Tag: Cobbles
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Doing It Right at De Ronde
Click or not: Doing It Right at De RondeI was travelling light. I’d managed to get a full glass of beer spilt on me the previous night (good story, for another time) and although I’d quickly rinsed the beer off my only pair of trousers I figured I’d be working outside on the race and should be safe. Sitting on the back of… …
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Opening Weekend from the Other Side
Click or not: Opening Weekend from the Other SideFinally, racing season has started. Sure, we’ve been watching the hot, empty roads of the Middle East and Australia, but when Opening Weekend in Flanders rolls around we know that the good stuff is here. The next six or so weeks is all about the wind, the rain and the cobbles, with fingers crossed for… …
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Shot: Paris-Roubaix 2019
Click or not: Shot: Paris-Roubaix 2019Throw out all the superlatives you want, there’s just not enough words to portray Paris-Roubaix to a level anywhere near its reverential status among its suitors. See, even when trying not to, it makes you. It’s best left to the camera and a denizen who knows where to point it to relate one of the… …
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Roubaix: Anatomy Of A Shithole
Click or not: Roubaix: Anatomy Of A ShitholeOne of the best, most memorable (and repeated) lines from the movie In Bruges is “it’s a shithole”. Of course this isn’t true; Bruges (or Brugge in the local parlance) is a beautiful city with many a charm to captivate the senses. On my third visit to the city running a Malteni Classics Tour in 2015, the shithole… …
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The Badger And Paris-Roubaix
Click or not: The Badger And Paris-Roubaix“Paris-Roubaix is shit”. It’s a quote long attributed to Le Blaireau, The Badger, Bernard Hinault. His win in 1981 in the rainbow jersey is still one of the most remarkable. Punctures, crashes, and an errant poodle couldn’t stop the gritted determination Hinault always displayed, his sprint from the front from what seemed like a lap… …
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Insider Rides: Buck’s Hinault Custom
Click or not: Insider Rides: Buck’s Hinault CustomIt’s always strange meeting people that you’ve previously only known by the wonders of the internet. I’d talked to American ex-pat Buck Rogers on a popular forum many times over the years, and his enthusiasm for all things steel, Euro, and unique leapt off the page in a cacophony of “fuck yeah!”s and “right on”s. When… …
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The Roots
Click or not: The RootsSomeone said to me the other day “what do we do now racing season’s over?” It’s another year of old Roubaix videos and another year for Sep Vanmarcke to wait for his big cobbled win, while he waxes lyrical about the pavé and the passion. …
