Three riders in yellow jersey in the peloton at once

During the first few decades in the history of Tour de France, mountain routes were kind of “terrae incognitae”, uncharted territories. We all know the story when Alphonse Steniès persuaded Henri Desgrange to include Tourmalet in the program of Tour de France 1910. He was struggling even to find a car driver, a local guide… Read More »Cyclists meet a local inhabitant during Tour de France 1925

Undoubtedly, there were plenty of cyclists with unique stories in the peloton in the first few decades of road cycling races. These atlethes were not necessarily successful riders or didn’t become the bigest stars of their days, but yet, their stories are worth to be told. Actually, if we are looking deeper into the well… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Jules Deloffre, “the acrobat cyclist”

Col d’Izoard was introduced to Tour de France in 1922. It seems to have been the new favourite of the organizers, they put it in the program also in the next 5 years. (And it is still one of the most used ascent in the history of Tour de France) Ottavio Bottecchia might have been… Read More »Ottavio Bottecchia on the Izoard (Tour de France 1925)

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 »Three riders in yellow jersey in the peloton at once

Snow at Tour de France is quite rare, but not impossible, as the image of Hector Heusghem at Tour de France 1923 proves. Belgian cyclist Hector Heusghem (1890-1982) was active as professional cyclist between 1912 and 1925. His best result at Tour de France was 2nd  position both in 1920 and 1921. In 1922 he… Read More »Snow at Tour de France 1923

Fausto Coppi was the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year (1949) In 2024, 26 years after Marco Pantani’s double victory, Tadej Pogacar managed to win both Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year. The list of the riders Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1949… Read More »Giro d’ Italia -Tour de France doubles

You might wonder which Tour de France edition was the slowest and wich one the fastest. Here you have the answer. The slowest Tour de France was the 13th edition, held between 29th June and 27 July in 1919. The 5560 km long route of the race was  divided into 15 stages. (And it wasn’t… Read More »The slowest and the fastest Tour de France

During its 120-year long history, it happened only three times, when the peloton of Tour de France did not includ any previous winner. Obviously, in 1903 there couldn’t be any, because it was the very first edition. In 1927, it seems to have been a generational change in the peloton of Tour de France. Several… Read More »Tour de France editions without previous winners in the peloton

The pink jersey (maglia rosa) was introduced to the Giro d’Italia during the race in 1931.Learco Guerra (The Human Locomotive”) was the first rider to wear it.The top 11 riders  with  most days in pink jersey :Eddy Merckx 78 (1968,1969,1970,1972,1973,1974)Alfredo Binda 65 (1925,1927,1928,1929,1931,1933)Francesco Moser 50 (1976,1977,1979,1980,1981,1982,1984,1985)Giuseppe Saronni 48 (1979,1981,1983,1985,1986)Gino Bartali 42 (1936,1937,1939,1946,1947)Jacques Anquetil 42 (1959,1960,1961,1964,1967)Fausto… Read More »Most days in pink jersey

Passo del Mortirolo, usually a mid-stage ascent, was introduced to Giro d’Italia in 1990. The first rider on the top was the Venezuelan Leonardo Sierra. There is a monument to Marco Pantani at 8 km from the top (from the side of Mazzo di Valtellina).Also,  there is a special prize for the rider first atop,… Read More »Every time Passo del Mortirolo was part of Giro d’Italia