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1914 Tour de France


FieldValue
name1914 Tour de France
imageTour de France 1914 map-fr.svg
image_captionRoute of the 1914 Tour de France followed counterclockwise, starting in Paris
image_altMap of France with the route of the 1914 Tour de France on it, showing that the race started in Paris, went clockwise through France and ended in Paris after fifteen stages.
image_size300px
date28 June – 26 July 1914
stages15
distance5380
unitkm
time200h 28' 48"
firstPhilippe Thys
first_natBEL
first_teamPeugeot–Wolber
secondHenri Pélissier
second_natFRA
second_teamPeugeot–Wolber
thirdJean Alavoine
third_natFRA
third_teamPeugeot–Wolber
previous[1913](1913-tour-de-france)
next[1919](1919-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 5380 km and the average speed of the riders was 26.835 km/h. 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 the July Crisis which would lead to 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 Defraye and Gustave Garrigou. Four more cyclists started the race that would later win a Tour de France: Firmin Lambot, Léon Scieur, Henri Pélissier and Lucien Buysse. This number of 11 former or future Tour de France winners on the start line is a record. In addition, Italian champion Costante Girardengo, started the race, but Girardengo was not yet the champion from 1919 on, and was not the team leader.

In 1914, the first cyclists from Australia started the Tour de France, Don Kirkham and Iddo Munro. They also finished the race, in 17th place and 20th place.

The cyclists used whistles, to warn other persons that they were coming (mainly downhill).

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1914 Tour de France

Race overview

Main article: 1914 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 8, 1914 Tour de France, Stage 9 to Stage 15

Thys was dominant in the entire race. Even though he only won the first stage, he finished in the top five every other stage. In that first stage, Jean Rossius finished second with the same time. The second stage was won by Rossius, with Thys in the same time. Both had the same time, and the same finishing places, so they were both given the lead in the general classification.

In the third stage, the riders reached the first check point one hour late, after they had taken the wrong route and rode 30 km in the wrong direction. The race was then stopped and restarted from the first check point.

The lead remained shared between Rossius and Thys until after the fifth stage, when Thys got away from Rossius. After that stage, Pélissier was third in the classification with only 5'27" behind.

In the sixth stage, the Pyrenees mountains appeared. The stage was won by Lambot, with Thys only 7 minutes behind. The other competitors did worse, with Pélissier losing over 30 minutes and Rossius over one hour. Thys was firmly in the lead. In that stage, Ali Neffati was hit by a car from the organization, and could not continue. According to the rules, he did not have to finish the stage, and was given a time which allowed him to keep his 42nd place in the overall classification. In the sixth stage, Girardengo crashed again, and retired from the Tour, never to come back.

The weather was hot, and in the eighth stage, the cyclists did not want to race and cycled at a low speed. Tour organiser Henri Desgrange then stopped the race, and organised a sprint tournament, with semifinals and finals, which was won by Octave Lapize. In the ninth stage, former winner Faber was penalised with 90 minutes, because he had been pushed and took drinks from a motor cyclist.

Pélissier, still in second place, had done his best to win back time, but he only managed to win back a few minutes. After the thirteenth stage, he was still 31 minutes and 50 seconds behind. In the 14th stage to Dunkerque, Thys' bicycle broke. It was not allowed to get help while fixing your bicycle, and in the 1913 Tour de France, Eugene Christophe lost his chances of a victory by repairing his own bicycle. Thys decided to take the risk of a time penalty, and bought a new wheel at a shop. This cost him a 30-minute penalty, which left Thys with only 1:50 ahead of Pélissier. Pélissier did his best to overcome the gap, but Thys followed him. In the stage to Dunkerque, Pélissier claimed spectators prevented him from getting away from Thys. In the end, Thys stayed less than two minutes ahead of Henri Pélissier, and managed to keep that margin until the finish in Paris.

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 was the race leader.

Stage results

StageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinnerRace leader[1](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-1)[2](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-2)[3](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-3)[4](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-4)[5](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-5)[6](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-6)[7](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-7)[8](1914-tour-de-france-stage-1-to-stage-8-stage-8)[9](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-9)[10](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-10)[11](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-11)[12](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-12)[13](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-13)[14](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-14)[15](1914-tour-de-france-stage-9-to-stage-15-stage-15)
28 JuneParis to Le Havre388 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stagePhilippe ThysPhilippe Thys
30 JuneLe Havre to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin364 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageJean RossiusPhilippe Thys
Jean Rossius
2 JulyCherbourg to Brest405 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageEmile EngelPhilippe Thys
Jean Rossius
4 JulyBrest to La Rochelle470 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageOscar EggPhilippe Thys
Jean Rossius
6 JulyLa Rochelle to Bayonne376 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageOscar EggPhilippe Thys
Jean Rossius
8 JulyBayonne to Luchon326 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)Firmin LambotPhilippe Thys
10 JulyLuchon to Perpignan323 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)Jean AlavoinePhilippe Thys
12 JulyPerpignan to Marseille370 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageOctave LapizePhilippe Thys
14 JulyMarseille to Nice338 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)Jean RossiusPhilippe Thys
16 JulyNice to Grenoble323 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)Henri PélissierPhilippe Thys
18 JulyGrenoble to Geneva325 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)Gustave GarrigouPhilippe Thys
20 JulyGeneva to Belfort325 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)Henri PélissierPhilippe Thys
22 JulyBelfort to Longwy325 km[[File:Mountainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Stage with mountain(s)François FaberPhilippe Thys
24 JulyLongwy to Dunkerque390 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageFrançois FaberPhilippe Thys
26 JulyDunkerque to Paris340 km[[File:Plainstage.svg20pxalt=link=]]Plain stageHenri PélissierPhilippe Thys
Total5380 km

General classification

RankRiderTeamTime12345678910
Philippe ThysPeugeot–Wolber200h 28' 48"
Henri PélissierPeugeot–Wolber+ 1' 50"
Jean AlavoinePeugeot–Wolber+ 36' 53"
Jean RossiusAlcyon–Soly+ 1h 57' 05"
Gustave GarrigouPeugeot–Wolber+ 3h 00' 21"
Emile GeorgetPeugeot–Wolber+ 3h 20' 59"
Alfons SpiessensJ.B. Louvet–Continental+ 3h 53' 55"
Firmin LambotPeugeot–Wolber+ 5h 08' 54"
François FaberPeugeot–Wolber+ 6h 15' 53"
Louis HeusghemPeugeot–Wolber+ 7h 49' 02"
Final general classification (11–54)RankRiderSponsorTime1112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354
Eugène ChristophePeugeot–Wolber+ 8h 31' 58"
Ernest PaulDelage–Continental+ 9h 42' 51"
Oscar EggPeugeot–Wolber+ 10h 00' 40"
Léon ScieurThoman–Joly+ 10h 02' 30"
Camille Botte+ 10h 14' 33"
Angelo ErbaAlleluia–Continental+ 11h 21' 22"
Donald KirkhamPhebus–Dunlop+ 11h 53' 39"
Hector TiberghienDelage–Continental+ 12h 23' 21"
Jacques CoomansThoman–Joly+ 12h 24' 15"
Iddo MunroPhebus–Dunlop+ 12h 34' 57"
Charles CharronDelage–Continental+ 12h 59' 23"
Henri DevroyeArmor–Soly+ 13h 22' 14"
Maurice BroccoGladiator–Dunlop+ 14h 32' 36"
Julien Tuytten+ 14h 36' 14"
Vincenzo BorgarelloClement–Dunlop+ 15h 18' 21"
Louis PetitjeanDelage–Continental+ 15h 38' 44"
Jules NemponJ.B. Louvet–Continental+ 16h 32' 55"
René VandenbergheJ.B. Louvet–Continental+ 17h 05' 07"
Marcel BaumlerPeugeot–Wolber+ 17h 07' 55"
Marcel GodivierGladiator–Dunlop+ 18h 18' 57"
Paul DubocAutomoto+ 18h 35' 32"
Pierre Everaerts+ 19h 21' 04"
Ottavio Pratesi+ 20h 31' 40"
Constant MénagerGladiator–Dunlop+ 20h 58' 45"
Charles CruchonGladiator–Dunlop+ 21h 04' 56"
Jules Deloffre+ 22h 03' 15"
Camillo BertarelliAlleluia–Continental+ 23h 08' 26"
Louis TrousselierAutomoto+ 23h 44' 30"
Adrien Alpini+ 26h 11' 22"
Gaston DegyAutomoto+ 29h 05' 54"
Raymond HarquetAlleluia–Continental+ 30h 04' 05"
Louis EngelDelage–Continental+ 30h 54' 28"
Emile Guyon+ 30h 55' 10"
Mario Spinelli+ 35h 13' 35"
Charles KippertGladiator–Dunlop+ 35h 56' 03"
Charles Dumont+ 37h 42' 31"
René Cottrel+ 37h 42' 31"
Sante Goi+ 52h 15' 32"
Emilio Cuchetti+ 59h 20' 16"
Gaston Neboux+ 59h 59' 01"
Henri Allard+ 67h 46' 24"
Henri Alavoine+ 72h 55' 21"
Marcel Rottie+ 84h 03' 10"
Henri Leclerc+ 99h 04' 45"

Other classifications

Camille Botte, ranked 15 in the general classification, became the winner of the "isolés" category. The "isolés" classification was calculated in the same way as the general classification, but only the isolated cyclists (not part of a team) were eligible.

The organising newspaper l'Auto named Firmin Lambot the meilleur grimpeur. This unofficial title is the precursor to the mountains classification.

Aftermath

One week after the race ended, Germany had declared war on France, starting World War I in France. This made the organization of a big cycling race impossible for the next four years, and the Tour de France would start again in 1919. By that time, Tour de France champions Lucien Petit-Breton, François Faber and Octave Lapize had died in the first world war. The winner of the 1914 Tour de France, Philippe Thys, would survive the war, and go on for his third victory in 1920. Henri Pélissier, the runner-up, would win the Tour de France in 1923.

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

  1. Wheatcroft, Geoffrey. ''Le Tour: a history of the Tour de France, 1903-2003'', p. 59. London: Pocket Books, 2003.
  2. "1914 - 12th Tour de France". [[Amaury Sport Organisation.
  3. (19 March 2003). "1914: Philippe Thys heerst vanaf de eerste dag". Tourdefrance.nl.
  4. "Aussies and Kiwis on Tour". Sportal.com.
  5. (25 January 2008). "Philippe Thys wint Tour de France 1914". Nieuwsdossier.
  6. (3 July 1914). "De derde rit - Cherbourg-Brest". aalst.courant.nu.
  7. (4 July 1914). "De Ronde van Frankrijk - Nog de 3e rit: Cherborg-Brest". aalst.courant.nu.
  8. "12ème Tour de France 1914 - 5ème étape". Mémoire du cyclisme.
  9. "12ème Tour de France 1914 - 6ème étape". Mémoire du cyclisme.
  10. "Ronde van Frankrijk 1903 - 2006".
  11. Barry Boyce. "12th Tour de France 1914". Cycling Revealed.
  12. Tom James. (14 August 2003). "1914: Thys in spite of Pélissier".
  13. "12ème Tour de France 1914". Mémoire du cyclisme.
  14. Arian Zwegers. "Tour de France GC top ten". CVCC.
  15. "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1914 – The stage winners". [[Amaury Sport Organisation]].
  16. "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1914 – Stage 15 Dunkerque > Paris". [[Amaury Sport Organisation]].
  17. "l'Historique du Tour - Année 1914". [[Amaury Sport Organisation]].
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