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Zurich 2024: road races
If we look at the weather predictions it won’t be arctic during the Zurich 2024 road races. However, ice ages were pivotal in creating our parcours. Only a short while ago, geologically speaking, the race course was covered by hundreds of meters of ice. The advancing glaciers and melt water rivers made this course what…
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Zurich 2024: time trials
It’s time to race for the rainbow again. This year we do that in Zurich, Switzerland. Together with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the ETH, the university, in Zurich we look at the geology of the world championships courses. We start with the time trials on Sunday 22 September. We race along…
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The geology of Paris
We continue our summer series with the geology of Paris, and more specifically the geology of the Olympic Road Race. When the riders start to climb Butte Montmartre and Butte Belleville during the final kilometers of the Olympic Road Race, they won’t ask themselves why those hills are there. The only things going through their…
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Geology of the Tour of the Qinghai Lake
The geology of Qinghai Lake is not static. The same forces that shaped this incredible landscape are still at work.
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Geology of the Giro d’Italia
The first Grand Tour of the calendar year brings the peloton to Italy. Even more than in the other two grand tours, we can actually predict the type of stage winner from the geology. The climbers and puncheurs will win in Europe, and the sprinters in Africa. To explain this we bring you the geology…
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Geology of Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Normally you expect mountains and then rivers cutting through them creating climbs and valleys? Not in the geology of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
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Geology of the Amstel Gold Race
In the only true Dutch spring classic, riders enjoy the beautiful scenery of South Limburg during the Amstel Gold Race. The region is known for its hills. This makes it very suitable for a cycling race! Besides these differences in altitude, which are particularly large for the Netherlands and result in many sore legs, the…
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Geology of Paris-Roubaix
Geology can literally be found on the faces of the riders in Paris-Roubaix. We take you through the cycle of the dust.
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Geology of the Tour of Flanders
Not often is a quiet road big news but the land slide at the Paterberg ties geology and the Tour of Flanders together.
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Geology of Milan-Sanremo
We explore the geology of Milan-Sanremo with lost oceans, colliding continents plus a bit of risotto and wine.
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Geology of Il Lombardia
The geology of Il Lombardia brings us beautiful lakes, ancient oceans, and a mysterious creature in the water.
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Geology of the Vuelta a España
After the Tour de France we want to take you to Spain for the geology of the Vuelta a Espana that starts on Saturday 26 August in Barcelona. In general, there is a direct correlation between the geology of the Vuelta course and the winner of the stage. Stages leading through sedimentary basins – think…
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Geology of the Deutschland Tour
Germany has everything to offer for fans of both geology and cycling. While sediments are currently accumulating in the German Wadden Sea, the oldest rocks in Germany formed more than two billion years ago. In-between these two extremes, there are rocks and sediments that tell us a story about ice ages, sea level change, mountain…
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Geology of the Glasgow World Championships 2023
Can you imagine a world where Scotland and England are two different beasties? Geologically speaking, that is – we won’t get into any other debates, We promise! So, here’s the scoop: way back when, the Scottish Highlands and England were part of two ancient continents. Scotland was part of Laurentia which was North America and…
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