Good morning, and welcome back to The Leadout, specifically your regular weekly dose of analysis and opinion from me. As ever, do encourage your friends - and foes - to sign up, and if you have something to add, or quibble, email me - [email protected]. I really enjoyed hearing from so many of you about your cycling goals for 2024, and your antipathy to the Festive 500. It’s good to know when I’ve hit a productive seam.
The year 1848 has gone down in history as the year of revolutions. There were uprisings across Europe, from France to modern-day Romania, via what was then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Popular revolutions took place across Europe, and yet by the end of 1849, much of Europe was not changed as much as some wanted. As Christopher Clark, the author of a new history of that year, Revolutionary Spring, describes the actions that year - “churn and change without a settled direction of travel”.
