Weight Weenies

Does anyone remember WINNING magazine? while in the middle of recovering from 3 fractured bones in my foot, and being bored stupid, I decided to have a route in the understairs cupboard and to my delight discovered 28 editions of this wonderful mag. The copies are not in a complete series and range from March 1991 to September 1995.

I had forgotten how fantastic this publication was with some truly superb photography. I do remember back in those days that it was a bit of a hit and miss affair getting a copy from newsagents! hence not having complete year(s) Now I wonder why oh why I didn't make more of an effort to get hold of each copy and store them properly!! Many years and housemoves have passed since then, so I am glad that I have managed to preserve what I have. it is great to read some of the Pro bike write ups. for example Phil Anderson's Merckx Max (Motorola colours) weighing approx. 22lbs Ahh, nostalgia all the way.

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I have many copies of "WINNING" magazine...they will be handed down from generation to generation in my family.

Winning magazine was awesome. I remember their bike reviews which were always great to read-if you have the issue where they review the Litespeed Vortex, check it out. It was years before the carbon craze, and the Vortex was considered the best ride out there despite it's cost, which was I believe somewhere between $2-$2,500 bucks. Funny how back then that was pretty much the most expensive frame money could buy, and now just a few years later a high-end frame can run 3 times as much.


Winning magazine was also where I first heard of Lance Armstrong. It was fascinating it was to read about the exploits of the new American cycling sensation, before the hate set in...LOL!!!

I also remember the day when they unapologetically announced (after I had renewed my subscription) they were switching to a three or four times a year format covering triathlon exclusively.

What a bummer THAT was, and it was the last time I bothered to read it. Soon after it went out of business, and that was the end of that.

I sure remember my winning magazines and especially the great articles by John Wilcockson, sadly though i threw most of them out!

My brother used to buy Winning from time to time but I was too young to remember much about it.

One thing that sticks in my mind though was that the editor used to write a story each month and one in particular was entitled Half-Wheeler. It was just perfect, he met a guy on the road who insisted on keeping just that little bit ahead however hard the ed pushed. Anyone remember it? It would have been published in the mid 80s I reckon.

I remember winning magazine fondly. I was pretty young when I started buying it (~11) but I vividly remember their coverage of Armstrong winning the tour DuPont and pocketing 1 million (?) dollars (question mark because this is what I remember from the giant check he was holding but even today that seems really out there. Maybe I am off by a "0")

When I got my first VISA card, first thing I ordered were Cycle Sport and Winning.
Unfortunately I picked the time to do so just before they ceased to exist.

I never got my money back, I was so ignorant, I didn't know how to. (I've grown up in communist world)

But yeah, it seemed good enough to take a subscription out.
I think the one copy I have is what I bought in the UK before subscribing.

I have in my hands the only copy I have, October 1986 Greg Lemond on the cover Tour winning issue in pretty good condition.

520 Dan wrote:I vividly remember their coverage of Armstrong winning the tour DuPont and pocketing 1 million (?) dollars (question mark because this is what I remember from the giant check he was holding but even today that seems really out there. Maybe I am off by a "0")

This was 1995, and not 1996 (when Armstrong also won, and perhaps the purse increased?), but

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 68,1448294 wrote:Armstrong earned $40,000 from a $250,000 purse. But he also claimed $5,000 as the event's top climber, another $5,100 for his stage wins and nearly $2,000 more for his other stage finishes.

The Motorola team also earned $5,000, which will be combined with each team rider's earnings and divided equally.

HammerTime2 wrote:

520 Dan wrote:I vividly remember their coverage of Armstrong winning the tour DuPont and pocketing 1 million (?) dollars (question mark because this is what I remember from the giant check he was holding but even today that seems really out there. Maybe I am off by a "0")

This was 1995, and not 1996 (when Armstrong also won, and perhaps the purse increased?), but

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 68,1448294" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; wrote:Armstrong earned $40,000 from a $250,000 purse. But he also claimed $5,000 as the event's top climber, another $5,100 for his stage wins and nearly $2,000 more for his other stage finishes.

The Motorola team also earned $5,000, which will be combined with each team rider's earnings and divided equally.

He won $1M for the 1993 triple of the The Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburg, K Mart W. Virginia Classic & CoreState USPRO Nat Champs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qID2-hx- ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuHym6T ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FS78yC1 ... ure=relmfu

From the good old days when LA rode a proper season. Enjoy.

I think from memory the prize money LA could accept was $1mill over several years or an up front pmt of something like $600k...which he ended up accepting & distributing through the team...

Wingnut, you are correct.

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=3880 wrote:Thrift Drug offered a $1 million bonus to anyone who won all three races and it bought insurance for the prize money from Lloyd's of London. But the biggest payoff in the history of this sport wasn't exactly $1 million in small, unmarked bills.

Armstrong (or, more accurately, his Motorola team) could have taken $50,000 a year for 20 years, but will choose the alternative bonus, an immediate one-time payment of $600,000.

Following a common practice in professional cycling, Motorola pools its prize money. At year's end, the pool is shared by Motorola's 18 riders (eight raced here), with lesser shares to the team's two mechanics and five masseurs. So when the payoffs are made, Armstrong will probably emerge with $30,000 for this race.

Apparently my "vivid" memory is not as vivid as I thought

Here you go.

And thanks to Greg for getting me into cycling again as an adult.

A year or so ago I was idly trawling eBay when I came across the entire run of magazines including the Tour Update Papers. I didn't win the auction, much to my dismay, but on reflection the postage to the UK from the States would have crippled me!

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