The toughest Tour de France stage ever

Lucien Buysee in the Pyrenees on the 20th stage of Tour de France 1926

The 10th stage of Tour de France 1926 is often dubbed as the toughest stage ever in the history of the race. The 326 km long route between Bayonne and Luchon  on the 6th July 1926 went down in history also as one of the most chaotic ones thanks to the extreme weather conditions in … Read more

Puy de Dôme (Iconic places #2)

Puy de Dôme Tour de France

Tour de France 2023 presented a great gift for every road cycling history fans: after 35 years Puy de Dôme was reintroduced to the race. Although the 9th stage of Tour de France 2023 was only the 14th appearance of the ascent, it became one of the most iconic places in the history road cycling … Read more

The first Vuelta-Tour double (Jacques Anquetil, 1963)

Federico Bahamontes ans Jacques Anquetil Tour de France 1963

When Jacques Anquetil won Vuelta a Espana on 15th May, he became the first rider in the history of cycling to win all three Grand Tours at least one time. When he managed to win also the Tour de France that year, he became the first rider to make the Vuelta-Tour double. By the way, … Read more

Tour de France 1949

The 36th Tour de France was held between 20 June and 24 July 1949.  The route was divided into 21 stages and included 4808 km. This was the first time the race visited Spain (9th stage). They also took a trip to Belgium and Italy. The Tour de France in 1949 was one of the … Read more

Cycling Who’s Who: Hippolyte Aucouturier

Hippolyte Aucouturier one of the most iconic riders from the early days of road cycling

Hippolyte Aucouturier, one of the most iconic riders in the early days of road cycling races, was born on the 17th October in 1876 in La Celle (France). Aucouturier won Paris-Roubaix among a rather chaotic circumstances in 1903. During the early years of the race, riders traditionally changed their bikes at the entrance of the … Read more

Damaged by its own popularity (Tour de France 1904)

The winner of the first Tour de France Maurice Garin and other riders at Tour de France 1903

The first edition of the Tour de France in 1903 was a big success. Not only for the L’Auto, which was able to increase its sell numbers but for all the cycling fans in France. But the growing popularity of the event caused some unexpected issues right at the second edition of the race in … Read more