Some of cycling’s most famous names and biggest brands gathered in London last week for the Rouleur Classic exhibition at Victoria House in Bloomsbury. Along with exciting products from some of the best bike and clothing manufacturers, there were head-turning displays spread throughout the venue. We pick some of our favourite exhibits:
1. Sean Kelly Collection
The undisputed highlight of the show for us was a scattering of trophies won by the great Irishman during his illustrious career: two Paris-Roubaix cobbles, two Milan-Sanremo trophies, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, two very different trophies from the Tour of Lombardy in 1983 and 1991, World Championships medals, yellow, green and red jerseys from the Tour de France… and this was just a fraction of what he must have at home.
2. Giro d’Italia trophy and pink jerseys
The Roubaix cobble is probably cycling’s most iconic trophy, but the Giro d’Italia surely has the most beautiful. It was on display to promote the 100th edition of the race in 2017, along with pink jerseys from the likes of Guiseppe Saronni, Miguel Indurain, Alberto Contador and more.
3. Zwift Experience Zone
You can’t be surrounded by cycling without being inspired to hop on a bike, and online platform Zwift bought the outside world indoors with a bank of bikes hooked up to smart trainers. Most impressively riders were hooked up to virtual reality headsets that put riders into the heart of the computer-generated action on the RideLondon and Richmond world championships' courses.
4. Grand Tour Heritage Collection
Bikes from some of the sport’s most celebrated riders, including Lucien Petit Breton’s old boneshaker, demonstrated just what those old heroes of the road used to put themselves through. Outlandish machines that transported Miguel Indurain and Chris Boardman hint at where bike design was going in the late eighties and early nineties, but their then futuristic frames now have a retro feel: the Concordes of bicycle design.
5. World Tour Collection
Peter Sagan’s S-Works, on which he won the 2015 Worlds, steals the show here — as outlandish and touched by flair as the man himself. Lizzie Deignan’s Worlds-winning bike from the same year was also there, along with the steeds that carried Greg Van Avermaet and Anna van der Breggen to Olympic glory in Rio this year.
6. Legends of the sport
There aren’t too many places where you’re going to stumble across Sean Kelly, Jan Ulrich and Steve Cummings chewing the fat of a Thursday evening. All three, and many more high-profile stars of the sport, also took part in Q&A sessions before a live audience in the Rouleur Classic Theatre.
