Four scandalous Tour de France editions

Scandalous moment at Tour de France 1950, Gino Bartali is insulted by a spectator.

In its more than 120-year-long history Tour de France, the most famous road cycling race of the world witnessed good time and bad time either. It had plenty of glourious moments, but also some shameful ones. Here are the four (arguably) most scandalous editions in the history of Tour de France . 1904 – an … Read more

18 July 1949 – The epic breakaway of Coppi and Bartali

Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali in the breakaway at Tour de France 1949

Due to the system of 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. … Read more

Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali at Tour de France 1949 (Vintage cycling image of the day)

Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali at the Tour de France 1949

Tour de France in 1949 was one of the peaks of the great rivalry between the two Italian superlegends Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi. Bartali has won the Tour already twice (1938 and 1948). Coppi never rode the race before, but he triumphed at the Giro d’Italia that year (it was his third victory after … Read more

Bartali and Coppi together in the Dolomites (Giro d’Italia 1940)

Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi on the Passo Pordoi at the Giro d'Italia 1940

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 … Read more

Topic of the month in August: the giants of the grand tours

Eddy Merckx winning the Vuelta a Espana in 1973

As La Vuelta ciclista a España (19 August-11 September 2022), the last three-week race of of the season is nearing, let’s talk about the cyclists who won all the three grand tours at least one time. Jacques Anquetil was the first rider to achieve this, when he finally won the Vuelta in 1963.  At that … Read more

Tour de France 1949

The 36th Tour de France was held between 20 June and 24 July 1949.  The route was divided into 21 stages and included 4808 km. This was the first time the race visited Spain (9th stage). They also took a trip to Belgium and Italy. The Tour de France in 1949 was one of the … Read more