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1914 Tour De France
The 1914 Tour de France was the 12th edition of the Tour de France, taking place in 15 stages from 28 June to 26 July. The total distance was and the average speed of the riders was . It was won by the Belgian cyclist Philippe Thys. The day the Tour began, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, marking the start of World War I. On 3 August Germany invaded Belgium and declared war on France, making this Tour the last for five years, until 1919. The three men who won the Tour between 1907 and 1910 would die in the war. Innovations and changes Not much changed from the 1913 Tour de France, the most important novelty was the introduction of frame numbers. Philippe Thys, who had won the 1913 Tour de France, was returning in 1914 and considered favourite, together with his teammate Henri Pélissier. Apart from him six other previous Tour de France winners started the race: Louis Trousselier, Lucien Petit-Breton, Octave Lapize, François Faber, Odile De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys (; nl, Philippe Thijs; 8 October 1889 – 16 January 1971) was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France. Professional career In 1910, Thys won Belgium's first national cyclo-cross championship. The following year he won the Circuit Français Peugeot, followed by stage races from Paris to Toulouse and Paris to Turin. He then turned professional to ride the Tour de France. Thys won the Tour in 1913 despite breaking his bicycle fork, and needing to find a bicycle shop to mend it. The repair induced a 10-minute penalty, but he won with a lead of just under nine minutes. Thys took the stage and the race lead when Eugène Christophe broke his fork on the way to Luchon. Marcel Buysse overtook him in the results the following day. Another broken fork on the way to Nice gave Thys the lead again but drama continued when he fell on the penultimate stage from Longwy to Dunkirk. Despite being knocked out and being penalised for help from tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
