Winner of the race, Léon Scieur was taught how to ride a bike by his neighbour, Firmin Lambot (Tour de France winner 1919 and 1922) at the age of 28. Honoré Barthélemy was one of the favourites of the race, but a series of punctures (around a dozen times) put him out of the competition … 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
The first decades of history of Tour de France are full with extraordinary stories. One of them is the story of the cyclist with a glass eye.Honoré Barthélémy (1891-1964) crashed badly on the 8th stage (Perpignan- Aix-en-Provence, 325 km) of Tour de France in 1920. Despite having problems with his sight, he mounted his bike … Read more