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 to achieve the elusive Giro-Tour double, a feat never before accomplished in cycling.
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 Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1952 Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 1964 Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1970 Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1972 Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1982 Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1985 Miguel Indurain (ESP) 1992 Miguel Indurain (ESP) 1993 Marco Pantani (ITA) 1998 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) 2024
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! Due to the system of how Tour de France was competed by national teams between 1930 and 1961, the spectators of the race witnessed Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali riding in the same team during the late 1940s and early 1950s. This situation sometimes put the diplomatic skills of team manager Alfredo Binda to the test. Before the 16th stage, Fiorenzo Magni led the general classification.… Read More »18 July 1949 – The epic breakaway of Coppi and Bartali
Tour de France 2023 presented a great gift for every road cycling history fans: after 35 years Puy de Dôme was reintroduced to the race. Although the 9th stage of Tour de France 2023 was only the 14th appearance of the ascent, it became one of the most iconic places in the history road cycling thanks mainly to the epic battle between Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor in 1964. Nestled in the heart of the Massif Central in central France, Puy de Dôme is a lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the Chaîne des Puys region. The ascent was introduced to Tour de France in 1952 and had frequent appearance until 1988.… Read More »Iconic Tour de France places: Puy de Dôme
There is a simple reason, why Alpe d’Huez was introduced to the Tour de France only in 1952, while the race visited the Alps since 1911 frequently: there is only one way up to the top, hence the stage must be finished there. But the concept of a hilltop finish wasn’t born yet. Indeed, the 10th stage in 1952, finishing on Alpe d’Huez was the first time in the history of Tour de France, when the riders crossed the finish line on the top of a climb and not in a town in a valley nearby. Thanks to the new experience, both for the riders and the audience, Alpe d’Huez became a big hit instantly.… Read More »Alpe d’Huez, the instant classic
Unlike the other two grand tours with a history started before the first world war, the first Vuelta a Espana was held in 1935. It was a spring race until the 1990s, right before (or sometimes almost at the same time as) the Giro d’Italia. Also, for almost two decades, it was really unpredictable, when the race will be held or not. It’s little wonder, that many of the biggest stars of the first half or the middle of the 20th century never competed Vuelta. But Fausto Coppi did. He participated the race in 1959 with his own Tricofilina-Coppi team and abandoned it only on the 15th stage (of a total of 17 stages). The… Read More »Fausto Coppi and the Vuelta a España
Gito d’Italia1940 started in the shadow of World War II. Even later winner of the race, Fausto Coppi was already called in the Italian army. But of course, on the 17th of May, at the beginning of the 28th Giro d’Italia nobody suspected that the 20 years old gregario of Gino Bartali would make road cycling history a few weeks later. It started with the bad luck of Bartali, who crashed during the second stage, while Coppi was able to ride with the leading group and finished second. Soon the hierarchy within the Legnano team changed. It was all about riding for Coppi’s success. Coppi was among the top riders in the general classification since… Read More »29 May 1940 Fausto Coppi’s first Giro d’Italia stage victory
The longest individual time trial at Giro d’Italia was a 81 km long stage between Peruggia and Terni on 25th May 1951. The stage was won by Fausto Coppi, who wasn’t entirely in the best shape, after he broke his collabone earlier in that spring. It took Coppi 2 hours 4 minutes and 15 seconds to complete the course. Behind him Louison Bobet finished 2nd and Hugo Koblet, who would make his famous long escape at the Tour de France a few weeks later, 3rd. Giro d’Italia 1951 was won by Fiorenzo Magni ahead of Rik Van Steenbergen and Ferdi Kübler. Coppi finished fourth.
Vitange cycling image of the day on PelotonTales: Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi in the Dolomites at Giro d’Italia 1940. Before Giro d’Italia 1940, Gino Bartali was already two-time Giro d’Italia (1936, 1937) and one-time Tour de France (1938) winner. He was the leader of the Legnano team in 1940, but had an ambicious and very talented young teammate, the 20 years old Fausto Coppi, who took the first place in the general classification in the 11th stage.
Between 1952 and 1988 Puy de Dôme was included into the program of Tour de France 13 times. Among the winners on the top are Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi, Federico Bahamontes Lucien van Impe, Luis Ocaña or Joop Zoetemelk. In fact, the two latter are those riders, who were able to win a Puy de Dôme stage twice. List of winners on the top of Puy de Dôme: 1952 Fausto Coppi 1959 Federico Bahamontes 1964 Julio Jimenez 1967 Felice Gimondi 1969 Pierre Matignon 1971 Luis Ocaña 1973 Luis Ocaña 1975 Lucien Van Impe 1976 Joop Zoetemelk 1978 Joop Zoetemelk 1983 Ange Arroyo 1986 Erich Maechler 1988 Johnny Weltz (Lead picture: Lucien Van Impe and Joop… Read More »Ocaña and Zoetemelk doubled on the top of Puy de Dôme