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Italian two-time Tour de France winner and one of the greatest legends Gino Bartali climbing the Alps at Tour de France 1937

7 July 1937 Gino Bartali takes the yellow jersey for the very first time

Gino Bartali was already a two-time Giro d’Italia winner (1936 and 1937) when he first entered Tour de France in the summer of 1937.The years before World War II witnessed the growing political-military tension in Europe. In 1936, the year when Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles (1919) by sending troops into the demilitarized Rhineland, Germany and Italy boycotted Tour de France. But in 1937 they were back again. Fascist leaders are usually obsessed with sport successes, and the prototype of all  modern fascists leaders, Benito Mussolini was not different. He wanted an Italian Tour de France victory. ((At this time, Italy had already a Tour de France winner cyclist, two-time champion (1924 and 1925)… Read More »7 July 1937 Gino Bartali takes the yellow jersey for the very first time

Drinking cyclist, smoking cyclist, grumpy cyclist, Tour de France funny images

Smoking cyclists and other funny Tour de France images

The good old days of road cycling races oroved plehty of funny Tour de France images. For our 21st-cemturian eyes and mind, of course, cycling rsces in tge 1920s and 1930s seem so different. Maybe a bit less professional? Not exaclty. Let’s just stick to the word different. Different roads. Different bikes. Different type of athletesnto ride them. If you like PelotonTales blog, you can support it with a small donation  Thank you for your support!  ! Living the high life in the mountains Fernand Moulet is one of the cyclists who is immortalized by only one iconic cycling image. He was a French rider and participated at the Tour de France in the 1920s. … Read More »Smoking cyclists and other funny Tour de France images

Raymond Poulidor Tour de France 1965 Mont Ventoux

6 July 1965 Raymond Poulidor’s victory on Mont Ventoux

This was the 14th stage of that year’s Tour de France. A 173 km long route from Montpelier to the top of the Mont Ventoux. With his victory, Poulidor jumped up to the second place, but Felice Gimondi, who gained the yellow on the 9th stage (Aubisque, Tourmalet), remained in the leading position till the end of the race.

4 July 1969 Eddy Merckx’s first ever Tour de France stage victory

It was the 133 km long 6th stage from Mulhouse to the Ballon d’Alsace at the Tour de France 1969, when Eddy Merckx celebrated his first Tour de France stage victory. Although Merckx was a Tour de France debutant in 1969, the peloton already knew him very well. He already won the Giro d’Italia (1968) and several one-day classics (including 4 of the 5 monuments).

The first Tour de France started on the 1July 1903

1 July 1903 The first Tour de France started

The first Tour de France was held between 1 and 18 July 1903, included only 6 stages. (However, the complete route was 2428 km long.)60 riders started and 21 finished the race.The fist Tour de France was won by Maurice Garin.  

Mark Cavendish at the Tour de France in 2021

Waiting for Mark Cavendish’s recordbreaking 35th victory? These are the stages with (possible) classic bunchsprints

Currently, Mark Cavendish and Eddy Merckx are sharing the top position of the list of riders with the most Tour de France victories. Both cyclists have 34 stage victories, but Cavendish still has the chance to be sole leader of this list. Take a look at the stages, where Cavendish has a chance to win. 3th stage 3 july 2023 Amorebieta-Etxano – Bayonne 187, 4 km    

Cyclists crossing a town during the Tour de France in 1914

28 June 1914 – Last Tour de France before World War I started

On the 28th of June 1914,  Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated. A month later the First World War broke out. When the peloton of the 12th Tour de France  rolled out from Paris in the early morning on the same day, the cyclists were, of course not aware of what would happen few hours later  in Sarajevo, and that it would change the life of many of them. The first stage, a 388 km long etap between Paris and Le Havre was won by Philippe Thys, the future winner of that edition. The race ended on the  26th of July, just only few days before the war started. World War I… Read More »28 June 1914 – Last Tour de France before World War I started

Ottavio Bottecchia

26 June 1923 Ottavio Bottecchia’s first stage victory at Tour de France

It started with a new business opportunity. After the years of La Sportive consortium, the usual structure of sponsored teams returned to Tour de France in 1923. Automoto, the team of Pelissier brothers has some commercial interest in Italy, they were searching for more Italian cyclists in the team. They hired several riders, but only one of them arrived right in time for the start of Tour de France. He was Ottavio Bottecchia,  a ” bricklayer of Friuli”,  as he would be dubbed later, a  rider just turned pro one year earlier. He knew only a few words in French: “No bananas, lots of coffee, thank you.” ((” Pas de bananes, beaucoup café, merci.” Quoted… Read More »26 June 1923 Ottavio Bottecchia’s first stage victory at Tour de France

Swiss cyclist Ferdinand Kübler crosses the finish line at the Tour de France on 25th June 1947

On this day: 25 June 1947 – Ferdy Kübler wins the first Tour de France stage after World War II

The last edition of Tour de France before the World War II broke out was in 1939, which was followed by an eight year long hiatus. Next time the international peloton (without German and Italian riders) came together to participate in the most famous cycling race of the world was during the summer of 1947. The first etap was a 236 km long plain stage between Paris and Lille, which was won by the Swiss rider (later, in 1950 a Tour de France winner himself) Ferdy Kübler.