The United Kingdom broke a new record: three cyclists from this nation triumphed in the three great competitions of world cycling

With the culmination of the 73rd Tour of Spain a few days ago, world cycling has a new historical record in its books. This is the overall record achieved by Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates, who without reaching an agreement between them became brand new champions of the so-called big three of the year.

Leer en español: Froome, Thomas y Yates: ¡Un nuevo récord en el ciclismo mundial!

This is a milestone that, with different names, had never been reached before by the same nation. It is important to understand that road cycling is a discipline that dates back hundreds of years, which is why it is practically impossible to find new brands. For this, here I will analyze in detail this feat and above all some other impressive records similar to what was achieved by the British trio.

The competition

Undoubtedly, the feat is admirable from any point of view. In the first place, because it was not easy, starting with Froome, which was utterly thrown during the whole Tour. Finally, thanks to a spectacular last week, he was able to defeat Tom Dumoulin, the last champion of the event.

After this came the Tour. When it was thought that Froome would complete his fifth Tour de France in a row, with his forces dwindling, there appeared the figure of the almighty gregarious Geraint Thomas, also a member of the Sky team and who took over the yellow jersey and sang victory in Paris.

But, as pointed out by the specialized portal La Noticia, the title perhaps best worked and that consolidated this milestone was that of Simon Yates, who arrived at the Tour of Spain after his resounding defeat at the Giro and at 26 year old he won the first major of his career as a professional

The why?

Although in cycling it is difficult to analyze the reason of some registers, an analysis of Noticias Navarra indicates that the hegemony of the United Kingdom in recent times is certainly due to the biotype of the corridors of this nation. They are far from being as strong as the champions of a few years ago, but clearly they are not as small and short as the Latin American climbers.

"The victories of Great Britain correspond perhaps to the new prototype of winner of great laps that abounds in the United Kingdom: rather tall and rather skinny, light climber and that by his long legs does not give much time in the chronographs, important factor for win this type of competition," explains Noticias Navarra accurately.

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More British records

While the British feat is in achieving the titles followed, its history does not end there. We must also remember that with the victory of Yates, five conquests in the line for this country are completed, thanks to the fact that Froome himself won the 2017 Tour de France and Tour of Spain that same year.

Thus, five big ones are added consecutively and they leave the table served so that in the Giro of 2019, to win another one born in the land of Queen Isabel II, to continue expanding the legend.

History of glory

Although never before in the same calendar three different runners and of a same country had obtained consecutive victories, yes there are several registries worthy to stand out of other times, that without a doubt have borders of legends.

As highlighted by the Spanish portal Mundo Deportivo, one of the best-known stories of greatness dates from 1903 to 1908, when the Tour de France only played as a great race, and in which they won during five consecutive French editions. Maurice Garin, Henri Comet, Louis Trousselier and the last two Lucien Petit-Breton, were those first five champions.

Similarly, referring to Mundo Deportivo, in addition to Great Britain, Italy and France also chained once five consecutive wins in tests of three weeks.

Italy did it between 1924 and 1926, when the Tour of Spain was still not contested, with three Giro in which they beat Giuseppe Enrici, Alfredo Binda and Giovanni Brunero, and two Tours de France that Ottavio Bottecchia added. For its part, France achieved it between 1963 and 1964. Four of them won by Jacques Anquetil, two Tours, a Tour of Spain and a Giro, and a Tour of Spain in which Raymond Poulidor won.

LatinAmerican Post | Freddy González

Translated from "Froome, Thomas y Yates: ¡Un nuevo récord en el ciclismo mundial!"

* The opinion of the editor does not represent the average

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