Race, winning the Amstel Gold Race in 1992, and podium placings in the Paris–Roubaix. He also won the 1992 UCI Road World Cup. In 1992 he won the Champs Elysees stage in the Tour de France and won the third Tour stage of his career the following year. His sprinting rivals included Mario Cipollini, Wilfried Nelissen and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. In 1993 he joined Team Telekom, later T-Mobile Team. On retirement in 1996 he took up public relations for the team. He sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddy Planckaert
Eddy Planckaert (born 22 September 1958 in Nevele) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. In 1988, Planckaert enjoyed perhaps his best year by capturing the green jersey (points competition) at the 1988 Tour de France and winning the Tour of Flanders. In 1990, he won Paris–Roubaix, his second '' monumental classic'', with the closest finish in the race's history beating Canadian Steve Bauer by less than a cm. A strong sprinter, Planckaert is one of the riders with stage wins at all three cycling Grand Tours. Eddy Planckaert is the brother of fellow cyclists Willy and Walter Planckaert. Eddy is also the uncle of Jo Planckaert and the father of Francesco Planckaert. More than 10 years after his cycling career, the former racer got back into the public eye with a long running reality TV show about his family life, on Vtm. After the 2016 Paris-Roubaix, Planckaert declared that second-placed Tom Boonen should have made a deal with eventual winner Mathew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
