The legendary yellow jersey was introduced to Tour de France only in 1919.
But already during the first edition of the race there was a sign distinguishing the leader of the general classification from other participants:
a green armband.
Maurice Garin led the general classification from the very first stage and later won the race.
MORE TOUR DE FRANCE FROM THE EARLY YEARS
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).
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
When Tour de France went abroad before 1914
Defining historical events of the 20th century often left their marks on road cycling history. Just think about, for istance, the impact of World War 1 on the mythology of some famous races, like Paris-Roubaix. The born of the famous phase of “Hell of the North” is a quite well known story among cycling fans. … 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
Introducing Col du Tourmalet to Tour de France
It was a great moment and yet one of the weirdest situations in the history of Tour de France, when and, it seems to be more important, how the organisers decided to put Col du Tourmalet in the program. Crossed Tourmalet stop. Very good road stop. Perfectly passable. -stood in the telegram Alphonse Steinès sent … Read more
Four scandalous Tour de France editions
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
10 July 1911 The first mountain stage in the Alps at Tour de France
After the introduction of the Pyrenees to the race in 1910, the next big challenge of Tour de France was how to include the “giants of the Alps” into the program. The story behind using Galibier, Thelegraphe, Aravis, and Lautarer was far less dramatic than the organizers’ first encounter with Col du Tourmalet. Nevertheless, the … Read more
MORE CYCLING FUN FACTS
The most Giro d’Italia stage victories
Mario Cipollini won the most Giro d’Italia stages He became the sole record holder on the 9th stage of Giro d’ Italia in 2003See the list of the top 25 riders:Mario Cipollini 42Alfredo Binda 41Learco Guerra 31Costante Girardengo 30Eddy Merckx 25Giuseppe Saronni 24Francesco Moser 23Roger De Vlaeminck 22Alessandro Petacchi 22Fausto Coppi 22Franco Bitossi 20Miguel Poblet … Read more
The youngest and the oldest Giro d’Italia stage winners
Olimpio Bizzi is the younges stage winner ever with19 years and 229 days.He won the 8th stage at Giro d’Italia 1936.Mark Cavendish was38 years and 7 daysold, when he crossed the finish line first in the last stage of Giro d’Italia 2023.
Double winners of Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix
Winners of both Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix in the same year: Henri Suter 1923 Romain Gijssels 1932 Gaston Rebry 1934 Raymond Impanis 1954 Fred De Bruyne 1957 Rik Van Looy 1962 Roger De Vlaeminck 1977 Peter van Petegem 2003 Tom Boonen 2005 Fabian Cancellara 2010 Tom Boonen Belgium 2012 Fabian Cancellara 2013 Mathieu van … Read more
The slowest and the fastest Tour de France
You might wonder which Tour de France edition was the slowest and wich. one the fastest. Here you have the answer.The slowest Tour de Francewas the 13th edition, held between 29th June and 27 July in 1919. The 5560 km long route of the race was divided into 15 stages. (And it wasn’t even the … Read more
9 fun facts of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
The first edition (originally called Omloop van Vlaanderen) was held on 25 March 1945. It was only a few weeks after Belgium was liberated by the Aliied Forces, Jerome Stevens, journalist of the Het Volk newspaper, crewtor of the rsce had to have an approval of the British Army to hold the event. Jerome Stevens … Read more
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winners
List of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winners 1945-20231945 Jean Bogaerts (Alcyon–Dunlop)1946 André Pieters (Alcyon–Dunlop)1947 Albert Sercu (Bertin–Wolber)1948 Sylvain Grysolle (Zircon)1949 André Declerck (Bertin–Wolber)1950 André Declerck (Bertin–Wolber)1951 Jean Bogaerts (Starnord–Wolber)1952 Ernest Sterckx (L’Avenir)1953 Ernest Sterckx (L’Avenir)1954 Karel De Baere (Mercier–BP–Hutchinson)1955 Lode Anthonis (L’Avenir)1956 Ernest Sterckx (L’Avenir)1957 Norbert Kerckhove (Faema–Guerra)1958 Joseph Planckaert (Carpano)1959 Seamus Elliott (Helyett–Fynsec)1960 No race1961 … Read more
- and no one should ever win, because we don’t want a peloton where only one rider is so overwhelmingly dominant, do we? [↩]