Vuelta 2024 starts in Lisbon (La Vuelta 2024 Stage 1)

Col du Galibier is one of the oldest participats among the ascents the peloton of Tour de France used to climb in the Alps. It was already part the program of the 1911 edition when the race visited the Alps for the very first time.     In 1936, Col du Galibier, alongside with Thélégraphe… Read More »Fédérico Ezquerra on the Galibier (Tour de France 1936)

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

Road cycling is an outdoor sport, obviously, and weather conditions can cause somet8mes trouble even at events with big prestige like Tour de France. This happened in the 9th stage in 1996. The day started in Le-Monétier-les-Bains, the route was originally 176 km long. But due to the over 100km/h strong wind it must have… Read More »8 July 1996 Bjarne Riis wins a shortened stage in the Alps

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, like World War… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Victor Fontan (1892-1982)

In the year when Giro d’Italia organizers decided to pay Alfredo Binda for not to participate the race, a 21-year-young neo-pro rider, Luigi Marchisio had the chance of his lifetime in the Legnano team. And that’s it. This is pretty much his story, because besides winning the Giro d’Italia in 1930, he had very few… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Luigi Marchisio (1909-1992)

The youngest Giro-stage winner ever, Olimpio Bizzi (1916-1976) was active as professional cyclist between 1936 and 1952. Practically, he was racing in the shadow of the greatest generation of Italian cyclists, including Learco Guerra, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, or Giorenzo Magni Nevertheless, Bizzi had his own successes during his career. Besides some minor one-day race… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Olimpio Bizzi (1916-1976)

Thank you for being a devoted reader of PelotonTales. You are the reason why it’s worth spending so many hours to create new content and trying to improve this website. If you would show appreciation to my work, please consider supporting the blog with a small donation. Thank you! Raymond Delisle was one of those… Read More »Faces from the peloton: Raymond Delisle (1943-2013)

You would never guess in what kind of stage the  first Dutch Tour de France stage winner, Theo (Theofiel) Middelkamp (1914-2005) gained his victory. In a mountain stage in the Alps, including Télégraphe, Galibier and Lautaret. Considering that even in the early 1950s, when Wim van Est, the first Dutch cyclist to wear the yellow… Read More »Faces from the Peloton: Theo Middelkamp (1914-2005)