Hello my friends,
Today I will begin to give you information about "le tour de France"
do you know what "tour de France" ! maybe have you never heard about that , maybe and probably you have heard about it ! so, i will try to let you know and let you discover the story of the "tour de France" which is maybe the most famous event in France each year.
I will do it in three parts
so today let me begin with the story of "tour de France", when did it begin, why , who were the champions the stars at the beginning and anecdots about it !
Please even if i practice bike ridings, don't think i am an expert ! please don't think so cause I am not ! I just love bike and discover together this story would be an interesting thing !
so in fact to tell you the truth, Debbie proposed me to talk about "le tour de France"
It is a great pleasure for me to share that with you today cause i do love bike rides. This is a great passion and and i can tell that i have a specific attraction for "le tour de France"
So what is the story of "le tour de France"
First part !
The first daily sports newspaper in France at the end of the 19th century was Le Vélo. It sold 80,000 copies a day. France was split over a soldier, Alfred Dreyfus, found guilty of selling secrets to the Germans. Le Vélo stood for Dreyfus's innocence while some of its biggest advertisers, notably Albert de Dion, owner of the De Dion-Bouton car works, believed him guilty. Angry scenes followed between the advertisers and the editor, Pierre Giffard, and the advertisers started a rival paper.
The Tour de France began to promote that rival, L'Auto. It was to outdo the Paris-Brest et retour organised by Giffard. The idea for a round-France race came from L'Auto's chief cycling journalist, 26-year-old Géo Lefèvre. He and the editor, Henri Desgrange discussed it after lunch on 20 November 1902. L'Auto announced the race on 19 January 1903. The plan was a five-week race from 31 May to 5 July. This proved too daunting and only 15 riders entered. Desgrange cut the length to 19 days, changed the race dates to 1 July to 19 July, and offered a daily allowance. He attracted 60 entrants, not just professionals but amateurs, some unemployed, some simply adventurous.
The Tour de France began to promote that rival, L'Auto. It was to outdo the Paris-Brest et retour organised by Giffard. The idea for a round-France race came from L'Auto's chief cycling journalist, 26-year-old Géo Lefèvre. He and the editor, Henri Desgrange discussed it after lunch on 20 November 1902. L'Auto announced the race on 19 January 1903. The plan was a five-week race from 31 May to 5 July. This proved too daunting and only 15 riders entered. Desgrange cut the length to 19 days, changed the race dates to 1 July to 19 July, and offered a daily allowance. He attracted 60 entrants, not just professionals but amateurs, some unemployed, some simply adventurous.
The demanding nature of the race (the stages averaged 400 km and could run through the night), caught public imagination. L'Auto's circulation rose from 25,000 to 65,000; by 1908 it was a quarter of a million, and during the 1923 Tour 500,000. The record claimed by Desgrange was 854,000 during the 1933 Tour.
Sur les 60 partants en 1903, on n’en comptait que 21 à l’arrivée. Au fil des années la boucle s’élargit pour se modeler sur les frontières de la France : le Tour de France est vraiment un tour de la France. En 1905-1906, le Tour passe par le ballon d’Alsace, Brest, Caen. On compte de 6 à 11 étapes. Vers 1907-1910, le tour fait une étape en Allemagne : à Metz ! dans les années qui suivent, débutent les étapes dans les Alpes, avec un passage au col du Galibier. On remarque qu’en 1919, le Tour reprend possession du territoire français élargi par la victoire de 1918 : il y a une étape à Strasbourg. 1926 connaît le plus long trajet de l’histoire du Tour puisque les cyclistes parcourent 5745km avec un départ à Evian.
Can you imagine that the first year, stages of 400 kms (about 270 miles) ! it was completely crazy and when you see the equipment they had, it was completely amazing !
Desgrange worried he was asking too much of competitors and stayed away in 1903, sending Lefèvre instead. His route included one mountain pass - the Ballon d'Alsace in the Vosges [12] - but the Pyrenees were not included until 1910. In that year the race rode, or more walked, first the col d'Aubisque and then the nearby Tourmalet. I have done and climbed Tourmalet several times and i can tell you that it is very hard ! hehehehehe
Desgrange once more stayed away. Both climbs were mule tracks, a demanding challenge on heavy, ungeared bikes ridden by men with spare tyres around their shoulders and their food, clothing and tools in bags hung from their handlebars. The eventual winner, Octave Lapize, was second to the top of the Aubisque. He told waiting officials that they were "killers" (assassins).
Maillot jaune
The maillot jaune is worn by the general classification leader. The winner of the first Tour wore not a yellow jersey but a green armband. The first yellow was first awarded formally to Eugène Christophe, for the stage from Grenoble on 19 July 1919. However, the Belgian rider Philippe Thys, who won in 1913, 1914 and 1920, recalled in the Belgian magazine Champions et Vedettes when he was 67 that he was awarded a yellow jersey in 1913 when Henri Desgrange asked him to wear a coloured jersey. Thys declined, saying making himself more visible would encourage others to ride against him.
He said:
He then made his argument from another direction. Several stages later, it was my team manager at Peugeot, (Alphonse) Baugé, who urged me to give in.
He then made his argument from another direction. Several stages later, it was my team manager at Peugeot, (Alphonse) Baugé, who urged me to give in.
The yellow jersey would be an advertisement for the company and, that being the argument, I was obliged to concede. So a yellow jersey was bought in the first shop we came to. It was just the right size, although we had to cut a slightly larger hole for my head to go through
He spoke of the next year, when "I won the first stage and was beaten by a tyre by Bossus in the second. On the following stage, the maillot jaune passed to Georget after a crash."
The Tour historian Jacques Augendre called Thys "a valorous rider... well-known for his intelligence" and said his claim "seems free from all suspicion". But: "No newspaper mentions a yellow jersey before the war. Being at a loss for witnesses, we can't solve this enigma."
The Tour historian Jacques Augendre called Thys "a valorous rider... well-known for his intelligence" and said his claim "seems free from all suspicion". But: "No newspaper mentions a yellow jersey before the war. Being at a loss for witnesses, we can't solve this enigma."
The first rider to wear the yellow jersey from start to finish was Ottavio Bottecchia of Italy in 1924. The first company to pay a daily prize to the wearer of the yellow jersey - known as the "rent" - was a wool company, Sofil, in 1948.The greatest number of riders to wear the yellow jersey in a day is three: Nicolas Frantz, André Leducq and Victor Fontan shared equal time for a day in 1929 and there was no rule to split them.
I do hope you appreciated this first part of the "tour de France". I really try to share this passion with you and newt time we will talk of the greatests winners and riders from the "tour de france". Because this is very interesting to go back in the past and see our champions. and there are a lot of champions.
Byeeeee
see you soon
your comments are very welcome. I have found the pics on a special site. I hope you appreciated them
arc
2 comments:
Arc, thank you for sharing this information with us. The Tour is the premier bike event for everyone who loves riding. Even though there is no big American star riding in this year's Tour, we will still be watching the race. I cannot imagine a more difficult or demanding sport. Riding day after day, over mountain passes, is a real challenge. I will follow the Tour and hope that you will provide us with more reports durign teh race.
Deb,
What you say is really true.
Bike is a very demanding sport.
Last year, I had a 3 days bike ride calles l'ardechoise; We rode more than 400 miles in 3 days with up and down. About 35 cols (mountains) ! wow iw was my first experience like that, quite hard but not at the same speed like professionals. hehehehe ! it is impossible. But it was funny. I love difficulties like that. You know what i prefer in bike ride is the mountain. It is hard, you have to manage your effort all the time and be patient. It is very particular even if it is hard and it is good for mental. ok deb i will be your reporter during tour de France 2009 but before that i will give you more information about the history of tour de france and the gratest leaders maybe anecdots, stories ! hehehe ! see you soon my friends ! tell me if you are interesting in one thema in particular ! byeeee arc
your reporter
Tintin (hehehehe) do you know Tintin ? he travelled all over the world or almost ! he went to america, africa, south america .... hehehehe
tell me if you know him
byeeee
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