It was the 133 km long 6th stage from Mulhouse to the Ballon d’Alsace at the Tour de France 1969, when Eddy Merckx celebrated his first Tour de France stage victory. Although Merckx was a Tour de France debutant in 1969, the peloton already knew him very well. He already won the Giro d’Italia (1968) … Read more
Because of the scandalous previous edition several changes in the rules were made. Most important of them was the introduction of the points system in the general classification, which was in use until 1912. The 2994 km long route was divided into 11 stages, which were significantly shortened to avoid night racing and make the … Read more
René Pottier was probably the finest climber of the early years of Tour de France. He was born in 1879 in Moret-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne. In 1903 he won Bordeaux-Paris and had also several other podium results (f. e. at Paris-Roubaix). Pottier attended the Tour de France only 2 times, in 1905 and 1906. The first time … Read more