Cycling vs Football: Cycle Ball
Table of Contents
Cycle Ball, also known as "radball" in German, is a niche sport that combines football and cycling in a unique way.
The sport is played by two teams made up of two players riding a fixed gear bicycle with no brakes or freewheel, and trying to shoot a ball through their opponents' goal, using their heads, or the front wheels of the bikes.
Cycle Ball was invented in 1893, by a German-American named Nicholas Edward Kaufmann, and steadily gained popularity around Europe.
It is popular in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Switzerland.
The first Cycle Ball championship was held in 1929, with most successful players were the Pospíšil brothers of Czechoslovakia, world champions 20 times between 1965 and 1988.
Here is a clip of the unique sport from the 2010 UCI Cycle Ball World Cup in Kagoshima.
If you're interested to know more about this sport, please read this article by Oddity Central.
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| Belgian cycle-ball team in action at the World Championships in Japan Photo: Flickr |
The sport is played by two teams made up of two players riding a fixed gear bicycle with no brakes or freewheel, and trying to shoot a ball through their opponents' goal, using their heads, or the front wheels of the bikes.
Cycle Ball was invented in 1893, by a German-American named Nicholas Edward Kaufmann, and steadily gained popularity around Europe.
It is popular in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Switzerland.
The first Cycle Ball championship was held in 1929, with most successful players were the Pospíšil brothers of Czechoslovakia, world champions 20 times between 1965 and 1988.
Here is a clip of the unique sport from the 2010 UCI Cycle Ball World Cup in Kagoshima.
If you're interested to know more about this sport, please read this article by Oddity Central.
