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By Barry Boyce
CyclingRevealed Historian
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THE RETURN of a Grand Affair
“New Tour Legend: the Maillot Jaune”
The Armistice agreement to end the World War 1 was signed at Compiegne, France on November 11, 1918. During the war years Tour organizer Henri Desgranges never stopped thinking about the next Tour de France. The Tour's main sponsor, L'Auto, was hungry for the TdF to continue and within days of the Armistice, Desgranges start putting in place the organization to re-start this great race. Seven months later on June 29, 1919, the Tour rolled out of Paris, France reclaimed a national treasure.
The very popular “le Vieux Gaulois” (the Old Gaul) Eugene Christophe took control of the Tour on stage 4. Christophe steadfastly maintained the race lead through the Pyrenees Mountains and into the Alps. A big piece of TdF history came on Saturday, July 19 in Grenoble. At the beginning of stage 11, Eugene Christophe (Fra) received the first official  Yellow (Race Leader's) Jersey awarded in TdF history.
However, the cobbled roads of the north of France would not be kind to Christophe. The cobbled roads in the “hell of the north” snapped the front fork of his bike and a 28-minute lead turned into a two-hour deficit with only one stage to Paris. The very lucky Firmin Lambot (Bel) won the rugged stage 14 and generated enough time gap to ride victoriously into Paris on stage 15.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1 Paris-Le Havre, 388 km |
Jean Rossius (Bel) |
Jean Rossius (Fra) |
Stage 2 Le Havre-Cherbourg, 364 km |
Henri Pelissier (Fra) |
Henri Pelissier (Fra) |
Stage 3 Cherbourg-Brest, 405 km |
Francis Pelissier (Fra) |
Henri Pelissier (Fra) |
Stage 4 Brest- Les Sables d'Olonne, 412 km |
Jean Alavoine (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 5 Les Sables d'Olonne-Bayonne, 482 km |
Jean Alavoine (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 6 Bayonne-Luchon, 326 km |
Honore Barthelemy (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 7 Luchon-Perpignan, 323 km |
Jean Alavoine (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 8 Perpignan-Marseille, 370 km |
Jean Alavoine (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 9 Marseille-Nice, 338 km |
Honore Barthelemy (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 10 Nice-Grenoble, 333 km |
Honore Barthelemy (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) [1st ] |
Stage 11 Grenoble- Geneva (Sui), 325 km |
Honore Barthelemy (Fra) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 12 Geneva (Sui)- Strasbourg , 371 km |
Luigi Lucotti (Ita) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 13 Strasbourg-Metz, 315 km |
Luigi Lucotti (Ita) |
Eugene Christophe (Fra) |
Stage 14 Metz- Dunkerque, 468 km |
Firmin Lambot (Bel) |
Firmin Lambot (Bel) |
Stage 15 Dunkerque-Paris/Parc des Princes, 340 km |
Jean Alavoine (Fra) |
Firmin Lambot (Bel) |
| TdF June 29-July 27, 1919 |
| 5,560 Km |
1. Firmin LAMBOT (Bel) 231h07'15" |
2. Jean Alavoine (Fra) +1h42'54" |
3. Eugene Christophe (Fra) +2h26'31" |
Starters: 67 |
| Finishers: 10 |
Average Speed: 24.056 km/h |
TdF 1914
TdF 1920
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Return to the Race Snippets ToC |
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13th Tour de France 1919
