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Felicien Vervaecke Tourmalet Tour de France 1936

Felicien Vervaecke’s bad luck (Tour de France 1936)

A  Tour de France stage in the Pyrenees (especially, when it includes the big four, Peyresourde, Auspin, Aubisque and Tourmalet) always provides stories to tell. Belgian rider Felicien Vervaecke won the mountain competition of Tour de France twice, in 1935 and 1937. Before the 16th stage (Peyresourde, Tourmalet, Aspin, Aubisque) in 1936, he was 4 minutes behind his teammate Sylvère Maes in the GC. But bad luck prevented him to maintain this position. First his bicycle broke, and he had to convince a spectator to lend his. Then he suffered a flat tire, and Tour officials forced him to wait for the reserve car. Antonin Magne, the actual third in the GC passed him. When… Read More »Felicien Vervaecke’s bad luck (Tour de France 1936)

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.

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

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 1926. Individuals were common in the peloton of the grand tours  in the early years. They had no helpers, no supporting crew; and the most extraordinary stories usually happened with them. Because they had to care about themselves, it wasn’t a big surprise when they dropped early from the race and finished a  stage several hours after the majority of… Read More »The story of the Maglia Nera (Giro d’Italia 1946-1951)

Tour de France 1949

The 36th Tour de France was held between 20 June and 24 July 1949.  The route was divided into 21 stages and included 4808 km. This was the first time the race visited Spain (9th stage). They also took a trip to Belgium and Italy. The 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 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 1940 and 1947) and wanted to win the Giro-Tour double which never happened in the… Read More »Tour de France 1949

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

Sentenced to death 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. He was arrested, jailed and sentenced to death immediately. Fortunately, while he was awaiting his execution, the Armistice was signed. But it still wasn’t a happy ending for Deman. The British Army took over the prison where he was jailed and believed him a German because of his accent. They wanted to execute him too. At the end a letter… Read More »Sentenced to death and almost executed – twice!

Peloton&Tales Cycling Who's Who: Giovanni Brunero

Cycling Who’s Who: Giovanni Brunero

Giovanni Brunero was born on the 4 October 1895 in San Maurizio Canavese, Italy. Brunero was the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia 3 times (1921, 1922, 1926), which was a remarkable result during the era of Costante Girardengo and  Alfredo Binda. On the other hand, Brunero’s triumphs seemed to be not entirely undisputable. The Giro d’Italia in 1922 called the race of “mille polemiche”, a. k . a “The Giro of Thousand Arguments”. After an illegal wheel change on the first stage of the race, he only got a penalty of 25 minutes. The teams of Costante Girardengo (Maino) and Gaetano Belloni (Bianchi) wanted him to be excluded from the race. When they… Read More »Cycling Who’s Who: Giovanni Brunero

18 April 1969 – Guido Reybrouck’s victory at Amstel Gold Race

The 4th edition of Amstel Gold Race stretched 259 km, started in Helmond, finished in Meerssen. Hail and snow made the competition difficult, 132 riders started the race, but only 36 finished it. This was Reybrouck’s only one victory at Amstel Gold Race.  Jon Huysmans finished 2nd, Eddy Merckx 3rd.

Jan Raas Omloop Het Volk, 1981 Peloton&Tales cycling history vintage cycling

26 February 1981 – Jan Raas won Omloop Het Volk

Jan Raas won Omloop Het Volk (predecessor of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad) He was the best from a four-man breakaway group on a cold and wet race. Rass was only the third non-Belgian rider, who won the Omloop since 1945. Top5 of the race 1 Jan Raas (TI-Raleigh-Creda) 5hr 45min 2 Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Peugeot-Esso-Michelin) s.t. 3 Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke (La Redoute-Motobecane) s.t. 4 Frank Hoste (TI-Raleigh-Creda) s. t. 5 Wies Van Dongen (HB Alarmsystemen) 2min 12sec