René Vietto (17 February 1914 – 14 October 1988) was a French

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

. In the

1934 Tour de France The 1934 Tour de France was the 28th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 3 to 29 July. It consisted of 23 stages over . The race was won by Antonin Magne, who had previously won the 1931 Tour de France. The French team was dominant, ...

, Vietto, a relative unknown, got wings on the mountains. This was not a surprise, because he had won the Grand Prix Wolber. He was prepared for the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and won easily on the steepest terrain. After he won the two major Alpine stages, journalists reported that this 'boy' could be the purest mountain climber that France knew. Vietto rode the Tour de France for the first time in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, as member of the French national team, in support of his team leader

Antonin Magne Antonin Magne (; 15 February 1904 – 8 September 1983) was a French cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1931 and 1934. He raced as a professional from 1927 to 1939 and then became a team manager. The French rider and then journalist, Jean Bo ...

. Magne was leading the race since the second stage; Vietto was already more than 50 minutes behind him after the sixth stage. But Vietto excelled in the mountains, winning stages 7, 9 and 11. In the 16th stage, Vietto was again performing well in the mountains. He passed first on the Col de Port and second on the Col de Portet d'Aspet behind the escaped Adriano Vignoli, thereby taking the lead in the mountains classification. After the top, Magne's wheel broke. Vietto was closeby, so he gave his wheel to Magne. A photograph shows Vietto sitting on a stone wall, waiting for a new wheel. Vietto's help enabled Magne to continue without much time loss; Vietto was not able to get back to Magne's group, and finished four minutes behind Magne, who remained four minutes behind Vignoli. On the next day, newspaper reports focused on Vietto's lead in the mountains classification. Him giving his wheel to Magne was seen as the expected thing to do: Vietto was not leading the stage, and was too far behind in the general classification. Over time, the legend of this story grew. It was ignored that Vignoli had already escaped when the incident happened, and then it was ignored that Vietto was already far behind in the general classification, and that Vietto was not far away from Magne, until the story had evolved to say that Vietto gave away a Tour victory, rode back up the mountain and waited for fifteen minutes. Vietto's actions made him a star in France. The image of a 20-year-old who sacrificed his chance of winning a Tour stage doubled his popularity. Vietto won the mountains classification; he finished 5th overall, almost 1 hour behind Magne. Vietto never won the Tour. He was closest in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, when he gained the yellow jersey in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

in one of the first stages, but in the mountains, once his favorite place, he was left by Sylvère Maes. After that Tour, war broke out and the race wasn't held until 1947. Vietto, still loved, attacked from the second stage. As a result, he took the yellow jersey in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, to lose it two days before the finish, in a time trial of 139 km. Despite failing to hold the lead, Vietto wore the yellow jersey for 15 stages during the

1939 Tour de France The 1939 Tour de France was the 33rd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 10 to 30 July. The total distance was . Taking place on the eve of World War II, there was already much animosity in Europe. Italy, Germany and Spain all decli ...

and during the

1947 Tour de France The 1947 Tour de France was the 34th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 25 June to 20 July. The total race distance was 21 stages over . It was the first Tour since 1939, having been cancelled during World War II, although some Tour ...

for 14 stages. He finished second in 1939, fifth in 1934 and 1947 and eighth in 1935. Until

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

broke his record in the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs ...

, Vietto had the highest career

yellow jersey statistics Since the first Tour de France in 1903 Tour de France, 1903, there have been 2,205 stages, up to and including the final stage of the 2021 Tour de France. Since 1919 Tour de France, 1919, the race leader following each stage has been awarded the ...

of anyone to never win the Tour de France overall. Vietto lost a toe to

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

in 1947. Legend has it"Lance Armstrong's War, p. 101, and Les Woodland's "The Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France" that Vietto insisted his

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their cycling team, team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équip ...

Apo Lazaridès Apo Lazaridès (16 October 1925 – 30 October 1998) was a French champion cyclist. Born Jean-Apôtre Lazaridès in Marles-les-Mines, Pas-de-Calais of Greek ancestry (he became French in 1929). During the German military administration in ...

, cut off one of his own toes to match. According to legend, Vietto's toe is in formaldehyde in a bar in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Major results

;1934 :

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

: ::

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

::Winner stage 7, 9, 11 and 18 ::5th place overall classification :Grand Prix Wolber ;1935 :

: ::Winner stage 6 and 9 ::8th place overall classification :

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

;1939 :

: ::2nd place overall classification ::holding

yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

for 11 days ;1942 :

Vuelta a espana Vuelta, Spanish for "lap" or "roundtrip", is used in the name of a number of cycling races in Spanish speaking countries, as well as a few other contexts: Cycling races * Vuelta a España is an annual cycle race in Spain, one of cycling's prestig ...

: ::Winner stage 8 and 16b ;1943 :Circuit du Midi ;1946 :Grand Prix de la République ;1947 :

: ::Winner stage 2 and 9 ::5th place overall classification ::holding

for 15 days

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vietto, Rene 1914 births 1988 deaths People from Le Cannet French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners French Vuelta a España stage winners Sportspeople from Alpes-Maritimes Cyclists from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 20th-century French sportsmen