After 12 years (minus the time of First World War) of Belgian dominance, Tour de France celebrated a French winner again. Henri Pelissier and Henri Degrange didn’t like each other very much. Pelissier, alongside with his brother Francis skipped Tour de France 1921 and 1922. Desgrange wrote an article about how Pelissier would never win … Read more
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
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
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
Firmin Lambot became the first Tour de France winner without winning a stage during the race. Also, he is the oldest cyclist ever to win Tour de France. Veteran cyclist Eugéne Christophe was leading the general classification for three days, which made him the oldest leader (37 years, 164 days) leader of the race ever.
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
Tour de France 1920 winner Philippe Thys became the first cyclist to win the race three times (his previous victories were dated back before First World War, in 1913 and 1914). The weather was so hot, that after 4 stages 65 of 113 cyclists had quit the race already.
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
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
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 … Read more