Pédaleur de charme, meaning “Pedaler of Charm“, was Hugo Koblet‘s nickname (He won Tour de France in 1951 and Giro d’Italia in 1950). He also won the Mountain Classification of Giro d’Italia in 1950.
Category Archives: Tour de France
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 …
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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 …
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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Mont Ventoux and two ascents of L’Alpe d’Huez in the Tour de France 2013
Tour de France 2013 official presentation will take place in Paris on October 24, Wednesday. But rumors and speculations already spread. Le Dauphine Libere, the French news outlet is reporting that the legendary Mont Ventoux and the Tour classic Alpe d’Huez will be included in the 100th editions’ rote. And Alpe d’Huez not once, but …
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Nicknames of Cyclists – V
Early 20th journalists started creating nicknames for the cyclists. This effort popularized the cycling sport and make the racers interesting to the people who were not interested in cycling much. This tradition is still continuing today. Here is the list of cyclists’ nicknames in alphabetical order (by surname, starting with V):
