Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast
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Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast
Welcome to Re-Cycle, by Eurosport – a retrospective series on the most compelling, the most controversial and the most extraordinary riders and races in cycling history. Written by Felix Lowe, narrated by Graham Willgoss and produced by Pete Burton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...
Recent Episodes
51 episodes
Re-Cycle: Pippa York and the 'Stolen Vuelta'
In 1985 and 1986, mercurial climber Philippa York twice came one step away from becoming Britain’s first Grand Tour winner – only for a combination of...
When Federico Bahamontes gifted the 1957 Vuelta to rival Jesus Lorono
In this episode of Re-Cycle, we re-count when Federico Bahamontes blew a 16-minute lead to hand his big rival Jesús Loroño the yellow jersey on a plat...
When Rudi Altig defied teammate Jacques Anquetil to win the 1962 title
In this episode of Re-Cycle, we re-count the time Rudi Altig defied teammate Jacques Anquetil to win the 1962 Vuelta.
Frenchman Jacques...
When Floyd Landis did the impossible on the road to Morzine
In this episode of Re-Cycle, we look back on a ride that really was too good to be true.
A day after handing the initiative to Oscar Pereiro for...
Eros Poli's historic Mont Ventoux attack: How some quick thinking, a little James Brown and a hot can of Fanta fired a giant to victory
In this episode of Re-Cycle, we’re riding with Eros Poli, a man famous for being the tallest rider in the peloton as well as finishing last in the Gir...
Abdel-Kader Zaaf: The trailblazing Algerian who rose above racism to outsmart and out-earn his legendary contemporaries
Sunstroke and a bottle of wine made Abdel-Kader Zaaf a household name at the 1950 Tour after he passed out on his bike then, in a daze, rode back towa...
When Rini Wagtmans denied Eddy Merckx to become the accidental yellow jersey
In the first of our 4-stage Tour run of Re-Cycle, Felix Lowe tells the story of the accidental yellow jersey.
Eddy Merckx’s bid to wear the Yel...
When Bartali beat Coppi and the Giro unified war-torn Italy in 1946
In this episode of Re-Cycle, Felix Lowe turns back the clock to June 1946, just a few months after the end of World War II. A reduced field took to th...
When Cadel Evans rode through the mud to pip Vino at Montalcino
It’s rightly gone down as one of the most legendary stages in the Giro d’Italia: when the race hit Tuscany’s Strade Bianche amid a deluge of rain turn...
'His face was no longer that of a man' - Charly Gaul and an apocalyptic day on Monte Bidone
Luxembourg climber Charly Gaul braved blizzards and frozen temperatures on Monte Bondone to win Stage 20 of the 1956 Giro. By doing so, the ‘Angel of...
The legacy of The Lion King | Part Two of the Mario Cipollini saga
Part Two of a Cipollini two-parter.
As Mario Cipollini moved towards retirement, his flaws were amplified, his words were heard differently and...
When Mario Cipollini broke Alfredo Binda’s Giro d'Italia stage record | Part One of the Cipollini saga
Part One of a Cipollini two-parter.
Alfredo Binda’s record of 41 stage wins in the Giro d’Italia stood for 70 years, until Mario Cipollini went...
When Philippe Gilbert owned The Ardennes
For 10 days in the spring of 2011, Philippe Gilbert was invincible. Having won Brabantse Pijl, the Amstel Gold Race and La Fleche Wallone, he held his...
'Second doesn't exist' - When Backstedt denied Museeuw in his final Paris-Roubaix
Swedish powerhouse Magnus Backstedt felt so strong going toe-to-toe with Johan Museeuw in 2004’s Hell of the North, he even questioned whether there w...
'That was my best chance' – When Adrie van der Poel denied Sean Kelly in Flanders
Thirty-four years before Mathieu van der Poel won the Tour of Flanders, his father pipped Sean Kelly to the line. Felix Lowe turns back the clock to 1...
The ‘toughest bike race ever’: When Eugène Christophe braved blizzards at Milan-San Remo
We’re winding the clock back a bit further this week to 1910 and a spectacle we will never again see in cycling.
Before he became the first man...
King Kelly’s supreme seven-year reign at Paris-Nice
No one has shone brighter in the Race to the Sun than Sean Kelly, who won seven straight editions after Stephen Roche’s GC victory got the wheels turn...
King for a day: When Ian Stannard outfoxed the Wolfpack at Omloop
Re-Cycle is back for a third season - and we kick off with the day Team Sky's Ian Stannard pulled off one of the surprises of the century at Omloop He...
'Hell starts here' - When Jimenez won the first ascent of the Angliru
The fearsome Angliru immediately became a Vuelta a España legend on its introduction to the race in 1999, when Spanish climber José María Jiménez was...
Fans spat at him, tried to shove umbrellas into his spokes: When Caritoux overcame not just the odds to win La Vuelta by the narrowest grand tour margin
Just when you thought Tao Geoghegan Hart’s Giro d’Italia victory over Jai Hindley was a close-run thing, we rewind to the 80’s and the closest a GC ba...
'Until he'd killed the bull, he wasn't happy' - The riddle of Ocana's only Vuelta victory
On the 50th anniversary of Luis Ocaña's breakthrough 1970 Vuelta a España title, we recall the first Grand Tour of the volatile Spaniard’s colourful c...
'The most beautiful surprise of my life': When Kelly’s cool head set up Roche’s Triple Crown victory
Nerves of steel from the Irish underdogs saw Stephen Roche ride to the Rainbow Jersey at the 1987 World Championships, becoming only the second man in...
Putting the 'Great' into Great Britain: When Tom Simpson conquered the world
A mix of leg power, cunning and killer instinct from charismatic Yorkshireman Tom Simpson saw him outkick Rudi Altig to take the Rainbow Jersey in San...
'He wrote the legend of the Tour': The remarkable tale of Alex Virot
An artist and adventurer who flew planes and crossed oceans; an intrepid reporter who rubbed shoulders with presidents, kings, popes and dictators; a...
The Woman in White: When Magni thwarted Coppi after an insult from his mistress
As Re-Cycle returns, we look back at the 1956 edition of Il Lombardia, when Fiorenzo Magni – incensed by some goading from the so-called Woman in Whit...
'This f****** jersey's mine!': Lance Armstrong goes deep into the red at Luz Ardiden
Few Tour de France stages have caught the imagination quite like the day Lance Armstrong crashed on Luz Ardiden before fighting back for victory. We r...
'Terrible! Unimaginable!' - The day Eddy Merckx's reign finally ended
A desperate Eddy Merckx's seemingly indomitable grip on the Maillot Jaune was prised loose when Bernard Thévenet reeled in The Cannibal on the climb t...
'I fell off a mountain, and survived': When Van Est plunged off the Aubisque and Koblet was king
Felix Lowe remembers the first Dutchman to lead the Tour de France: Wim van Est, in 1951. But he crashed 70m into a Pyrenean ravine – and was lucky to...
‘A whole world of sensations’: When Chozas conquered Chiappucci in Sestriere
Spaniard Eduardo Chozas denied Italy's Claudio Chiappucci in the Giro d'Italia's first ever summit finish in the ski resort of Sestriere in 1991 – 14...
Glory and scandal at the Giro: The tragic tale of Marco Pantani
Marco Pantani's swashbuckling victory at Madonna di Campiglio in the 1999 Giro d'Italia should have been his crowning moment. Instead, the Italian was...
Climbing with Crazy Heart: When Bitossi erupted on Mount Etna
We're back. After a brief hiatus, Re-Cycle returns for the first of three Giro d'Italia episodes. And with no racing at the moment, what better time t...
Triumph to tragedy: Frank Vandenbroucke's Liège-Bastogne-Liège win
We revisit Frank Vandenbroucke's swaggering La Doyenne victory in 1999 - a win which promised to be the first of many Monuments, but ultimately proved...
Carnage on the cobbles: The last wet Roubaix
Eighteen years after Belgium's Johan Museeuw won his third cobblestone trophy, Paris-Roubaix fans are still waiting for another wet edition of the Hel...
When the Pelissier brothers ruled Roubaix
In the latest episode of Re-Cycle, we recall the fraternal feeling of 1921’s Paris-Roubaix, won by Henri Pélissier ahead of his brother Francis. It re...
'The hold-up of the century': Jacky Durand's 217km break to win the Ronde
In 1992 Frenchman Jacky Durand defied all the odds by winning the Tour of Flanders from a breakaway of 217 kilometres. Part of a four-man move, the 25...
When Gent-Wevelgem was blown apart, and G took a tumble
Rewinding only five years to the crazy, windswept 2015 edition of Gent-Wevelgem, Felix Lowe remembers bearded Italian veteran Luca Paolini’s victory o...
'A man possessed': Sean Kelly's perfect Poggio plunge at Milan-San Remo
As season two of Re-Cycle continues, we look back at Sean Kelly's second Milan-San Remo victory, when the Irishman reeled in rival Moreno Argentin on...
'Vengeance in his soul': When Anquetil pinched victory from Poulidor in Paris-Nice
Re-Cycle returns for season two! The first of the 2020 series looks back at one of the greatest editions of Paris-Nice. Felix Lowe revisits the 1966 R...
When team-mates become rivals: Greg LeMond's infamous attack in 1982
In the final Re-Cycle of season one, we take a look back at the last time the World Championships came to England prior to the 2019 race. The 1982 wor...
The first ever Vuelta winner, who helped put man on the moon
From winning the inaugural Vuelta a Espana in 1935 to helping put a man on the moon, Belgium's Gustaaf Deloor was a pedalling pioneer whose career was...