Peloton&Tales Favourite Stories

The toughest Tour de France stage ever

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Lucien Buysee in the Pyrenees on the 20th stage of Tour de France 1926

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

Fiorenzo Magni and the Giro d’Italia 1956

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Famous black and withe image of Italian cyclist Fiorenzo Magni, holding an inner tube between his teeth during the Giro d'Italia in 1956

You might have always wondered what is that strange picture of Fiorenzo Magni holding something between his teeth with an heroic effort displayed on his face. As most of the legendary cycling images, this one has its extraordinary backstory too. According to the pre-race predictions, Giro d’Italia 1956 was dubbed as the fight between the … Read more

The story of the Maglia Nera (Giro d’Italia 1946-1951)

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Italian cyclist Luigi Malabrocca wearing the so-called maglia nera jersey awarded to the last rider of the general classification, at the Giro d'Italia 1947.

Between 1946 and 1951 a special jersey was awarded to the last cyclist in the general classification of the Giro d ‘Italia, called Maglia Nera. The idea came from a story in the 1920s. A football player, called Giuseppe Ticozzelli was such a cycling enthusiast, that he attended the race as an individual rider in … Read more

The first Milano-Sanremo (1907)

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Like in the case of many of the great, historical cycling races, creating Milano-Sanremo was closely linked to a newspaper, namely, the La Gazzetta dello Sport. First of all, the finish town, Sanremo was certain. The wealthy members of the local sport club wanted to have a race and contacted Eugenio Costamagna, the owner of … Read more

Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond on the top of L’Alpe d’Huez (Tour de France 1986)

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Vintage image of cyclists on the top of the hill riding side by side hand in hand.

Alpe d’Huez witnessed plenty of legendary moments since its introduction to the Tour de France in 1952. One of them is the famous 18th stage in 1986,  when Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond reached the top hand in hand.

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Sentenced to death and almost executed – twice!

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Paul Deman the winner of the first Ronde van Vlaanderen -sentenced tobdeath and almost executed twice!

Paul Deman was the first winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1913). During the WW1 he was working as a courier for underground resistance movements and carrying messages around Belgium and also in the Netherlands. In November 1918 he had already 14 successful missions, but unfortunately on the 15th, he was stopped by the Germans. … Read more

Damaged by its own popularity (Tour de France 1904)

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The winner of the first Tour de France Maurice Garin and other riders at Tour de France 1903

The first edition of the Tour de France in 1903 was a big success. Not only for the L’Auto, which was able to increase its sell numbers but for all the cycling fans in France. But the growing popularity of the event caused some unexpected issues right at the second edition of the race in … Read more

The humble domestique gets in trouble

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Fausto Coppi & Andrea Carrera

The Tour de France in 1952 was all about Fausto Coppi. The Campionissimo dominated the race to such an extent, that the organizers had to double the prize money for the second place to make the competition less boring. But Coppi took the yellow jersey only after his triumph on Alpe d’Huez.  On the day, … Read more