By Joe Hall • 21st March 2013 • Posted in Tour de France
Today, 21st of March 2013, marks 100 days until the start of the 100th edition of the Tour de France, the world's greatest sporting event. It serves as the apex of the racing season, the grandest stage and one of the toughest tests any professional can endure. For every bike rider, racer and fan it's not to be missed and conjures up thousands of images, stories, heroes, villains, memories and more. Naturally, Rapha are celebrating this landmark, including a capsule collection of special edition products called La Centième.
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By Joe Hall • 12th September 2012 • Posted in Tour de France
“To look good is already to go fast”
– Paul Fournel.
Among road riders, the definition of class is a greatly contested subject. For many, the riders who possess it demonstrate not only amazing racing form but also a certain aesthetic superiority. Those with aspirations to emulate the greats look not just to a particular riding style but also sartorial distinction. Traditionally, France, Belgium and Italy have been the triple axis of road racing heritage, helping to define the sport not only in terms of individual victories, or as hosts of key events in the racing calendar, but also as cultures that have informed the way we dress both on and off the bike. To mark the launch of the new Rapha Long Sleeve Country Jerseys, we take a brief spin through some of the key protagonists who helped inspire them.
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By Joe Hall • 23rd July 2012 • Posted in Tour de France
Photo by Wade Wallace
“I'm almost the last person to soak it up and know what it feels like.”
Whilst Monsieur Wiggins will undoubtedly hold onto his down-to-earth professionalism, it must have been a surreal experience for the man from Lancashire via North London standing atop the world’s most glamorous podium in Paris. Undoubtedly a proper English gent, it’s hard not to feel swathes of pride if you are British and you like your cycle racing. Le bon temps.
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By philip deeker • 11th July 2012 • Posted in Tour de France
“Today we enter the Circle of Death”
Sixty bikes, lovingly cleaned and pampered, stand poised in the garage of the Hotel Parc Beaumont in Pau. This morning they will be taken boldly into the 'Circle of Death' by a group of very determined amateur riders, nearly half of whom have ridden every stage so far of this years’ Tour de France route.
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By Joe Hall • 10th July 2012 • Posted in Tour de France
All riders want to look their best at the Tour. Yet, however stylish a rider may look on the bike with his speed and supplesse, the fact he is forced to wear exactly the same clobber as his colleagues just isn't cool. The true, individual style of a rider can only be gauged in those moments off the bike: at the press conference; during the stage transfer; in the café (and in some cases in the bar). And yet none of these compare to what you learn about the personality of the rider on the rest day. Just think, a whole day to look like… well, this:
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By Simon Mottram • 28th June 2012 • Posted in Tour de France
Like every season, I have been looking out for the kind of road racing that gets me out of my seat, cheering at the TV screen. The reason for this levitating action has a name. It is called panache. For the last three years I’ve been making it my duty to publicise the need for this quality and attitude. And here we are again, with a day or two until the Tour begins – at season’s peak – expecting something to light up the roads of France.
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