The Wolf Pack immortalized in film, LeMond gets another medal and Happy Holidays

For all its traditional sleepiness, December has gifted the cycling world with much to discuss in recent weeks. Among the notable news drops have been team name changes (Sunweb to DSM), big-signings (Cav heading back to Quickstep after one not-so-good year with Bahrain McLaren), ISN naming the first female sports director for a men’s WorldTour team and the release of new road bars from Dutch aero specialist, Speeco. The tension mounts for a COVID-less 2021 pro season, indeed.

In other news, the release of a slow-moving yet still insightful bit of cinema about Quickstep’s emotions, pain, joy, and the dejection experienced during the biggest bike race on the planet has been released on Endurance SportsTV. It picks up where the Netflix Movistar doc left off, serving up insider access to pro team dynamics, but instead following the team in a compressed space of only three weeks.

While lacking in polish and energy at times, Alaphilippe and Bennett fans will enjoy watching, perhaps during a winter Zwift, as both grapple with a cut-throat peloton in which winning becomes an increasingly complex patchwork they both try to figure out. Subscribe and watch it here.

Separately, TDF champ Greg LeMond can now add "Congressional Gold Medal Recipient" to his palmeres. Late last week, POTUS signed a bill awarding LeMond the Congressional Gold Medal, making him only the 10th American athlete to be so honoured.

LeMond (ever the tech pioneer) recently re-launched his eponymous bike brand with two models of lightweight carbon fibre eBikes. He remains America’s foremost bike racer, taking the Tour in 1986, and made a dramatic comeback with his 1989 win following a long recovery from a hunting accident. For decades, he has pushed new technology and innovation, from his early adoption of aerodynamic tech during the height of his career to his current ventures with LeMond Bikes and LeMond Carbon, working to bring new rapid carbon manufacturing technology to market and manufacturing to the US.

Lastly - while we still have a couple bits of content to publish later in 2020, I want to thank everyone still reading this for visiting the site in the last 52 weeks.

The cycling community - including companies like Giro, Rapha, Ridley, Shimano, Absolute Black, Vitti Cycling, Ortlieb, Restrap, Silca, Specialized, Scott, 100%, 7mesh, Castelli, Q36.5 and so many others - have supported HNH with product, commentary and most importantly, their time. All of it is massively appreciated, as is the spikes in traffic we’ve seen throughout this most strange year.

More Hairpins ahead in 2021. Enjoy the festive 500, be that inside or out, and see you in the New Year.