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Tour de France in the 1920’s

Five cyclists on untwrmacked mountain road during Tour de France 1925

Cyclists meet a local inhabitant during Tour de France 1925

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 to bring him throught the pass in January. Of course, back then the roads weren’t paved yet. Also the peloton was never really compact. Riders were riding on their own, or in small groups. A usual stage lasted more than a half day. Roads weren’t secured in that form like nowadays during a professional cycling race. Thus nothing was more… Read More »Cyclists meet a local inhabitant during Tour de France 1925

Faces from the peloton: Jules Deloffre, “the acrobat cyclist”

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 of the past, ((“Very deep is the well of the past” -Thomas Mann)) it’s quite possible, that these are the cyclists and the stories, that makes the early days of road cycling so intriguing and unique. For example, French cyclist Jules Deloffre (1885-1963) earned his nickname ‘The Acrobat’ (L’Acrobate) through his acrobatic performances after Tour de France stages. Especially during… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Jules Deloffre, “the acrobat cyclist”

Ottavio Bottecchia on the Col d'Izoard in 13th stage of Tour de France 1925

Ottavio Bottecchia on the Izoard (Tour de France 1925)

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 a surprise newcomer in 1923, when he finished second behind his teammate Henri Pelissier, but his overall victory in the subsequent year, especially the fact, that he was the first cyclist to wear the yellow jersey during the entire race from the very beginning, made him the biggest favourite of Tour de France 1925. Bottecchia started strong in that year… Read More »Ottavio Bottecchia on the Izoard (Tour de France 1925)

Tour de France 1929

Three riders in yellow jersey in the peloton at once

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 reason. The 23rd Tour de France was held between 30 June and 28 July 1929. It’s probably most memorable from the famous quote of Henri Desgrange: “My race has been won by a corpse.” – because Maurice De Waele,  despite being very ill on the last few stages, won the race thanks to the effective teamwork. Working through the hard… Read More »Three riders in yellow jersey in the peloton at once

Belgian cyclist Hector Heusghem is refreshing himself with snow at the Tiur de France in 1923

Snow at Tour de France 1923

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 took the yellow jersey  with 3 stage to go, but lost his led in the general classification after receiving a one-hour penality. MORE TOUR DE FRANCE IN THE 1920 [su_posts posts_per_page=”7″ tax_term=”454″ order=”desc”]

Drinking cyclist, smoking cyclist, grumpy cyclist, Tour de France funny images

Smoking cyclists and other funny Tour de France images

The good old days of road cycling races oroved plehty of funny Tour de France images. For our 21st-cemturian eyes and mind, of course, cycling rsces in tge 1920s and 1930s seem so different. Maybe a bit less professional? Not exaclty. Let’s just stick to the word different. Different roads. Different bikes. Different type of athletesnto ride them. If you like PelotonTales blog, you can support it with a small donation  Thank you for your support!  ! Living the high life in the mountains Fernand Moulet is one of the cyclists who is immortalized by only one iconic cycling image. He was a French rider and participated at the Tour de France in the 1920s. … Read More »Smoking cyclists and other funny Tour de France images

Ottavio Bottecchia

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

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 one of them arrived right in time for the start of Tour de France. He was Ottavio Bottecchia,  a ” bricklayer of Friuli”,  as he would be dubbed later, a  rider just turned pro one year earlier. He knew only a few words in French: “No bananas, lots of coffee, thank you.” ((” Pas de bananes, beaucoup café, merci.” Quoted… Read More »26 June 1923 Ottavio Bottecchia’s first stage victory at Tour de France

Cyclist riding on a dusty road at Tour de France 1919

The years of La Sportive consortium (1919- 1921)

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 the editions of the race during the 1920s. World War I had a devastating impact on the French economy2, obviously on the life of the bicycle manufactures too. When Tour de France was held for the first time after the war in 1919, even the most notable companies were struggling to help their riders properly. But they wanted to keep… Read More »The years of La Sportive consortium (1919- 1921)

Two cyclists have to pass by two cows on the untarmacied road during Tour de France 1910

Vintage Tour de France: cows on the road

Nowadays, one of the basic things organizers of a cycling race have to prepare for is to make sure, that no one else uses the same roads during the event. Of course, errors can still happen at any time, but this is one of those basic things that define modern-day cycling races. Very few other sports reflects the changes in everyday life during the past century so plainly, like professional road cycling races do. Organizers have to secure the route of the races, because roads are crowded with cars, trucks, buses, etc. On the other hand, this seems relatively easy to calculate and execute, because most of the time the peloton is compact, and the… Read More »Vintage Tour de France: cows on the road

Honoré Barthélémy the cyclist with a glass eye

Faces from the peloton: the cyclist with a glass eye

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 again and continued the race. Only a bit later he realised, he didn’t suffered concussion, but was really half-blind. He finished the stage also with a broken shoulder and a dislocated wrist.Barthélémy, who was 5th in overall at the previous edition of Tour de France, managed to finish the race despite this serious health difficulties. At the end, he was… Read More »Faces from the peloton: the cyclist with a glass eye