Feargal McKay
@cycologies.com
Reviewing cycling books and writing about professional cycling's mythological past and the reality behind the stories told and retold by cycling's duff historians
cycologies.com 🇮🇪
cycologies.com 🇮🇪
Get a @privateeyenews.bsky.social subscription, they said. It's easy + convenient, they said.
What they forgot to tell you: delivery times may vary.
Today I received three issues in the one post, dating back to the middle of last month.
Well done, Lord Gnome!
When do I get my next copy, Easter?
What they forgot to tell you: delivery times may vary.
Today I received three issues in the one post, dating back to the middle of last month.
Well done, Lord Gnome!
When do I get my next copy, Easter?
January 19, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Get a @privateeyenews.bsky.social subscription, they said. It's easy + convenient, they said.
What they forgot to tell you: delivery times may vary.
Today I received three issues in the one post, dating back to the middle of last month.
Well done, Lord Gnome!
When do I get my next copy, Easter?
What they forgot to tell you: delivery times may vary.
Today I received three issues in the one post, dating back to the middle of last month.
Well done, Lord Gnome!
When do I get my next copy, Easter?
I found that inside this 1965 Tour history which I'm looking forward to reading in order to see how much the race's early history has changed in 60 years.
January 16, 2026 at 12:37 PM
I found that inside this 1965 Tour history which I'm looking forward to reading in order to see how much the race's early history has changed in 60 years.
A ticket to attend the finale of the 1966 Tour de France (and the Tour de l'Avenir, which finished the same day).
You can't sell tickets to watch bike races, you say?
You can't sell tickets to watch bike races, you say?
January 16, 2026 at 12:33 PM
A ticket to attend the finale of the 1966 Tour de France (and the Tour de l'Avenir, which finished the same day).
You can't sell tickets to watch bike races, you say?
You can't sell tickets to watch bike races, you say?
My local café, steadfastly refusing to believe that the last two weeks haven't been just a bad dream and insisting it's still Christmas.
Which is a belief I think we all can support.
Which is a belief I think we all can support.
January 14, 2026 at 4:38 PM
My local café, steadfastly refusing to believe that the last two weeks haven't been just a bad dream and insisting it's still Christmas.
Which is a belief I think we all can support.
Which is a belief I think we all can support.
HE Thomson's Tour of the Forest sounds like a British book from the 1960s, but it's by a Canadian and was originally published in 1990. It's quite a fun intro to the Tour.
January 10, 2026 at 2:09 PM
HE Thomson's Tour of the Forest sounds like a British book from the 1960s, but it's by a Canadian and was originally published in 1990. It's quite a fun intro to the Tour.
But first ... I may finally have found a Tour book suited to my mental age.
January 10, 2026 at 10:50 AM
But first ... I may finally have found a Tour book suited to my mental age.
Time to get back into research mode...
January 10, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Time to get back into research mode...
Ah! But while Year of the Rabbit had safeties, it also had an obscure kind of high-wheeler. Now that's historical accuracy! (Though how accurate it was to see a safety hanging from the roof of a pub I don't know - did they have even have theme pubs then? I guess I shoulda watched House of Guinness.)
January 9, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Ah! But while Year of the Rabbit had safeties, it also had an obscure kind of high-wheeler. Now that's historical accuracy! (Though how accurate it was to see a safety hanging from the roof of a pub I don't know - did they have even have theme pubs then? I guess I shoulda watched House of Guinness.)
They've been around so long they have branches growing out of them. Remember Froome's piggy nose ring?
January 5, 2026 at 12:19 PM
They've been around so long they have branches growing out of them. Remember Froome's piggy nose ring?
If you've got Disney+ (and with season two of A Thousand Blows coming up, your really should) Thomas Riedelsheimer's early noughties doc abt Evelyn Glennie, Touch the Sound, is now streaming + well worth watching. Visually spartan - industrial, in places - it's acoustically gorgeous + quite playful.
January 3, 2026 at 7:38 PM
If you've got Disney+ (and with season two of A Thousand Blows coming up, your really should) Thomas Riedelsheimer's early noughties doc abt Evelyn Glennie, Touch the Sound, is now streaming + well worth watching. Visually spartan - industrial, in places - it's acoustically gorgeous + quite playful.
Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest is a whole lot of fun, a 1960s melodrama brought into the present but still making you feel like Rock Hudson or Steve McQueen are going to put in an appearance. The plot is a bit ropey + the message a bit stale but the whole thing is something to just luxuriate in.
January 3, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest is a whole lot of fun, a 1960s melodrama brought into the present but still making you feel like Rock Hudson or Steve McQueen are going to put in an appearance. The plot is a bit ropey + the message a bit stale but the whole thing is something to just luxuriate in.
In addition to La Vie au Grand Air's trophy for the best rider, from 1908 Les Annales Politiques et Littéraires sponsored a trophy for the best team (based on their first three riders), which is described as being an object d'art featuring Jeanne d'Arc, by Antonin Mercié, so possibly this:
January 1, 2026 at 4:46 PM
In addition to La Vie au Grand Air's trophy for the best rider, from 1908 Les Annales Politiques et Littéraires sponsored a trophy for the best team (based on their first three riders), which is described as being an object d'art featuring Jeanne d'Arc, by Antonin Mercié, so possibly this:
A clearer take on the second trophy La Vie au Grand Air offered to the winner of the Tour.
Google is being particularly rubbish at helping me identify it.
Google is being particularly rubbish at helping me identify it.
January 1, 2026 at 4:12 PM
A clearer take on the second trophy La Vie au Grand Air offered to the winner of the Tour.
Google is being particularly rubbish at helping me identify it.
Google is being particularly rubbish at helping me identify it.
The rules got changed somewhere but I'll not go into that here save to say that in 1907 the trophy became the property of Peugeot. A new trophy was needed for 1908.
So far this is the only pic I've found of it. It's not a v good pic, I'll admit, but even as it is it's not my idea of a cool trophy.
So far this is the only pic I've found of it. It's not a v good pic, I'll admit, but even as it is it's not my idea of a cool trophy.
December 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
The rules got changed somewhere but I'll not go into that here save to say that in 1907 the trophy became the property of Peugeot. A new trophy was needed for 1908.
So far this is the only pic I've found of it. It's not a v good pic, I'll admit, but even as it is it's not my idea of a cool trophy.
So far this is the only pic I've found of it. It's not a v good pic, I'll admit, but even as it is it's not my idea of a cool trophy.
Back to the first trophy, the Challenge de la Vie au Grand Air. The winning rider was awarded the trophy, but only for a year, it passing to the next person who won the race.
You had to win it twice to be allowed to keep it.
You had to win it twice to be allowed to keep it.
December 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Back to the first trophy, the Challenge de la Vie au Grand Air. The winning rider was awarded the trophy, but only for a year, it passing to the next person who won the race.
You had to win it twice to be allowed to keep it.
You had to win it twice to be allowed to keep it.
This is the team classification trophy, awarded from 1930 (when the race switched to the national team format). The names on this go up to 1948.
December 29, 2025 at 8:57 PM
This is the team classification trophy, awarded from 1930 (when the race switched to the national team format). The names on this go up to 1948.
And here's a more recent pic of Martin with her trophy
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
And here's a more recent pic of Martin with her trophy
A better picture of the two trophies in 1984
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
A better picture of the two trophies in 1984
Also, in 1984, at the end of the first TdFF, Marianne Martin's trophy wasn't quite the same as the one won by Laurent Fignon
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Also, in 1984, at the end of the first TdFF, Marianne Martin's trophy wasn't quite the same as the one won by Laurent Fignon
But in 1986 the Coupe was shallower, more like the sort of bowl you might put down for the dog.
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
But in 1986 the Coupe was shallower, more like the sort of bowl you might put down for the dog.
So far then, that's the trophies for 1903 through 1906 confirmed, plus 1938, and then 1975 through to today.
The Coupe Omnisport, however, varies in design sometimes. The normal Cup is bowl-shaped, like a scooped-out grapefruit...
The Coupe Omnisport, however, varies in design sometimes. The normal Cup is bowl-shaped, like a scooped-out grapefruit...
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
So far then, that's the trophies for 1903 through 1906 confirmed, plus 1938, and then 1975 through to today.
The Coupe Omnisport, however, varies in design sometimes. The normal Cup is bowl-shaped, like a scooped-out grapefruit...
The Coupe Omnisport, however, varies in design sometimes. The normal Cup is bowl-shaped, like a scooped-out grapefruit...
Back in 1903, La Vie au Grand Air sponsored multiple Challenges, all rewarded with an objet d'art.
These sculptures weren't one off, they would have been mass produced (relatively speaking - in the 1900s that means small runs by today's standards, dozens to hundreds of copies, depending on demand).
These sculptures weren't one off, they would have been mass produced (relatively speaking - in the 1900s that means small runs by today's standards, dozens to hundreds of copies, depending on demand).
December 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Back in 1903, La Vie au Grand Air sponsored multiple Challenges, all rewarded with an objet d'art.
These sculptures weren't one off, they would have been mass produced (relatively speaking - in the 1900s that means small runs by today's standards, dozens to hundreds of copies, depending on demand).
These sculptures weren't one off, they would have been mass produced (relatively speaking - in the 1900s that means small runs by today's standards, dozens to hundreds of copies, depending on demand).
The trophy then passed to Cornet.
Trousselier took possession of it in 1905.
From an edition of L'Auto in 1906 we know it was the same trophy as in 1903.
Trousselier took possession of it in 1905.
From an edition of L'Auto in 1906 we know it was the same trophy as in 1903.
December 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The trophy then passed to Cornet.
Trousselier took possession of it in 1905.
From an edition of L'Auto in 1906 we know it was the same trophy as in 1903.
Trousselier took possession of it in 1905.
From an edition of L'Auto in 1906 we know it was the same trophy as in 1903.
And so to ... 1938 (I warned you this would be all over the shop).
The Sèvres vase Gino Bartali won.
It apparently sold for $45k in 2015 ... to someone with more money than taste, I'd say.
Decidedly meh, in my book...
The Sèvres vase Gino Bartali won.
It apparently sold for $45k in 2015 ... to someone with more money than taste, I'd say.
Decidedly meh, in my book...
December 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
And so to ... 1938 (I warned you this would be all over the shop).
The Sèvres vase Gino Bartali won.
It apparently sold for $45k in 2015 ... to someone with more money than taste, I'd say.
Decidedly meh, in my book...
The Sèvres vase Gino Bartali won.
It apparently sold for $45k in 2015 ... to someone with more money than taste, I'd say.
Decidedly meh, in my book...