Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast

By Eurosport

What's Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast about?

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 information.

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Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast episodes:

08.31.2021
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 bad luck, mismanagement, Machiavellian machinations and team alliances to thwart her. We remember how...
08.26.2021
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 plate It was one of cycling's bitterest rivalries and that fateful Vuelta 1957 took things...
08.20.2021
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 Anquetil entered the 1962 Vuelta a España aiming to become the first rider in history to...
07.15.2021
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 a second time following an implosion at La Toussuire, Floyd Landis turned...
07.06.2021
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 Giro d’Italia, while also piloting Mario Cipollini to multiple stage wins. Then, on...
07.01.2021
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 towards the peloton. A year later, the Algerian trailblazer finished last...
06.26.2021
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 Yellow Jersey from start to finish at the 1971 Tour de France was scuppered...
05.27.2021
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 the start of the Giro d’Italia in Milan, with Italy...
05.18.2021
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 turning the usually dusty affair into a mud slick. Stage 7 of the 2010...
05.13.2021
'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 Mountains’ overturned a seemingly impossible deficit to take a heavenly overall victory as...
05.08.2021
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 his true nature became clear. "In the pantheon of Giro greats – the names that have really shaped the...
05.06.2021
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 one better. With his wavy blonde locks, bulging biceps, and a penchant for an eye-catching...
04.15.2021
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 arms aloft in Liege at the race most dear to his heart. A...
04.08.2021
'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 was a chain on his bike. Felix Lowe recalls the Lion of Flanders’ last major race, when...
04.01.2021
'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 1986, and the race in which the Irishman would come closest to glory...
03.18.2021
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 in history to wear the Tour's Yellow Jersey, Eugène Christophe battled mountains of...
03.11.2021
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 turning for Ireland in 1981. Felix Lowe recalls Kelly’s formidable streak, after speaking...
02.25.2021
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 Het Nieuwsblad in 2015. Outnumbered three to one, Britain's Stannard outfoxed...
11.05.2020
'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 first to conquer the mountain. We remember a mythical win shrouded in fog and controversy. Re-Cycle...
10.29.2020
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 battle has ever been In 1984, French rookie Éric Caritoux was called up at...
10.22.2020
'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 career – and ask why it did not lead to more triumphs for the nearly-man Eddy...
10.01.2020
'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 history after Eddy Merckx to wear it after winning the Giro d'Italia and Tour...
09.24.2020
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 Sebastian. Felix Lowe winds back the clock to 1965, when Major Tom banished British...
09.03.2020
'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 pioneering broadcaster who brought the Tour to life, and in doing so, paid with his own. In this...
08.13.2020
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 White – denied Fausto Coppi a sensational sixth win in the autumn Classic as the...
07.09.2020
'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 rewind to 2003 and the extraordinary centenary Tour tussle between Armstrong and Jan Ullrich. Re-Cycle is...
07.02.2020
'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 to Pra Loup at the 1975 Tour de France. We recall the punches, punctures and brutal...
06.25.2020
'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 escape with his life – before Pédaleur de Charme Hugo...
05.28.2020
‘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 months before El Diablo soloed to victory on the same climb in one of the...
05.21.2020
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 kicked out of the race while wearing the Maglia Rosa, ending the defence of his title and...
05.14.2020
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 to delve into cycling's rich history... We kick off with the story of Franco Bitossi....
04.23.2020
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 the pinnacle of a highly troubled life and career. It was a year in which everything...
04.16.2020
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 Hell of the North. The second of our Roubaix-themed retrospective Re-Cycle features ponders the enduring appeal of slippery...
04.09.2020
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 remains the first and only time in cycling history that siblings have finished on the top...
04.02.2020
'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-year-old became the first rider in Ronde history to win from a long-distance...
03.26.2020
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 on a day of blustery subplots, cobbled catastrophe, endless drama and a meme-tastic crash by Geraint Thomas. Read by Graham...
03.19.2020
'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 his fearless descent of the Poggio before kicking clear for the final big win of...
03.12.2020
'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 Race to the Sun, when Jacques Anquetil won the race for the fifth and...
01.30.2020
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 world title may have gone to the red-hot Italian favourite, but...
01.23.2020
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 cut short by war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
01.16.2020
Jacques Anquetil and the first ever Tour-Vuelta double
This time, we’re rolling with the first rider to win all of cycling's Grand Tours – France’s Jacques Anquetil and the 1963 Vuelta victory from the man considered the best time triallist of his generation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
01.09.2020
Kidnappings and controversy - South America's first Grand Tour winner
In this edition of Re-Cycle, we’re riding with the first South American to win a Grand Tour – Colombia’s Luis 'Lucho' Herrera – and delving into the stories of race fixing and saddle sores behind his 1987 Vuelta a Espana...
01.02.2020
When Eddy Merckx almost won two Tour de France stages in one day
In the latest episode of Re-Cycle, we look back at the year the greatest road cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, broke rival Luis Ocana by almost winning two stages in one day during the 1972 Tour de France. Hosted...
12.26.2019
The story of the first ever maillot jaune
One hundred years after the introduction of the first yellow jersey, the latest in our historical Re-Cycle series looks back at the creation of one of the most iconic symbols in the world of sport. We delve into the origins...
12.19.2019
When Britain's first Tour stage winner blew the field away in 1959
In this episode of Re-Cycle, we doff our cap to Brian Robinson, Britain's first ever Tour de France stage winner courtesy of a remarkable solo win on Stage 20 in the 1959 race. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
12.12.2019
When the entire Belgian team walked out on the Tour
This time out we’re going back to 1937, when defending Tour de France champion Sylvère Maes withdrew from the race with his entire Belgian team while wearing the yellow jersey – just days away from Paris... Hosted on Acast. See...
12.05.2019
Andy Hampsten and 'The Day the Hard Men Cried'
From one extreme breakaway to another, and this time out we’re riding with Andy Hampsten, who – with the help of sheep's wool fat and neoprene diving gloves – conquered the snow-capped Gavia to become the first American to don...
11.27.2019
Fausto Coppi's majestic ride from Cuneo to Pinerolo
Last time out, we climbed to the Basilica San Luca with Fiorenzo Magni biting down on an innertube to distract him from the pain of a broken collarbone. Magni had, despite winning the Giro d’Italia three times, always lived in...
11.27.2019
The diabolic climb which made Magni bite the pain away
They say 666 is the number of the beast. Not that many riders to have taken on the monstrous climb to the Basilica San Luca in northern Italy need reminding. It’s a road that has staged some stand-out moments in...
11.27.2019
Hinault soloes to glory in 'Neige-Bastogne-Neige'
In the second episode of Re-Cycle, we look back at the freezing 1980 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in which Bernard Hinault braved blizzards and snow to win by almost 10 minutes from a field of just 21 finishers. Hosted on Acast....

What's Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast episodes:

Re-Cycle: Pippa York and the 'Stolen Vuelta'

When Federico Bahamontes gifted the 1957 Vuelta to rival Jesus Lorono

When Rudi Altig defied teammate Jacques Anquetil to win the 1962 title

When Floyd Landis did the impossible on the road to Morzine

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

Abdel-Kader Zaaf: The trailblazing Algerian who rose above racism to outsmart and out-earn his legendary contemporaries

When Rini Wagtmans denied Eddy Merckx to become the accidental yellow jersey

When Bartali beat Coppi and the Giro unified war-torn Italy in 1946

When Cadel Evans rode through the mud to pip Vino at Montalcino

'His face was no longer that of a man' - Charly Gaul and an apocalyptic day on Monte Bidone

The legacy of The Lion King | Part Two of the Mario Cipollini saga

When Mario Cipollini broke Alfredo Binda’s Giro d'Italia stage record | Part One of the Cipollini saga

When Philippe Gilbert owned The Ardennes

'Second doesn't exist' - When Backstedt denied Museeuw in his final Paris-Roubaix

'That was my best chance' – When Adrie van der Poel denied Sean Kelly in Flanders

The ‘toughest bike race ever’: When Eugène Christophe braved blizzards at Milan-San Remo

King Kelly’s supreme seven-year reign at Paris-Nice

King for a day: When Ian Stannard outfoxed the Wolfpack at Omloop

'Hell starts here' - When Jimenez won the first ascent of the Angliru

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

'Until he'd killed the bull, he wasn't happy' - The riddle of Ocana's only Vuelta victory

'The most beautiful surprise of my life': When Kelly’s cool head set up Roche’s Triple Crown victory

Putting the 'Great' into Great Britain: When Tom Simpson conquered the world

'He wrote the legend of the Tour': The remarkable tale of Alex Virot

The Woman in White: When Magni thwarted Coppi after an insult from his mistress

'This f****** jersey's mine!': Lance Armstrong goes deep into the red at Luz Ardiden

'Terrible! Unimaginable!' - The day Eddy Merckx's reign finally ended

'I fell off a mountain, and survived': When Van Est plunged off the Aubisque and Koblet was king

‘A whole world of sensations’: When Chozas conquered Chiappucci in Sestriere

Glory and scandal at the Giro: The tragic tale of Marco Pantani

Climbing with Crazy Heart: When Bitossi erupted on Mount Etna

Triumph to tragedy: Frank Vandenbroucke's Liège-Bastogne-Liège win

Carnage on the cobbles: The last wet Roubaix

When the Pelissier brothers ruled Roubaix

'The hold-up of the century': Jacky Durand's 217km break to win the Ronde

When Gent-Wevelgem was blown apart, and G took a tumble

'A man possessed': Sean Kelly's perfect Poggio plunge at Milan-San Remo

'Vengeance in his soul': When Anquetil pinched victory from Poulidor in Paris-Nice

When team-mates become rivals: Greg LeMond's infamous attack in 1982

The first ever Vuelta winner, who helped put man on the moon

Jacques Anquetil and the first ever Tour-Vuelta double

Kidnappings and controversy - South America's first Grand Tour winner

When Eddy Merckx almost won two Tour de France stages in one day

The story of the first ever maillot jaune

When Britain's first Tour stage winner blew the field away in 1959

When the entire Belgian team walked out on the Tour

Andy Hampsten and 'The Day the Hard Men Cried'

Fausto Coppi's majestic ride from Cuneo to Pinerolo

The diabolic climb which made Magni bite the pain away

Hinault soloes to glory in 'Neige-Bastogne-Neige'

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