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Tour de France 1908

Cyclist riding in form of spectators whenTour de France visited Metz during the early years of its history.

When Tour de France went abroad before 1914

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.       On the other hand, even when someone is quite familiar with the history of Tour de France’s early years, sometimes just bumps into something, which could raise so many questions. Like those few Tour de France editions, when the race visited Alsace -Lorraine, the territory occupied by the Germans in those days. TOUR DE FRANCE CROSSING THE… Read More »When Tour de France went abroad before 1914

Francoise Faber, Octave Lapize, Lucien Petit-Breton, Tour de France winners, who lost their life in the First World War

Tour de France winners died in the First World War

As in almost every part of European life, also in the world of cycling races World War I was a significant watershed. Not only the naivity of some athletes ((who thought previously, that fighting on the battlefield would be the same like competing at the Olympics  – read more about it in Graham Healy:The Shattered Peloton: The Devastating Impact of World War I on the Tour de France)) has disappeared immediately, when they found themselves in the trenches, but among the millions of young men lost their life during the conflict, there were also several cyclists, even some famous ones. There were three former Tour de France winners, who have lost their lives in the… Read More »Tour de France winners died in the First World War

Lucien Petit-Breton famous cyclist from the heyday of Tour de Frwnce

9 August 1908 Lucien Petit-Breton wins his second Tour de France

Lucien Petit-Breton was the winner of Tour de France 1907. Therefore his victory in 1908 ment that he was the first rider to win the Tour de Framce twice. Important note: Although Maurice Garin, the winner of the first Tour de France won also the edition of 1904, he later was disqualified.

Cyclists at the first stage of the Tour de France 1905

Points system in general classification at the Tour de France (1905-1912)

Between 1905 and 1912 points decided who is the best rider of the peloton. The first cyclist to cross the finish line received 1 point. Other cyclists received one point more than the cyclist who passed the line directly before him, plus an additional point for every five minutes between them, with a maximum of ten points. At the next edition, time gap became irrelevant, only the position decided, ho many points the riders get. However, after the 8th stage (from a total of 13 stages), when a significant number of the riders have already left the race, points were recalculated and redistributed among the remaining competitors. This practice continued in the subsequent years. The… Read More »Points system in general classification at the Tour de France (1905-1912)