Cycling grand tours in 2024

In 1954, Louison Bobet entered the Tour de France as the reigning champion, carrying with him not only the weight of his title but also the hopes of an entire nation. The French public was eager to witness the rise of a new era in cycling, one marked by the dominance of a great French… Read More »Louison Bobet leading the group of favourites on the Aubisque (Tour de France 1954)

The Col d’Aubisque is a true veteran among the iconic ascents of the Pyrenees, steeped in cycling history and tradition. This legendary climb has been a fixture in the Tour de France since 1910, when the race ventured into the high mountains for the very first time.

Although Tour de France started outside Paris for the first time in 1926, race organizers used the good old concept to start the event in Paris even during the subsequent years. Only after World War II became a custom to start Tour de France elsewhere in France. And in 1954 the race witnessed its first… Read More »The start of Tour de France 1932

Col du Galibier is one of the oldest participats among the ascents the peloton of Tour de France used to climb in the Alps. It was already part the program of the 1911 edition when the race visited the Alps for the very first time.     In 1936, Col du Galibier, alongside with Thélégraphe… Read More »Fédérico Ezquerra on the Galibier (Tour de France 1936)

Mont Ventoux was introduced to Tour de France in 1951 (one year earlier than Alpe d’Huez and Puy de Dôme). At the first three occasions (1951, 1954 and 1955) the peloton crossed the top during  mid-race, the first summit finish was organized only in 1958. The 11th stage of the 1955 Tour de France began… Read More »Louison Bobet on Mont Ventoux (Tour de France 1955)

Felice Gimondi’s cycling career is remembered for his remarkable ability to compete at the highest level during the same era as the legendary Eddy Merckx, widely regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Despite Merckx’s dominance, Gimondi achieved numerous significant victories, including all three Grand Tours—Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta… Read More »What is in your bag? (Felice Gimondi and Eddy Merckx 1967)

The 1949 Tour de France marked a high point in the legendary rivalry between two Italian cycling icons, Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi. Bartali had already claimed two Tour victories (1938 and 1948), while Coppi, though a three-time Giro d’Italia champion (1940, 1947, 1949), was making his Tour debut. Determined to make history, Coppi aimed… Read More »Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali during Tour de France 1949

A cyclist running while carrying his bike on his shoulder. Surely, you’ve seen this vintage cycling image several times. Now it’s time to learn a bit more about the protagonist of the picture. Victor Fontan (1892-1982) in the Faces from the peloton series of PelotonTales blog. A local rider World War I, like World War… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Victor Fontan (1892-1982)

In the year when Giro d’Italia organizers decided to pay Alfredo Binda for not to participate the race, a 21-year-young neo-pro rider, Luigi Marchisio had the chance of his lifetime in the Legnano team. And that’s it. This is pretty much his story, because besides winning the Giro d’Italia in 1930, he had very few… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Luigi Marchisio (1909-1992)

The youngest Giro-stage winner ever, Olimpio Bizzi (1916-1976) was active as professional cyclist between 1936 and 1952. Practically, he was racing in the shadow of the greatest generation of Italian cyclists, including Learco Guerra, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, or Giorenzo Magni Nevertheless, Bizzi had his own successes during his career. Besides some minor one-day race… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Olimpio Bizzi (1916-1976)

Thank you for being a devoted reader of PelotonTales. You are the reason why it’s worth spending so many hours to create new content and trying to improve this website. If you would show appreciation to my work, please consider supporting the blog with a small donation. Thank you! Raymond Delisle was one of those… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Raymond Delisle (1943-2013)

Fausto Coppi was the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year (1949) In 2024, 26 years after Marco Pantani’s double victory, Tadej Pogacar managed to win both Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year. The list of the riders Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1949… Read More »Giro d’ Italia -Tour de France doubles

You might wonder which Tour de France edition was the slowest and wich one the fastest. Here you have the answer. The slowest Tour de France was the 13th edition, held between 29th June and 27 July in 1919. The 5560 km long route of the race was  divided into 15 stages. (And it wasn’t… Read More »The slowest and the fastest Tour de France

During its 120-year long history, it happened only three times, when the peloton of Tour de France did not includ any previous winner. Obviously, in 1903 there couldn’t be any, because it was the very first edition. In 1927, it seems to have been a generational change in the peloton of Tour de France. Several… Read More »Tour de France editions without previous winners in the peloton

Alfredo Binda, the second Campionissimo, the big star of the 1920s hold several records. Two of them are the most victories and also the most consecutive victories in a single race. What’s really astonishing is that he achieved these successes during two different editions of Giro d’Italia. In 1927 Binda managed to win 12 stages… Read More »Most stage victories and consecutive stage victories in a single Giro d’Italia