It was a big year for British cycling, and a big year for our website. Here are the 10 online stories that sparked the most interest in 2012...
10. Ferrari should be ashamed of Giro sprint, says Cavendish
May 7
Mark Cavendish's 2012 Giro d'Italia campaign started well with a win on the opening road stage. Next day, Italian sprinter Roberto Ferrari veered across the road during the sprint, taking out Cavendish and race leader Taylor Phinney. Cav was not happy.
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9. British track bikes available for sale
August 7
British Cycling advertised that replicas of the GB track bikes would be put on sale - price unknown - in order to adhere to a UCI ruling. We're still not sure that anyone actually bought one.
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8. Schleck criticises 'boring' Tour de France
July 15
Luxembourger Frank Schleck struggled during the Tour, but had enough energy to comment that the race was dull - largely due to the amount of time trials. He subsequently tested positive for xipamide during the race.
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7. Froome explains his attack on La Toussuire
July 12
Chris Froome's apparent attack on team-mate Wiggins on La Toussuire during stage 11 of the Tour caused gasps among fans. Froome explained it was all just a bit of a misunderstanding.
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6. Wiggins lashes out after doping accusations
July 8
Wiggins made history at the 2012 Tour by becoming the first person to ever use the C word in a post-stage press conference. He added the F, S and W words for good measure after being questioned about doping.
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5. Top five alternative Olympic road race viewing spots
May 29
With Box Hill cordoned off from the great unwashed, many people were left wondering where to watch the Olympic road race. We provided five alternative spots to view the action.
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4. Sky to release Cavendish for free
October 1
Cav's itchy feet after missing out on the green jersey at the Tour caused gossip overdrive at the end of the season. We kept on top of the Manxman's team transfer news.
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3. Tour of Britain 2012 route revealed
April 26
This year's edition of the ToB was its most popular yet, with legions of fans lining the roadsides to bask in the post-Tour, post-Olympic glow and catch sight of their cycling heroes.
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2. Olympic road race route officially revealed
February 10
Interest in the exact details of one of the few ‘free to view' Olympic events caused much anticipation. We'd released details of the route earlier, but this article contained official confirmation of the London 2012 circuit.
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1. Wiggins' UKSI Olympic bike
July 27
We grabbed Wiggins' London 2012 road bike and took a series of detailed photos. Although we'd stop short of calling it a beauty, the unbranded feast of carbon fibre created so much interest that it was our most-read news article of the year.
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