You would never guess in what kind of stage the first Dutch Tour de France stage winner, Theo (Theofiel) Middelkamp (1914-2005) gained his victory. In a mountain stage in the Alps, including Télégraphe, Galibier and Lautaret. Considering that even in the early 1950s, when Wim van Est, the first Dutch cyclist to wear the yellow jersey crashed badly on Aubisque, there was lot of talk about his inexperience in high mountains because of coming from a country being predominantly flat, this seems to have been a great achievement for Middelkamp.
Nevertheless he was a strange figure. As a child, he wanted to be a footballer, but after realising, that he would earn significantly less money by that than by being a professional cyclist, he changed his mind. It sounds a bit strange for us, here in the 21st century, but at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and, as the the career of Middelkamp suggests, even a few decades later, cycling as professional sport had much bigger marketing value than football.
Theo Middelkamp rode Tour de France three times. In 1936 he won a hard stage in the Alps (see another post about that stage here) despite, apparently, never seeing high mountains before, and finished 23rd in the general classification. Next year he had to abandon the race, but a year later he came back and won a stage again. At the feet of the Pyrenees. He earned 5000 francs, but he would have earned much more if he would have participated in cycling events in Flanders (Belgium), so he never chose to ride Tour de France again. His famous quote was
I cannot live on fame and honour.
Money played a very important role in Middlekamp's mind. During World War II he earned it by smuggling. (He was caught and inprisoned for a short time) After the war he came back to racing and became the first Dutch World Champion in 1947.
He has retired from professional cycling in 1951.
Faces from the peloton: Olimpio Bizzi (1916-1976)
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
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
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 … Read more
Tour de France visits Turin (Tour de France 1956)
Although the first ever Italian Grand Depart of Tour de France will take place in 2024, the race visited Italy for plenty of times, usually during mountain stages in the Alps. Turin is one of the most visited Italian cities by Tour de France. In 1956, peloton made a trip to the place in 17th … Read more