Re-Cycle: The cycling history podcast

Abdel-Kader Zaaf: The trailblazing Algerian who rose above racism to outsmart and out-earn his legendary contemporaries

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Episode notes

Sunstroke and a bottle of wine made Abdel-Kader Zaaf a household name at the 1950 Tour after he passed out on his bike then, in a daze, rode back towards the peloton. A year later, the Algerian trailblazer finished last after launching the move that ended the grieving Fausto Coppi’s bid for yellow. Felix Lowe remembers a man who blurred the lines between myth and reality, between patronising praise and casual racism.

Re-Cycle is narrated by Graham Willgoss, and produced by Pete Burton.