The Tour De France 2009 is upon us. “So what?” shouts most of our readership, but persevere and I hope you will be rewarded! The race, one of the hardest mental and physical tests on the planet, has been going strong for over 100 years (give or take a few unfortunate World War years). Yes, you mention the TDF to people, and they immediately think ‘drugs’, it’s true, the sport has been tarnished in recent times, but it’s the passion and history that draws millions of people every year. Not only 20 million people in Europe tuned in for the final stage of the race, over 1/3rd of the french public head out to watch the race in person at some stage during the 3 weeks every year. They line the streets and wait for hours on end for a 30 second glimpse of their lycra-cladded heroes. Cycling is a big deal on mainland Europe.
Without a doubt, an incredible spectacle, the Tour has been documented since it’s inception with photographs. This article hopes to showcase some of the amazing photographs from the ‘glory’ years of the Tour (which still consisted of copious amounts of drugs and alcohol!).
Old School
a common site for the first 40 years of the tour, riders would stop at a local bar, before tackling a mighty climb. Brandy, wine, and beer were favourites, often with the riders taking a bottle with them.
Riders share a bottle of alcohol
It wasn't all just about booze and cigarettes. Shown aboce, racers on the Puy de Dome during the 1964 Tour de France, picture courtesy of www.deblauwe.org
There were no support vehicles, riders carried spare tyres on their backs.
Riders cross a bridge in Southern France
Riders stop at a drinking station
The Tour visits a French Port
Racers share a cigarette
The Finale in Paris
Photojournalism
LIFE Magazine recently scanned thousands of it’s old film, many of which have never seen the light of day. In this vast archive lies many fantastic shots from the Tour from 1947-1953, all available to the public domain (although not for commerical purposes). The beauty of these, mostly taken by Tony Linck and Frank Scherschel, is that, unlike most shots TDF shots, they concentrated on the supporters, the scene, the atmosphere, rather than the race itself.
These amazing photos were then echoed in 2008 by The Boston Globe, who gathered together a similar theme around the Tour, over 50 years later. As the photos are mainly from agencies so unavailable to use, so I’ll just link to them, they are well worth checking out though:
Comments
These photographs are amazing. Such a different feel from the slick, multi-coloured lycra of these days. It must have been an incredible endurance slog without any real support. Looking forward to it all starting today!
[...] Celebrating The Tour De France in Photography. Share : [...]
[...] This post was Twitted by tomtveitan [...]
France, July and bicycles. Life is worth living again.
Great images here. Thanks.
Here’s a photo I took when the Tour started in England a couple of years ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasticfantastic/1107023060/
Old stellar camera (diana clone), but with lycra clad cyclists.
Cool shots – my favorite has always been “Riders Share a Cigarette”. The perspective is awesome, and the photo perfectly captures that moment. A much different race in much different times….
How exciting, i will certainly take a look at the new blog!
[...] the Department of Nostalgia: The Tour De France in the Good Ole Days.™ Like everything from the Good Ole Days™ everyone smokes and drinks all [...]