The Yellow Rosebud: Orson Welles and the 1950 Tour de France

Orson Welles, the famous American director was the official starter of the Tour de France in 1950. The best-known film directed by him is Citizen Kane. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories; it won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles. Citizen Kane was voted …

Ocaña vs Merckx, 1971 Tour de France

1971 Tour de France was a scene of an epic Luis Ocaña vs Eddy Merckx battle. Eventually, the tour was a great tragedy for Luis Ocaña, who won the Tour de France in 1973 and the Vuelta a España in 1970. Eddy Merckx won Tour de France in 1969 and 1970, and it looked like …

Graeme Obree’s first test run with “the Beastie” – the land speed record vehicle

Graeme Obree (see notes 1), “The Flying Scotsman” is working on a plan to attempt the human-powered land speed record in a machine of his own design for a while. Last week, he tested the vehicle, “Beastie”, in preparation to break the human-powered land speed record. On the development of a shell for “the Beastie” …

Marco Pantani’s used Tour de France bikes sold at auction

Two bicycles used by Marco Pantani in the Tour de France sold for 13,000 and 8,000 Euro at an auction in Italy. 1998 bike sold for 13,000 Euro (Pantani won Tour de France in 1998). The auction was in Ravenna on November 17th and according to reports in the Italian press, one hundred Pantani fans …

Missing the Tour de France Start

Pedro Delgado, the defending champion, missed his start time with 2:40 at the prologue at the start of the 1989 Tour de France. Delgado covered the distance only 14 seconds slower than Erik Breukink, the stage winner. But adding the 2 minutes and 40 seconds at his time, he became the only defending champion to …

Eight Seconds

1989 edition of Tour de France won by Greg LeMond with the narrowest margin in its history: eight seconds. It was LeMond’s second Tour victory. Before the final stage of the 1989 Tour de France, Frenchman Laurent Fignon (Système U) was 50 seconds ahead of American Greg LeMond (ADR). Fignon took the yellow jersey from LeMond …

Two great photos about cycling, with no bikes

Look at these two great photos about cycling, with no bikes. The photos were taken by Robert Capa in Pleyben, Brittany, France, during the 1939 Tour de France. The owner of the small bicycle shop in Brittany, Pierre Cloarec was competing in the 1939 tour for the French team A. Leducq-Hutchinson. The excited crowd in the photos …

Eugène Christophe and the first yellow jersey (Tour de France 1919)

In 1919, Frenchman Eugène Christophe became the first rider to wear the race leader’s yellow jersey (maillot jaune) of the Tour de France. In the first few years after the 1st world war, there was a shortage of material and dye for jerseys. So many of the teams wore the same grey colored tops: the cycle industry …

Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali as football players

Two great cycling rivals, Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali were protagonists of an exceptional derby (a football match between local rivals. i.e. teams that are from the same city or the same part of the country) which took place on 14 January 1950 at the Milan Arena. Football (calcio) was the second popular sport after …

Fiorenzo Magni dies aged 91

Italian cycling legend, “Lion of Flanders” Fiorenzo Magni dies aged 91 today. Also known as the “third man” in Italy during the era of rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, reportedly passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Monza, to the north of Milan. Born near Prato in 1920, Magni won the Giro …