Winner of the race, Léon Scieur was taught how to ride a bike by his neighbour, Firmin Lambot (Tour de France winner 1919 and 1922) at the age of 28.
Honoré Barthélemy was one of the favourites of the race, but a series of punctures (around a dozen times) put him out of the competition for the yellow yersey.
At the age of 38, Lucien Pothier, the 2nd of Tour de France 1903 attended the race for the very last time. He finished 32nd.
For the very first time, foreign press organizations were invited to the race. They followed the events in their own cars.
Henri Desgrange was unsatisfied with the quite uneventful race. So he sanctioned riders who were not enough combative.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT EVERY TOUR DE FRANCE EDITIONS (LATEST POSTS)
5 facts about Tour de France 1903
The first Tour de France started at 3 pm on the 1st of July in 1903 from the Café au Reveil Matin (Paris).
5 facts about Tour de France 1926
The 20th Tour de France, held between 20th June and 18th July 1926, was the longest edition of the race ever: a total of 5745 km long course was divided into 17 stages. Since the creation of Tour de France in 1903, the race always started from Paris (more precisely from one of its … Read more
5 facts about Tour de France 1925
After the quarell between Henri Desgrange and Henri Pelissier last year, a new rule was made, that any rider that harmed the Tour’s image would be banned for the next years. Team Automoto had a really strong line-up: Ottavio Bottecchia (Tour de France winner 1924 and 1925) , Philippe Thys (Tour de France winner 1913,1914,1920) … Read more
5 facts about Tour de France 1924
Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian cyclist to win Tour de France. Also, he was the first rider to take the yellow jersey on the first day and to keep it until Paris. (Leading the race from the very first day was not a novelty, it happened at the very first Tour de France already. … Read more
Five facts about Tour de France 1923
After 12 years (minus the time of First World War) of Belgian dominance, Tour de France celebrated a French winner again. Henri Pelissier and Henri Degrange didn’t like each other very much. Pelissier, alongside with his brother Francis skipped Tour de France 1921 and 1922. Desgrange wrote an article about how Pelissier would never win … Read more
MORE TOUR DE FRANCE FROM THE 1920S
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
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
The toughest Tour de France stage ever
The 10th stage of Tour de France 1926 is often dubbed as the toughest stage ever in the history of the race. The 326 km long route between Bayonne and Luchon on the 6th July 1926 went down in history also as one of the most chaotic ones thanks to the extreme weather conditions in … Read more
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
Cyclists meet a local inhabitant during Tour de France 1925
During the first few decades in the history of Tour de France, mountain routes were kind of “terrae incognitae”, uncharted territories. We all know the story when Alphonse Steniès persuaded Henri Desgrange to include Tourmalet in the program of Tour de France 1910. He was struggling even to find a car driver, a local guide … Read more