History of races
takethehighroad
Posts: 6,811
I'm intrigued to know when, and more importantly why, the big races started. For example we all know the Tour, Giro, Het Volk were set up to sell newspapers, and Amstel Gold was designed around the brewery IIRC, but what about others?
And what about defunct ones, why did they stop being raced?
And what about defunct ones, why did they stop being raced?
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Where do you want to start.
It's a bit like saying "I've heard about Europe, what's the history behind these countries"
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Volta Ciclista a Catalunya coming up on 22nd of March and to be contested by many big names, including Basso who really wants to test himself against Contador, is the third oldest stage race in the World after the Tour and Giro.Contador is the Greatest0
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TakeTheHighRoad wrote:For example we all know the Tour, Giro, Het Volk were set up to sell newspapers
I thought the Tour was invented to publicise LA
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There's the Rund um den Henninger-Turm, which has a similar origin to Amstel Gold. Started in 1962 to promote the Henninger Brewery in Frankfurt. It's essentially a big loop around some grain silos.
It got renamed to the Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop in 2008 because Henninger are skint.0 -
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The oldest current pro race is from 1892 is Liege-Bastogne-Liege also known as La Doyenne.
Paris-Roubaix has been running since 1896 whereas the Tour of Flanders started in the 1930s.
Oldest event is Paris-Brest-Paris from 1891 but now run as an audax.
Bordeaux-Paris - defunct since 1988, was the longest race at 560km and riders were paced for the first half and rode the last.
Wiki is a good source of race history and informationMake mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0 -
Wrong way round there Monty, they were behind the Dernys for the latter half of the race.Monty Dog wrote:The oldest current pro race is from 1892 is Liege-Bastogne-Liege also known as La Doyenne.
Paris-Roubaix has been running since 1896 whereas the Tour of Flanders started in the 1930s.
Oldest event is Paris-Brest-Paris from 1891 but now run as an audax.
Bordeaux-Paris - defunct since 1988, was the longest race at 560km and riders were paced for the first half and rode the last.Wiki is a good source of race history and information0 -
And the Ronde VV started in 1913, not the 1930's, started by a newspaper man.
Paris-Roubaix was started by 2 local industrialist promoters of the Roubaix velodrome who sold the idea of the race to Le Velo magazine, who took on some of the organisation. It was partly pitched as an 'easy' training race for Bordeaux-Paris which was 2 weeks later!0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:I'm intrigued to know when, and more importantly why, the big races started. For example we all know the Tour, Giro, Het Volk were set up to sell newspapers, and Amstel Gold was designed around the brewery IIRC, but what about others?
And what about defunct ones, why did they stop being raced?
Milan-San Remo started in 1907 and was a venture between Gazetta dello Sport and San Remo business men to promote the town and sell more newspapers . The 1910 race was something to behold, a great story. They have added a few climbs over the years but unlike a lot of classics the main route of MSR hasnt changed much over the years.Gasping - but somehow still alive !0 -
Cheers guys. Seem like the majority were set up to flog something or other.
I was just after some random bits of trivia tbh, like a race was set up just 'cos some fellas thought it might be a good idea!0
