Before the war, Alavoine finished in Top3 of Tour de France twice, both in 1909 and 1914 he was 3rd in general classification. After the war he had even better results, three 2nd place in 1919 1922 and 1923. It was Tour de France 1922, when he came closest to the yellow jersey, he wore it for 5 days. Unfortunately, bad luck prevented him to win the race, after his chain broke several times in the 11th stage.
Nevertheless, when it came to mountain stages, he was usually very active. He achieved most of his stage victories in the Pyrenees, like the one in the 6th stage in 1922. (Even in 1909, before Tour de France visited the high mountains he won a stage in this region.)
Jean Alavoine won a total of 17 Tour de France stages during his career.
Only seven cyclists have a better result than him.
He was one of the first riders, who had success both at Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. In 1920, he won 3 stages and managed to finish the Giro in 3rd place in the general classification.
After abandoning Tour de France in 1924, Alavoine had retired from professional racing. But from time to time he attended cycling races. It was one of those events where he had an accident and died in 1943.
Faces from the peloton category on PelotonTales blog focuses on cyclists lesser known by the wider public despite their successful career, or riders with a unique story, or just being immortalized by an epic cycling image. Please take a look at other articles in this category.
Also, PelotonTales provides plenty of fascinating and/or unbelievable cycling stories from the first half of the 20th century.
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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
Cyrille Van Hauwaert (Faces from the peloton)
Cyrille Van Hauwaert (1883-1974) was one of the most successful Belgian cyclist in the pre -WW1 era. His story began like a folktale. The big and strong Flemish farm boy, who didn’t speak French arrived in the office of the La Française team’s directeur sportif, Pierre Pierrard two days before Paris-Roubaix in 1907. Van Hauwaert … Read more
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
Faces from the peloton: Hippolyte Aucouturier (1876-1944)
Although the idea of a French cyclist in a striped shirt might seem like a little bit of a cliché, sometimes stereotypes are carrying quite much truth in themselves. Just take a look at Hippolyte Aucouturier! One of the most iconic characters from the early days of road cycling races. Nevertheless, he was not only … Read more
Faces from the peloton: Raymond Delisle (1943-2013)
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5 facts about Tour de France 1903
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Who were the smoking cyclists at Tour de France 1927
The smoking cyclists of Tour de France 1927 is one of the most famous vintage cycling images from the heydays of road cycling races. It’s popular because it conveys a certain aspect of the many differences between our time and the life hundred years ago. The dissonance between our 21st-centurian knowledge that smoking is very … Read more
The toughest Tour de France stage ever
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The grumpy cyclist with the broken bicycle – Giusto Cerutti at Tour de France 1928
Giusto Cerutti (1903-1993) had at least one bad day at the Tour de France in 1928.We don’t know much about the grumpy cyclist with the broken bicycle. But one thing is sure, he is the unlucky (anti)hero of one of the most searched vintage cycling images on the internet.According to ProCyclingStats, Cerutti abandoned the race … Read more
Climbing Col d’Allos at Tour de France 1914 -Vintage cycling image of the day
Tour de France 1914 started on the same day, 28th June, as the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated in Sarajevo. When the riders lined up in the middle of the nigh for the start of the first stage in Paris, they knew nothing about that this day … Read more
- If Mark Cavendish would succeed next year, he would break this record either. He celebrated his first stage victory in 2008. [↩]