Ten years. And if I add two more – my own visits to Rouleur Live – the count becomes even more personal. The 10th edition of the show, held in mid-November, coincided with the 20th anniversary of the magazine from which it all began. Numbers that, more than simply adding up years and editions, speak of how Rouleur has helped shape cycling culture.
This year, inside the Truman Brewery – a repurposed industrial complex in east London now used for cultural and creative events – before making my way upstairs into the venue where Rouleur Live unfolds, I have the opportunity, along with all other visitors, to explore an exhibition that traces the evolution of the magazine and intertwines it with that of the champions and their bicycles. The display, set against a black backdrop, was minimal and elegant, with lighting that highlighted the shapes and colours of the bikes. It was an intimate, suspended atmosphere in which every object became a story, accompanied by riders’ words on the walls and striking, evocative photographs.
It’s in this space that I come across the bike Mathieu Van der Poel used to win the 2025 Amstel Gold Race. Next to it, as in any museum, a panel recounts the famous finale of the 2019 Amstel Gold Race – when, with six kilometres to go, and seemingly out of contention, Van der Poel first caught a chasing group and then the breakaway leaders, storming onto the finishing straight with an acceleration that rewrote the ending of the race. That day – the panel noted – the rider destined to dominate the Classics found his definitive consecration, aboard the second generation of the Canyon Aeroad in the colours of the Dutch national champion. Since then, the Aeroad has become the symbol of his achievements on the road, after accompanying him also in cyclo-cross, mountain biking and gravel – disciplines in which Van der Poel had already showcased his extraordinary talent.
Next to the Canyon sits a Pinarello Bolide F TT. Here too, a display panel transported me straight back into some of cycling’s recent history. Originally developed solely for Team Sky in 2013, the Bolide entered cycling history two years later when Sir Bradley Wiggins used the HR version to set a new Hour Record. The Bolide F TT on show is the very bike Filippo Ganna rode to claim silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics. I pause to read the panel carefully: this bike is described as a full-carbon missile engineered with aerodynamics as its sole purpose. Its frame features 'AirStream' surface textures that trim drag by more than 2% compared with the Bolide HR. Slimmer fork blades, greater tyre clearance and refined “AirFoil” shaping all work together to help it cut through the air at unprecedented speed.
A few steps further and I find myself standing before the bicycle on which Mark Cavendish claimed his historic 35th stage victory at the Tour de France. After matching Eddy Merckx’s record – 34 Grande Boucle stage wins – in Carcassonne in 2021, Cavendish rewrote cycling history by finally surpassing that milestone. In a chaotic bunch sprint in Saint-Vulbas on stage five of the 2024 Tour de France, the British champion captured his 35th win, the most symbolic and prestigious of them all, riding his Wilier Filante SLR.
This is the bike on which a sporting achievement was written – one that stirred deep emotion among cycling fans. It’s the kind of moment that recalls what we feel when our favourite rider crosses a decisive finish line, wins a race they’ve chased throughout their career, or surprises everyone with an unexpected exploit. When you think back to moments like these, closing your eyes is enough to bring back the familiar voice of the TV commentator that accompanied them on screen.
The same thing is happening to me now. The speakers placed throughout this space – where Rouleur’s iconic covers mark the passing of time – play the voices of commentators recounting some of the most important moments in cycling history. And of course, this moment could not be missing from that soundtrack.
The final bicycle on display is the one Geraint Thomas rode to win the 2018 Tour de France. Once again, a black background with white lettering throws me right back into the heart of cycling history. It explains that after twenty-one stages and more than 2,000 miles of racing, Geraint Thomas secured victory at the 2018 Tour de France. At 32, he became only the third Briton – and the first Welshman – to claim the yellow jersey. The Pinarello Dogma F10 is the bike that carried him to cycling legend status in that remarkable year.
Thomas’s Dogma F10 was among the last rim-brake bikes to triumph in the sport’s greatest event (Egan Bernal’s Dogma in 2019 and Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago V3Rs in 2020 were the final ones). The retired Welsh rider’s machine was built for pure racing efficiency and meticulously engineered weight savings: its Torayca T1100G carbon frame brought it close to the UCI’s 6.8 kg minimum. Equipped with a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, a 53/39 chainset paired with an 11-30 cassette, and an aerodynamic one-piece cockpit, it was designed to climb and to win – a fact confirmed by his back-to-back stage victories on the road to the yellow jersey.
Inside this space there is also the Trofeo Senza Fine, which – as the organisers of the Giro d’Italia describe it – represents “the victory, the champion, the hero” of the race. Introduced in 1999 and awarded to the winner of the Corsa Rosa from 2000 onward, this iconic trophy weighs around 10kg and is made of gold-plated brass.
Before stepping outside, I pause in front of one quote in particular – among those spoken by champions and influential figures from the cycling world, printed on the walls around me and framed in circles that feel like portholes opening onto another world. The one that resonates with me the most is by Jean Bobet: “The voluptuous pleasure that cycling can give you is delicate, intimate and ephemeral,” published in Issue 12 of Rouleur.
Everything is ephemeral – but this exhibition is something that will stay with me.
