{"id":152226,"date":"2017-06-26T09:28:08","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T09:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=152226"},"modified":"2017-06-26T11:05:08","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T11:05:08","slug":"love-bicycle-race-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2017\/06\/26\/love-bicycle-race-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"We Love: Bicycle Race by Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"

By 1977, Queen were arguably the biggest rock band in the world thanks to international hits like Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, We Are The Champions, and We Will Rock You.<\/strong>
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To record their next album, Queen moved to France for inspiration and produced one of the most iconic cycling songs ever. In fact, so iconic that Tour de France sponsors \u0160koda\u00a0are using Bicycle Race to evoke all the joys of cycling \u2013 have a look at why.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Freddie Mercury was no stranger to political lyrics and metaphors, but Bicycle Race has a surreal edge that\u2019s odd, even by Queen\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n

Legend has it that Mercury was inspired by the Tour de France peloton flying past his hotel window \u2013 the sudden and striking appearance of the peloton before they leave is reflected in the structure of the song.<\/p>\n

Fat bottomed girls<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bicycle Race was released as a double A-side with Fat Bottomed Girls, and Queen went full rock\u2019n\u2019roll with the promotion of the singles. Queen staged an all-female bicycle race around Wimbledon Stadium, just to make sure they grabbed the attention of the press.<\/p>\n