Faces from the peloton: Victor Fontan (1892-1982)
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 (as did World … Read more
The toughest Tour de France stage ever
The 10th stage of Tour de France 1926 is often dubbed as the toughest stage ever in the history of the race. The 326 km long route between Bayonne and Luchon on the 6th July 1926 went down in history also as one of the most chaotic ones thanks to the extreme weather conditions in … Read more
Introducing Col du Tourmalet to Tour de France
It was a great moment and yet one of the weirdest situations in the history of Tour de France, when and, it seems to be more important, how the organisers decided to put Col du Tourmalet in the program. Crossed Tourmalet stop. Very good road stop. Perfectly passable. -stood in the telegram Alphonse Steinès sent … Read more
Most days in pink jersey
The pink jersey (maglia rosa) was introduced to the Giro d’Italia during the race in 1931.Learco Guerra (The Human Locomotive”) was the first rider to wear it.The top 11 riders with most days in pink jersey :Eddy Merckx 78 (1968,1969,1970,1972,1973,1974)Alfredo Binda 65 (1925,1927,1928,1929,1931,1933)Francesco Moser 50 (1976,1977,1979,1980,1981,1982,1984,1985)Giuseppe Saronni 48 (1979,1981,1983,1985,1986)Gino Bartali 42 (1936,1937,1939,1946,1947)Jacques Anquetil 42 (1959,1960,1961,1964,1967)Fausto … Read more
Every time Passo del Mortirolo was part of Giro d’Italia
Passo del Mortirolo, usually a mid-stage ascent, was introduced to Giro d’Italia in 1990. The first rider on the top was the Venezuelan Leonardo Sierra. There is a monument to Marco Pantani at 8 km from the top (from the side of Mazzo di Valtellina).Also, there is a special prize for the rider first atop, … Read more
Cyclists led the Giro d’Italia general classification from start to finish
There are only four riders who led the general classification of Giro d’Italia thtough the entire race. Although the number of days they spent in leadeship differs due to the different stucture of the race though the years. Costante Girardengo 1919 (10 stages) During the first edition of Giro d’Italia after World War I Girardengo … Read more