1923 Tour de France

April 2019 May 2019 1923 Tour de France Route of the 1923 Tour de France.png Route of the 1923 Tour de France followed counterclockwise, starting in Paris 300px 24 June – 22 July 1923 15 5386 km 222h 15' 30" Henri Pélissier FRA yellow Automoto Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 Automoto Romain Bellenger FRA Peugeot–Wolber 1922 1924 The 1923 Tour de France was the 17th edition of the Tour de France, taking place 24 June to 22 July. It consisted of 15 stages over 5386 km, ridden at an average speed of 24.233 km/h.Augendre 2016 108 The race was won by Henri Pélissier with a convincing half-hour lead to his next opponent, Italian Ottavio Bottecchia. In total, 139 cyclists entered the race, of which 48 finished. Pélissier's victory was the first French victory since 1911, as the Tour de France had been dominated by Belgian cyclists since then. Innovations and changes The French cyclists Henri and Francis Pélissier had quit the 1920 Tour de France after Henri received a penalty from the Tour organisation for throwing away a tire. This had caused a fight between the Pélissier brothers and tour organiser Henri Desgrange, and because of this fight, the Pélissier brother had been absent in the 1921 and 1922 Tours de France.Amels 1984 23–24 In 1921, Henri Desgrange wrote in his newspaper: "Pélissier doesn't know how to suffer. He will never win the Tour"http://www.veloarchive.com/races/tour/1923.php 1923: Pélissier gets his revenge Tom James 20 June 2009 15 August 2003 https://web.archive.org/web/20190408145959/http://www.veloarchive.com/races/tour/1923.php 8 April 2019 live Still, Henri Pélissier was the most talented French racer of his period, and in 1923 had won every major race except the Tour de France.http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/timeline/Race%20Snippets/TdF/TdF1923.htm Barry Boyce Pelissier's revenge 20 June 2009 2004 Cycling revealed The Tour de France had been dominated by Belgian cyclists in the last years, which was not good for the popularity of the race in France. The organiser knew that Pélissier in the race would increase the interest in the race, but did not want to apologise to Pélissier. Therefore, Desgrange wrote in l'Auto that Henri Pélissier was too old to win the Tour de France, and that Pélissier would therefore probably never start in the Tour de France. This was the reason for Pélissier to enter the race the same day.Amels 1984 26–27 In the 1922 Tour de France, Hector Heusghem had lost the race because he received a one-hour penalty for illegally changing his bicycle.http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1922_13.php https://web.archive.org/web/20120222105709/http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1922_13.php 22 February 2012 28 October 2016 dead Mémoire du cyclisme 16ème Tour de France 1922 - 13ème étape fr The rules about reparations were changed in the 1923 Tour: technical assistance from team directors was allowed. It was still not allowed to change equipment with other cyclists. Another introduction was the time bonus for stage winners. After each stage, the overall time of the stage winner was reduced with two minutes. Participants List of cyclists in the 1923 Tour de France In previous years, the cyclists had been divided in two classes, the sponsored class and the unsponsored class. In 1923, this system changed, and three categories were used: the "first category", of the top cyclist, the "second category", of lesser but still sponsored cyclists, and the touriste-routiers, the quasi-amateurs.Thompson 2008 37 The sponsors, who had joined forces in the previous tours under the name La Sportive, were now financially stable enough to have their own teams. Automoto, sponsor of the team with the Pélissier brothers, had commercial interests in Italy, so wanted to have Italian cyclists in the team. Several Italian cyclists were hired, who were supposed to come to France. Only one Italian cyclist showed up, Ottavio Bottecchia, who had started as a professional the year before. The sponsor then decided that the marketing plan would not work with only one Italian cyclist, and wanted to send him back. At the last minute, Bottecchia was allowed to stay on the team.McGann McGann 2006 66–72 Race overview 1923 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 8 1923 Tour de France, Stage 9 to Stage 15 thumb|upright|Henri Pélissier, winner of the 1923 Tour de France The first stage was won by Robert Jacquinot, who had also won the first stage of the 1922 Tour de France. In the second stage, Ottavio Bottecchia, at that moment a little-known Italian cyclist,http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1923/index.html 1923 - 17th Tour de France Amaury Sport Organisation 20 June 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090715153716/http://www.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1923/index.html 15 July 2009 dead dmy-all won the sprint. Bottecchia had finished in second place in the first stage, and now took over the lead. He was the first Italian cyclist to wear the yellow jersey.McGann McGann 2006 66–72 In the third stage, the Pélissier brothers showed their dominance. The race was won by Henri, with Francis in second place. Bottecchia had a flat tire after 300 km in the race and lost some minutes, but he fought back and only lost 37 second on the finish line.Amels 1984 26–27 In the fourth stage, Henri Pélissier received a two-minute penalty,http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1923_4.php https://web.archive.org/web/20120306125447/http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1923_4.php 6 March 2012 28 October 2016 dead 17ème Tour de France - 4ème étape fr Mémoire du cyclisme for throwing away a tyre. Bottecchia punctured again and lost the lead to Romain Bellenger.Amels 1984 26–27 In the Pyrenees, French Jean Alavoine was the dominant cyclist, as he won three stages. In the sixth stage, Robert Jacquinot, who was primarily known as a sprinter, rode away and topped the first three mountains first. He seemed to go on and win the stage and took over the lead, but the last mountain was too much for Jacquinot, and he fell off his bike climbing the Peyresourde.McGann McGann 2006 66–72 Alavoine passed Jacquinot and went on to win the stage, while Bottecchia won back enough time to regain his lead from Bellenger, who lost a lot of time.Amels 1984 26–27 When Alavoine won his third stage in Nice, Bottecchia was leading the race, with Alavoine in second place and Henri Pélissier in third place, almost half an hour behind. In the tenth stage, the high alps were climbed. Francis Pélissier was riding with an injured knee, but together with Lucien Buysse, he was planning to help Henri Pélissier take over the lead from their teammate Bottecchia.McGann McGann 2006 66–72 Although the race was neutralized on the Vars, Henri Pélissier still won the stage with a large margin to Alavoine and Bottecchia, and took over the lead. The experience of Pélissier helped him: Bottecchia was riding in too big a gear, which Pélissier saw. In order to change gears, Bottecchia would have had to dismount his bicycle, so Pélissier sped away, and Bottecchia could not follow. In the eleventh stage, the Pélissier brothers left all other cyclists behind, with only Bellenger staying within ten minutes. Alavoine had to abandon the race after an accident, which put Bottecchia in second place. At that point, all the stages left were flat stages where it is difficult to win much time, and with an almost 30 minutes lead over his teammate Bottecchia, Pélissier was assured of the victory. Results In each stage, all cyclists started together. The cyclist who reached the finish first, was the winner of the stage. The time that each cyclist required to finish the stage was recorded. For the general classification, these times were added up; the cyclist with the least accumulated time (after compensating for time bonuses and/or time penalties) was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey. Stage winners + Stage characteristics and winnershttp://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1923.php Mémoire du cyclisme 17ème Tour de France 1923 fr 20 June 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090805092807/http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1923.php 5 August 2009 dead http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k293620x.zoom.f4.langFR Le 17e Tour de France 23 June 1923 4 Gallica Bibliothèque Numérique Le Figaro fr 2 August 2010 Quant aux dates auxquelles elles se disputeront, il suffera de se rappeler qu'elles se courront toujours un jour pair, 24, 26, 28, 30 juin, 2 juillet, etc.Augendre 2016 21http://www.cvccbike.com/tour/top_ten.html#1923 Tour de France GC top ten Arian Zwegers CVCC 20 June 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20080516071832/http://www.cvccbike.com/tour/top_ten.html 16 May 2008 live The history of the Tour de France – Year 1922 – The stage winners http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1922/vainqueurs.html Tour de France Amaury Sport Organisation 2 April 2020 2 April 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200402233139/http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1922/vainqueurs.html dead Stage Date Course Distance TypeThere was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate which stages included mountains. Winner Race leader 1 24 June Paris to Le Havre 381 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Robert Jacquinot FRA Robert Jacquinot FRA 2 26 June Le Havre to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 371 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 3 28 June Cherbourg to Brest 405 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Henri Pélissier FRA Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 4 30 June Brest to Les Sables d'Olonne 412 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Albert Dejonghe BEL Romain Bellenger FRA 5 2 July Les Sables d'Olonne to Bayonne 482 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Robert Jacquinot FRA Romain Bellenger FRA 6 4 July Bayonne to Luchon 326 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Stage with mountain(s) Jean Alavoine FRA Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 7 6 July Luchon to Perpignan 323 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Stage with mountain(s) Jean Alavoine FRA Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 8 8 July Perpignan to Toulon 427 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Lucien Buysse BEL Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 9 10 July Toulon to Nice 281 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Stage with mountain(s) Jean Alavoine FRA Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 10 12 July Nice to Briançon 275 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Stage with mountain(s) Henri Pélissier FRA Henri Pélissier FRA 11 14 July Briançon to Geneva 260 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Stage with mountain(s) Henri Pélissier FRA Henri Pélissier FRA 12 16 July Geneva to Strasbourg 377 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Joseph Muller FRA Henri Pélissier FRA 13 18 July Strasbourg to Metz 300 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Romain Bellenger FRA Henri Pélissier FRA 14 20 July Metz to Dunkerque 433 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Félix Goethals FRA Henri Pélissier FRA 15 22 July Dunkerque to Paris 343 km mi on 20px|alt=|link= Plain stage Félix Goethals FRA Henri Pélissier FRA Total 5386 km 0 onAugendre 2016 108 General classification For his overall victory, Henri Pélissier received 10000 francs. In total, Henri Pélissier won 17638 francs in the 1923 Tour de France, almost ninety times the standard monthly wage at that time.Thompson 2008 153 + Final general classification (1–10)The history of the Tour de France – Year 1923 – Stage 15 Dunkerque > Paris http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1923/1500/etape.html Tour de France Amaury Sport Organisation 2 April 2020 2 April 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200402214823/http://histo.letour.fr/HISTO/us/TDF/1923/1500/etape.html dead Rank Rider Category Team Time1 Henri Pélissier FRA 1 Automoto 222h 15' 30"2 Ottavio Bottecchia ITA 1861 1 Automoto + 30 '41"3 Romain Bellenger FRA 1 Peugeot–Wolber + 1h 04 '43"4 Hector Tiberghien BEL 1 Peugeot–Wolber + 1h 29 '16"5 Arsène Alancourt FRA 1 Armor + 2h 06 '40"6 Henri Collé SUI 2 Griffon + 2h 28 '43"7 Léon Despontin BEL 1 Peugeot–Wolber + 2h 39 '49"8 Lucien Buysse BEL 1 Automoto + 2h 40 '11"9 Eugène Dhers FRA 2 Armor + 2h 59 '09"10 Marcel Huot FRA 1 Griffon + 3h 16 '56" Final general classification (11–48) Rank Rider Category Team Time11 Joseph Muller FRA 1 Peugeot-Wolber + 3h 26 '46"12 Ottavio Pratesi ITA 1861 Touriste-Routier + 3h 35 '06"13 Félix Goethals FRA 1 Thomann + 4h 21 '38"14 Théophile Beeckman BEL 1 Griffon + 5h 00 '04"15 Joseph Normand FRA 2 Davy + 5h 09 '59"16 Gaston Degy FRA 1 Peugeot–Wolber + 5h 35 '57"17 Lucien Rich FRA 2 Christophe + 6h 35 '06"18 Paul Duboc FRA 2 Alleluia + 6h 56 '41"19 Camille Botte BEL Touriste-Routier + 7h 13 '56"20 Georges Cuvelier FRA 2 Lapize + 7h 30 '47"21 Benjamin Mortier BEL 2 Christophe + 8h 03 '43"22 Alfons Standaert BEL 2 Thomann + 8h 17 '38"23 Francis Pélissier FRA 1 Automoto + 9h 43 '12"24 Henri Touzard FRA Touriste-Routier + 10h 00 '00"25 Robert Jacquinot FRA 1 Peugeot–Wolber + 10h 41 '52"26 Carlo Longoni ITA 1861 2 Christophe + 11h 00 '47"27 Charles Parel SUI Touriste-Routier + 11h 05 '53"28 Louis Mottiat BEL 1 Alcyon + 12h 01 '57"29 Giovanni Rossignoli ITA 1861 Touriste-Routier + 13h 18 '28"30 Pierre Hudsyn BEL Touriste-Routier + 17h 20 '20"31 Edgard Roy FRA Touriste-Routier + 19h 01 '46"32 Antoine Riera FRA Touriste-Routier + 22h 05 '39"33 Charles Cento FRA Touriste-Routier + 24h 17 '53"34 Maurice Arnoult FRA Touriste-Routier + 25h 32 '25"35 Charles Loew FRA Touriste-Routier + 32h 27 '02"36 Paul Denis FRA Touriste-Routier + 33h 38 '43"37 Félix Richard FRA Touriste-Routier + 33h 42 '23"38 Henri Miège SUI Touriste-Routier + 34h 01 '56"39 Jean Kienlen FRA Touriste-Routier + 35h 07 '38"40 Giuseppe Ercolani ITA 1861 Touriste-Routier + 39h 45 '41"41 Alfred Hersard FRA Touriste-Routier + 40h 57 '43"42 Vincenzo Bianco ITA 1861 Touriste-Routier + 40h 57 '56"43 Giuseppe Ruffoni ITA 1861 Touriste-Routier + 41h 58 '42"44 Georges Kamm FRA Touriste-Routier + 42h 18 '20"45 Charles Arnulf FRA Touriste-Routier + 42h 59 '39"46 Marcel Simonet FRA Touriste-Routier + 43h 32 '35"47 Maurice Protin BEL Touriste-Routier + 44h 53 '46"48 Daniel Masson FRA Touriste-Routier + 48h 31 '07" Aftermath Henri Pélissier was the first French winner of the Tour de France since 1911, and ended a series of seven Belgian victories. Desgrange, who had been in a fight with Pélissier for three years, wrote "The mountains seemed to sink lower, sunk by the victorious thrust of his muscle. More than a score of times on the most vicious gradients, hands on the tops of the bars, he looked down at the valley bottoms, like an eagle staring at his prey". The French victory was good for the organising newspaper l'Auto: the circulation increased to almost half a million copies,Thompson 2008 42 while it peaked at one million the morning after Pélissier's victory.http://www.teamcyclist.com/cycling_info/heritage/topic.cfm?id=9 Heritage - Tour de France 20 June 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20071208093535/http://www.teamcyclist.com/cycling_info/heritage/topic.cfm?id=9 8 December 2007 dead At the end of the race, the winner Henri Pélissier declared that Bottecchia would be the winner of the next Tour. This prediction was right; Bottecchia won the 1924 and the 1925 Tour de France. The introduction of time bonuses for stage winners was considered a success and has been used for many Tours after 1923, although the details have changed since. Notes References 30em Bibliography Amels Wim De geschiedenis van de Tour de France 1903–1984 Valkenswaard, Netherlands Sport-Express 1984 nl 978-90-70763-05-3 Jacques Augendre Jacques Augendre http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/cyclisme/le-tour/2016/histoire/TDF16_GH_Interactif-PROD.pdf Guide historique Historical guide 2016 fr 27 October 2016 PDF Tour de France Paris Amaury Sport Organisation https://web.archive.org/web/20160817121602/http://netstorage.lequipe.fr/ASO/cyclisme/le-tour/2016/histoire/TDF16_GH_Interactif-PROD.pdf 17 August 2016 live McGann Bill McGann Carol The Story of the Tour de France: 1903–1964 1 https://books.google.com/books?id=jxq20JskqMUC Dog Ear Publishing Indianapolis, IN 2006 978-1-59858-180-5 Thompson Christopher S. The Tour de France: A Cultural History https://books.google.com/books?id=UpzzPqexF00C University of California Press Oakland, CA 2008 978-0-520-25630-9 Further reading Mapping Le Tour Ellis Bacon HarperCollins Publishers Glasgow 2014 56–57 9780007543991 872700415 External links 1923 Tour de France 1 8 9 15 Tour de France Tour de France Category:Tour de France by year Tour de France