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
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
It’s a well known fact, that many of the big road cycling races were created for marketing reasons: sport newspapers were selling better by including reports about cycling events. But it’s a lesser known story, that even the format of the individual time trial at the Tour de France based on the rivalry between two … Read more
The first Tour de France without Henri Desgrange in charge since the creation of the event in 1903 didn’t go down well in the history of road cycling at all. In 1937 Jacques Goddet was full in charge and with him came the first big change: it was the first time when gear change … Read more