Monthly Archives: January 2007

Charly Gaul – part 2

As mentioned in part 1, Charly Gaul has several interesting connections to modern racing. First, his climbing style. By historical accounts, Gaul may have been the first to pioneer high-cadence pedalling for climbing, ahead of the approach developed by Chris Carmichael and Lance Armstrong (apparently inspired by Miguel Indurain). Observers speak of Gaul’s gear choice, …

January 29, 2007 – 9:25 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Climbers | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

Charly Gaul – part 1

Charly Gaul, by all accounts, was an enigmatic rider. Perhaps the first modern climbing specialist, ‘the winged climber’ raced amid the golden post-1945 era of Bobet, Geminiani, Bahamontes, and Anquetil. Gaul’s incredible climbing feats were punctuated, however, by boughts of anonymity in the peloton and his eventual disappearance from cycling altogether. His place amongst the …

January 22, 2007 – 9:00 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Climbers | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Climbing l’Alpe d’Huez

After around 38 minutes on the road to the summit of l’Alpe d’Huez, I’m at corner seven (virage 7 in local parlance) where thousands of savagely crazed Dutch cycling fans will in a few days gather to cheer on their local heroes for this year’s Tour de France. Up ahead, seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong …

January 17, 2007 – 7:46 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Classic Climbs | Comments (2)