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Cycling in extreme weather

Fernando Manzaneque on the Col d'Iseran at the Tour de France 1963

Fernando Manzaneque on the Col d’Iseran (Tour de France 1963)

Snow at the Tour de France? Yes, it happens sometimes, especially, when the race visits such high places like Col d’Iseran in the Alps. In the 16th stage of Tour de France 1963, the peloton visited the Alps. It was a 202 km long stage between Grenoble and Val d’Isere, including Col de la Croix de Fer and Col d’Iseran. The Spaniard Fernando Manzaneque won the stage ahead of Enzo Fontona and Guy Epaud. The stages in the Alps in that year delivered and epic battle between Federico Bahamontes and Jacques Anquetil. The French rider has already won Vuelta a Espana a few weeks earlier and was about to win his 4th Tour de France.… Read More »Fernando Manzaneque on the Col d’Iseran (Tour de France 1963)

Belgian cyclist Hector Heusghem is refreshing himself with snow at the Tiur de France in 1923

Snow at Tour de France 1923

Snow at Tour de France is quite rare, but not impossible, as the image of Hector Heusghem at Tour de France 1923 proves. Belgian cyclist Hector Heusghem (1890-1982) was active as professional cyclist between 1912 and 1925. His best result at Tour de France was 2nd  position both in 1920 and 1921. In 1922 he took the yellow jersey  with 3 stage to go, but lost his led in the general classification after receiving a one-hour penality. MORE TOUR DE FRANCE IN THE 1920 [su_posts posts_per_page=”7″ tax_term=”454″ order=”desc”]

Iconic snow images at the Giro d'Italia Charly Gaul on the Monte Bondone 1956

Charly Gaul on the Monte Bondone (Giro d’Italia 1956)

Cycling in extreme weather: Charly Gaul on the famous stage 20 up to Monte Bondone at the Giro d’Italia 1956   Race director Vincenzo Torriani was asked to cancel the stage due to the rough weather conditions were forecasted. But he declined it, he may have thought, this could make the unexciting race exciting again. It was a cold and rainy day,  the rider were unprepared and underdressed, and the race director was asked again to finish the race earlier, at least a bit earlier than the original plan. The snow started to fall and the temperatures dropped. 60 riders abandoned the race, meanwhile stage winner Charly Gaul jumped from 11th to 1st in the… Read More »Charly Gaul on the Monte Bondone (Giro d’Italia 1956)