This year mark the hundred-and-first horseback riding of the Tour de France , one of the most barbarous sporting event ever create by man . In fact , mass of us are sofocused on the madnessthat we overlook how incredible the technology that powers it has become — and how it ’s germinate over more than a century .
We draw across a great collection of bikes used on the tour last twelvemonth , good manners of Emile Arbes atLe Blog de Velos Vintage , and append duplicate from around the internet , below . In laurels of this twelvemonth ’s tour , we ’ve updated it and impart a 2014 wheel . The collection begins at the very beginning , when route - quick meant extra mustache wax , and stretch out to the advanced day , when wheel are so light passenger often have to weight them to stay legal .
Keep in mind , we have n’t spent much time focalise on contemporary engineering — that ’s another stake for another time .
Sixty cyclist set out to compete in the first Tour , and only 21 finished . Maurice Garin , aka the Little Chimney - Sweep , gain ground the solar day on this blade La Française . His weighed down frame featured new - fangled toe clipping — invented only a few twelvemonth prior .
A more modern geometry was emerging a decade subsequently — check out the more recognizable drop-off handlebars on this Thomann - Joly ridden by Belgian star Léon Scieur , who win the tour in 1914 riding what was likely a very like bicycle . Also check out the ticker on the seat tube — back then , rider still did their own upkeep . In fact , it was against the Tour dominion to have help .
The Tour ’s first Italian victor , Ottavio Bottecchia , rode a flashy AuTomoTo - Hutchinson to victory in 1924 . Three years later , he was line up dead of a skull fracture on the side of the road with his wheel untouched . His death still remain a whodunit , but some attribute it to Mussolini thugs , mistrustful of Bottecchia ’s anti - fascistic leanings .
André Leducq , who won the Tour in ’ 30 and ’ 32 , rode a ocean froth - colored Alcyon - Dunlop . The derailleur was introduced to the Tour seven years later , in 1937 , but before that , riders would have to get off their bikes to switch cogwheel .
Antonin Magne — aka “ the Monk”—won the Tour in ’ 31 and ’ 34 , when he secretly test the first Mavic “ Duralumin ” rim during the race . He even last so far as to paint wood food grain on the rims to avoid detection — such tech was against the rules at the time .
1947 Tour winner Jean Robic , who was have intercourse as “ the goblin of the Brittany moor ” ( great moniker ! ) rode this 1952 Colomb - Clément . Robic was one of the first rider to wear a helmet after fracture his skull , in 1944 .
Jacques Anquetil ( seen above with Eddy Merckx ) won the Tour five fourth dimension riding a Saint - Raphaël - Helyett 1962 .
Felice Gimondi — who won the Tour in ’ 65 — rode a Celeste - green 1967 Bianchi for several age . Contemporary Bianchi fans will recognize his initials — they’re used for the ship’s company ’s FG Light frames .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWTj6H2KKr4
Eddy Merckx is in all probability the best - screw ride of the twentieth century — he won the Tour five times , and move on to become what some claim is the most completed bicyclist of all time . There ’s plenty to say about Merckx , but it ’s far more exciting to watch out him in this excerpt from A Sunday In Hell , a documentary that covers the famously brutal Paris - Roubaix .
The bespectacled Laurent Fignon rode a steel Gitane to his Tour victory in 1983 and 1984 . [ ikon viaFlickr ]
Greg LeMond was the first non - European cyclist to get ahead the Tour , in 1986 , and won it a 2nd and third time in in ’ 89 and ’ 90 . Here , you’re able to see LeMond ’s distinctive sunburst paint business — as well as his clipless pedal , which became common in the late 80s . [ Image byC.Cal . Shoot ]
The very last time a steel physical body wheel gain the Tour was in 1994 , when Miguel Indurain clinch his fourth of five wins . His 19.8 lb Pinarello , according to some sources , was only branded as Pinarello — in realism , it was custom - built byDario Pegoretti , the iconic Italian frame builder .
Now we ’re getting into the contemporary geological era , with troupe experiment with non - steel and , eventually , C roughage . Marco Pantani ’s Bianchi Mega Pro XL Reparto Corse , a custom - built atomic number 13 human body , was the last bike to be ridden to Tour triumph that was n’t made of carbon fibre . It was the end of an era .
Sure , Lance Armstrong has since been stripped of his title of respect , but his blade 1994 Motorola - Eddy Merckx ( above ) is fascinating to compare to his later rides . Armstrong went on to become an early adopter of contemporary cycling technical school , mostly in partnership with Trek . He was the first Tour winner to ride a carbon fiber bike from start to finish , and in 2003 , he bait the light bicycle ever used in the Tour .
Alberto Contador , aka El Pistolero , won the Tour in ’ 07 and ’ 09 ( and was ostracise for doping , for a metre ) . Contador is known as a climber , and his bikes are tailored to dally to that strength — see to it out the cassette on this Specialized Tarmac SL4 , which makes it easy to stay on the big tintinnabulation rather than downshifting on long raise . [ top image viaVeloNews ]
Though the biggest cycle tidings in this twelvemonth ’s tour so farmight be about a broken frame , there are some nerveless bikes being ridden . Take Trek’sEmonda , the light skeleton the company ’s ever built ( that ’s it in a non - tour promo shot ) . In fact , it ’s too light for rule — Trek nip this picture of a lead saloon that had to be bestow to “ make weight : ”
Production#emondais too light for UCI races . The black legal community under the bottle cage ? That ’s 300 g of lead.pic.twitter.com/mqzl0xarVS
— Trek Bicycle ( @TrekBikes)July 1 , 2014
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo in 2013 , and has been updated for this class ’s tour . There are peck that we have n’t included — so cut down your share below . All images from 1903 - 1976 courtesy of Emile Arbes atLe Blog de Velos Vintage .
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