Conquista 19 - Digital Download

From the iconic style of Team Peugeot to the eye-watering bulges of Lycra Dad; from the back of the pack at Red Hook Crit Brooklyn to the front of the field at the Isle of Man Youth Tour; from the dirty brown roads of Strade Bianche to the clean, green hills of Itzulia; from Jordan to the Cape to Girona, it really is Conquista’s world.

Ride through it with us in the all-new issue 19. Available now.

An old friend, recently diagnosed with lung cancer, asked Conquista editor Trevor Gornall to join him on the Cape Town Cycle Tour to raise money for cancer charities. Events organiser HotChillee were running their Cape Rouleur Festival Ride at the same time, and invited Trevor to join the final stage. With two fantastic South African events to look forward to, he set off for Australia, to ride from Sydney to Brisbane with his expat brother. Everything was set for a great, globetrotting 2018. But then some terrible news turned everything upside down.

Trevor explores life, loss and the love of the bike in Cape of Hope.

First seen on the road in 1901, and featuring greats of the sport from Hippolyte Aucouturier to Tom Simpson and Eddy Merckx, the Peugeot team dominated the glory years of professional road cycling. And they did so – some of the time, anyway – in one of the truly iconic cycling jerseys.

Holly Blades tells the tale of the tailoring in Threads of History: Peugeot.

What does it mean to come second? To cross the finish line after 3,000 km knowing that you’re first loser and second is nowhere? That your name is already effaced from the record along with that of every domestique who never had a hope of pulling on the yellow jersey? 

Suze Clemitson explores the lot of The Eternal Seconds, from Raymond Poulidor (above), runner-up in the Tour de France three times, to ‘Adrie’ van der Poel, 5 times second-place finisher in the World Cyclo-Cross Championships.

After four decades shooting the world’s most beautiful bike races, Graham Watson hung up his lenses for the last time at the start of last season. Now retired to New Zealand, he spoke to Russell Jones about his Life on the Road.

Liverpool Century Road Club was running desperately short of young riders - and so fearing for its future. A group of parents formed an official youth section with a plan to attract more members, and set themselves the target of one day taking a team to the Isle of Man Youth Tour, a three-day stage race for riders between 8 and 15. In 2018 they achieved their goal.

Andy Stewart tells the full, heartwarming story in Century Back On Tour. WARNING: you may get something in your eye while reading.

With its never-ending green hills, its long list of great riders and perhaps the most passionate and respectful fans in the world, the Basque country is one of the historic homes of pro cycling. Its profile has slipped since the demise of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, but now it’s on the way back, with a new Pro Continental team in the form of Euskadi-Murias and the rebranded and re-energised week-long stage race, Itzulia Basque Country. Marcos Pereda reports from the heart of the action in Where The Words Sound Sweet.

In a sport supposedly built on century-old tradition, it comes as a surprise to see one of the season’s youngest races, Strade Bianche – a mere 12 editions old – leave such a lasting impression on riders and fans alike. The race may not have an established history, or a long list of winners – so what’s its secret?

Matthew Bailey digs deep in Terroir Vision, while Chris Auld provides some spectacular images from this year’s edition.

We all know them. Some of us – go on, admit it – are them. Chugging around the park, or trundling along the lanes, in expensive skintight outfits that, sadly, leave nothing to the imagination. They (we) are the Lycra Dads. Now Lycra Dad has been immortalised in verse by Murray Lachlan Young.    

Despite being a bike-riding father-of-two, Jürgen Ignatzy is not your average Lycra Dad. For one thing, he’s a former top-level water polo player. For another, he decided to forego the usual local sportive and instead take on the challenge of the 2018 Red Hook Crit Brooklyn – probably the craziest bike race in the world. We liked the idea so much we provided his kit. Editor Trevor Gornall tells how Team Conquista got on among cycling’s coolest kids in Rubber Side Down.  

Elsewhere we have a Postcard from Jordan, courtesy of Tom Owen, and The Peloton Brief give us more of their Briefings, direct from pro cycling central in Girona.