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5 Things that Happened Last Week

By Martin Winter

Another Monday is here and our news from the world of cycling with it! So what do you need to know?

It isn’t all dark and gloomy everywhere

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While most of us may be covered in fog pretty much all the time these days, John Watson certainly isn’t. Just look at the picture he took near Los Angeles. It is the place to go right now, isn’t it?

Tour du Mont Blanc

No matter how nice might an idea of a ride through the French, Swiss and Italian Alps sound, make no mistake. Tour du Mont Blanc is by far the toughest one-day race in the world. It’s 330 kilometres long and the ascent is over 8000 metres. Just the look at these figures is enough to make our legs scream: „NO WAY!“. And the video uploaded by James Mitchell is exactly about that. It follows the struggle of the unbelievably determined ex-rugby player and sports journalist Marcus Leach. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to finish the race afterall. But that doesn’t matter to us. He gave it his all and we all know how great that feels.

Way to go, Marcus!

Belgium knows its heritage

We all know, that cycling is the number one sport in Belgium. So no matter how exciting might the qualification for the 2016 European Championship in football be, the officials still have to keep the bikes in their mind. That is why they have paid homage to their rich heritage with the new apparel kit. It is practically the Belgian national champion’s jersey and it looks stunning. Well done, guys!

Bikes save lives!

Sandy Plenty was three years old when he was diagnosed with serious heart disease and was facing a heart transplant in the future. When he was eleven, doctors decided he shouldn’t do any competitive sports at all.

But a year later he decided to take a chance and grabbed his cousin’s bike. „I instantly fell in love with everything about it. I revisited hospital a few years later and was basically told, that thanks to mountain biking, there was no need for a transplant.“

Amazing, right? His heart eventually grew stronger. You just have to love cycling.

Heartfelt reactions to the terrorist attacks in Paris

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The whole world has been left in shock and deep sadness in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Friday 13th. Paris is a special place for the whole cycling community as it is the venue for the finale of the biggest race in the world, the Tour de France.

It was great to see swift and supportive responses from the biggest names in cycling. Once again they proved they aren’t the stars we all love just because they know how to pedal. They have big hearts too and that counts even more.

All of us at WeLoveCycling.com would like to join Alberto Contador and the others to say our thoughts are with the victims, their families, friends and everyone, who was affected.