Faces from the peloton: Victor Fontan (1892-1982)

A cyclist running while carrying his bike on his shoulder. Surely, you’ve seen this vintage cycling image several times. Now it’s time to learn a bit more about the protagonist of the picture. Victor Fontan (1892-1982) in the Faces from the peloton series of PelotonTales blog. A local rider World War I (as did World … Read more

Faces from the peloton: Raymond Delisle (1943-2013)

French cyclist Raymond Delisle

Raymond Delisle was one of those cyclists who was always lurking around the favourites in the most important and/or most iconic Tour de France stages without having significant success. Delisle started his professional career in 1965 in team Peugeot, where he was racing  till 1976. (His last year as professional cyclist he spent with the … Read more

Three riders in yellow jersey in the peloton at once

Tour de France 1929

I really wish there was somewhere a coloured picture of three cyclists wearing yellow jersey at the same time. A unique situation that would deserve a visual representation. But unfortunatelly, there are only few pictures about Tour de France 1929 out there. Nevertheless, this particular edition of Tour de France was notable also for another … Read more

5 facts about Tour de France 1919

Firmin Lambot, winner of Tour de France 1919

The 13th Tour de France, held between 29 June and 27 July was the first edition after First World War. The yellow jersey was introduced during this edition of Tour de France. Most of the cyclists were racing in grey jersey, thus there must have been something, a colorful jersey for example, to distinguish the … Read more

20 July 1986 Tour de France visits Col du Granon

The 190 km long stage between Gap and Serre Chevalier included Col du Vars, Col d’Izoard and it was the first time the race visited Col du Granon. Before the stage  Bernard Hinault (La Vie Claire) led the general classification, but he dropped on the Col d’Izoard. He was suffering from an old knee injury. … Read more

10 July 1976 Lucien Van Impe takes the yellow jersey at Tour de France

Legendary Belgian climbing specialist cyclist Lucien Van Impe riding solo on the Pla d'Adet at Tour de France 197z

Lucien Van Impe was second in the general classification with 2 ‘ 41″ behind Raymond Delisle before the 14th stage of Tour de France 1976.  The program of the day on the 10th of July 1976 was a 139 km long route in the Pyrenees  between Saint-Gaudens and Saint-Larry-Soulan, including Col de Menté, Col du … Read more

26 June 1923 Ottavio Bottecchia’s first stage victory at Tour de France

Ottavio Bottecchia

It started with a new business opportunity. After the years of La Sportive consortium, the usual structure of sponsored teams returned to Tour de France in 1923. Automoto, the team of Pelissier brothers has some commercial interest in Italy, they were searching for more Italian cyclists in the team. They hired several riders, but only … Read more

Faces from the peloton: Max Bulla (1905-1990)

Max Bulla the first Austrian cyclist to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France sitting at a desk and smiling into the camera

Austrian cyclist Max Bulla (1905-1990) attended Tour de France twice. In  1931  he finished 15th, in 1932 19th in overall. He also had a 34th place at the Giro d’Italia in 1934 and a 5th place at the first Vuelta a Espana in 1935. In 1931 he won a Tour de France stage and was … Read more