There is no road cycling history without Tour de France history
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
It might sound unbelievable, but Fausto Coppi, the third Campionissio of the Italian cycling, one of the greatest legends of the sport rode Tour de France only 3 times. From our rather nostalgic point of view it appears as a longer period. But no. It happened only three times between 1949 and 1952. So big … Read more
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
1913 was the first times, when the route of the race went anti-clockwise. Six former Tour de France winner started the race (Louis Trousselier, Lucien Petit-Breton, François Faber, Octave Lapize, Gustave Garrigou and Odile Defraye), which is still a record.(Please note, that 3 of them, Petit-Breton, Faber and Lapize would not survive the 1st world … Read more
Odile Defraye was the first Belgian cyclist to win the Tour. Moreover, he was the first Belgian having a serious chance to win the race, so all Belgians in the race, regardless of their team, were helping him. Which, of course, made Henri Desgrange quite furious. Originally, Gustave Garrigou, winner of the previous edition was … Read more
After frequent visits to Alsace-Lorraine since 1906, the German authorities did not allow the race to cross the border anymore. The tension before World War I was growing already. The Alps were intorduced to the race, Col du Galibier became Henri Desgrange’s favourite climb. In the 9th stage Maurice Brocco was disqualified for serving another … Read more
The mighty ascents of the Pyrenees, including Col du Tourmalet were introduced to the race. The broom wagon, picking up the cyclists who abandoned the race, was introduced too. In the tenth stage, over the four mountains in the Pyrenees, cyclists were allowed to finish the stage in the broom wagon and still start the … Read more
150 cyclists started the race, this was a new record. Nevertheless, although being sponsored and racing in a team was allowed, 112 participants were still independent riders. In the end, 55 cyclists managed to complete the course. Another record was broken, which still stands: François Faber won 5 consecutive stages. Faber was also the first … Read more
The early history of Tour de France is full with strange stories. Not necessarily great stories, sometimes quite unpleasant ones, as it, for example, happened at the 9th edition (1911) of the famous French grand tour. Paul Duboc (1884-1941) rode Tour de France twice (1908 and 1909) before, and earned some success (a stage victory … Read more
Although Henri Desgrange was always keen to preserve Tour de France as a competition for individuals1, cyclists who were sponsored by the same bicycle manufacture naturally worked as a team. Alcyon for example, delivered four overall victories (François Faber, 1909; Octave Lapize,1910 ; Gustave Garrigou, 1911; Odyle Defraye, 1912) before 1914 and dominated most of … Read more