Chris Sidwells
@ChrisSidwells
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Cycling Legends Media. Illustrated book series, standard books, podcasts, events, and coming soon, cycling experiences- following the wheel-tracks of champions.
Sheffield, South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire.
Joined December 2008
Today’s photo represents the time when a 16-year-old Eddy Merckx convinced everyone, even his sceptical father, he would make it as a cyclist. None of them knew how well he’d make it, though, except maybe Eddy. He was a bright kid, good at school but became distracted when he
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Today’s photo represents the time when a 16-year-old Eddy Merckx convinced everyone, even his sceptical father, he would make it as a cyclist. None of them knew how well he’d make it, though, except maybe Eddy. He was a bright kid, good at school but became distracted when he
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Check this offer out. Great books worth adding to your collection.
Our 25% off offer ends this Sunday 9th November at midnight. If you've been meaning to start, or complete, your collection then now's the time. Or perhaps you're looking for a Christmas gift for the cycling fan in your life? Each book is written by Chris Sidwells and
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Our 25% off offer ends this Sunday 9th November at midnight. If you've been meaning to start, or complete, your collection then now's the time. Or perhaps you're looking for a Christmas gift for the cycling fan in your life? Each book is written by Chris Sidwells and
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The sight of Ben Wiggins racing to a fine 3rd place in the recent London 3-day (the UK’s current version of 6-day racing) will have reminded many of his father Bradley, but Ben is actually the 3rd Wiggins to take to the discipline. The first was this man (left with Maurice
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Yesterday we featured a story about Fausto Coppi elevating cycling to an art. In contrast today’s star had little consideration for aesthetics, but boy was he effective. Bernard Hinault’s second Tour de France victory in 1979 saw him annihilate the field, despite early setbacks.
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Is Merckx Monday still a thing, or should I keep this until Faema Friday?
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This is the track-stand from the days before it was a technique for staying on your bike at traffic lights, but instead was a tactical tool used by sprint cyclists. In this case tandem sprinters of Italy, Bruno Gonzato and Dino Verzini (leading) and France, Daniel Morelon and
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Flanders has its Koppenbergs and Kwaremonts, the Tour de France it’s Galibiers and Tourmalets, the Giro its Stelvios, the Vuelta its Anglirus. Iconic climbs, places to be, to ride, to watch and remember. And when Europe was divided by an Iron Curtain, the communist countries
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We’re having a bit of a nostalgic Brian Robinson week on Cycling Legends Media. It’s justified, though, it was the 3rd anniversary of Brian’s passing on October 25th. It’s always good to remember him, but especially now. Plus, we know you love the stories about pioneering British
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Another great article. 🤩
Soon after the first races cycling became a symbol of Flemish work ethic; a way Flanders showed its identity to the world. Pro bike racers always meant something in the region, inspiring local pride, but pride reached fever pitch over Tom Boonen. He was a cobbled classics
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A couple of days ago we featured number 1 British cycling pioneer, the first to earn a place in the pro peloton, the phrase often used to describe the top of men’s road racing. He was the first in what would be a WorldTour team today, St Raphael, the first to win a stage in the
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In 1976 the Dutch Olympic and world road race champion Hennie Kuiper was drafted into the TI-Raleigh team by its manager Peter Post to win the Tour de France. He had success, taking stages and finishing second overall in 1977, so it was a surprise when he switched to the French
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They say the past is a foreign country, and as you can see from this photo it really was. It’s from the 1960 Tour de France, in the days when most of the time the riders were booked into hotels the race organisation provided, although not always good ones, but sometimes they had
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This is Sir Chris Hoy in 2007 in the glorious theatre of the high Andes, the Velodromo Alto Iparvi. It’s an exciting place even without anything happening, add in one of the greatest-ever power sprinters of all time going for an audacious world record attempt after a logistics
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It’s three in the morning on Sunday May 22nd, 1965. Tom Simpson is asleep in a hotel near Marble Arch, London when the telephone rings. “Good morning, sir. Time to get up for your cycle rally.” It’s the hotel concierge, and the ‘rally’ is a race, a race that had the bones to
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Domestique is a French word used in cycling to describe a team rider, someone who puts their strength, talent and fitness in service of others. It’s regarded as a noble calling in the sport but was first used as an insult. That happened during the 1911 Tour when race founder,
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Neil Stephens is the archetypal tough Aussie bike racer. One of many from that school who travelled to Europe from the 1960s onwards and made their way to the top of pro bike racing, when pro bike racing was still the Wild West of sport. There was no such thing as career
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Michele Bartoli of Italy always looked good on a bike. Smallest possible frame, massive amounts of seat post, slammed super-long stem, and those Briko glasses were class. It helped he was whippet thin and super-fast too. A classics thoroughbred rather than a grand tour stayer.
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