Cycling Monuments 2025 is member of PelotonTales blogfamily, a project focusing on the cultural impact of road cycling competitions. The five Monuments, cycling’s most prestigious one-day races, and the centerpieces of this blog, embody the very themes this project seeks to examine.
Road cycling races, in general, have deeply rooted connection to their own histories brought to life through the riders competed them over the decades. Each race has it’s own mythology, built on the triumps and tragedies of legendary cyclists. The stories are passed down trough generations, creating a living history that shapes the identity of the races themselves.
The Monuments are among the oldest road cycling evens and represent an unbroken thread of cycling tradition. They are rich with stories of legendary riders, epic battles, and unexpected victories. The impact of them reaches beyond the actual competitions.
Unlike to the grand tours, or the less important multiple-stage races, the Monuments are using (almost) the same iconic route years after years, that creates a sensee of tradition and ritual. The largely unchanged elements of a particular historical one-day race are offering a direct link to the past, allowing modern-day participants to measure themselves against the legends who came before them.
Although Cycling Monuments 2025, obviously, is built around the five races
Milano-Sanremo
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Paris Roubaix
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Il Lombardia
to be held in 2025, the project intends to keep strong connection to the historical context of these events.
If you like road cycling hustory, you might like Vintage Road Cycling Stories blog (lart of PelotonTales family too). If you like to read a bit more about road cycling history in a broader historical-cultural context, please, subscribe to my Patreon.