TdF - 1937 - Roger Lapébie Traditional Cache
TdF - 1937 - Roger Lapébie
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Lapébie won the 1937 Tour by riding 4,415 kilometers in 138 hours, 58 minutes and 31 seconds. His victory was controversial as he was the first rider to complete the race using a modern derailleur. This gave him the advantage of shifting gears without having to stop, dismount and flip the wheel as was customary of racing bicycles used at the time. Lapébie was also known to accept outside assistance in violation of the rules and was at one point penalized 90 seconds by race commissaires.
The advantages taken by Lapébie angered his Belgian rival, Sylvère Maes who won the Tour the previous year. Maes had led the race through the Alps and Pyrenees but decided to quit in protest of Lapébie's tactics and derailleur use after the 16th stage to Bordeaux. Lapébie, in second place, took the yellow jersey in the absence of Maes and kept it until Paris. The victory delighted the French but angered the cycling-proud Belgians.
Following Lapébie's victory derailleurs became standard racing equipment in the Tour peloton.
The Tour de France
The Tour de France is a cycling stage race held since 1903 over a current period of three weeks, although it was not staged from 1914 to 1918 and from 1940 to 1946, because of the World Wars.
French cyclists have been the most successful in the event, having won 36 of the 98 tours, although their last champion was in 1985. They are followed by Belgian riders, who have won 18, including 7 consecutive titles from 1912 to 1922. Cyclists from Spain have won 13 events. Cyclists from The United States of America have won 10 events, all coming from LeMond and Armstrong.
In total, cyclists from 12 countries have won the Tour de France.
During the Tour's history, its organisers have launched a series of other jerseys. In 1933, the race's best climbers were rewarded with the King of the Mountains competition, but it was not until 1975 that the leading rider in the classification wore the distinctive polka dot jersey. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the race in 1953, the green jersey competition was started. It rewarded the consistent finishers in individual stages by awarding points depending on the place in the stage. In 1975, the Tour organisers launched an award for the leading young cyclist, awarding a white jersey to the leading cyclist under 26 years of age in the general classification.
The first Australian to win the Tour was Cadel Evans in 2011 after being runner-up in 2007 & 2008
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