Great Cycling Tours
We wanted to leave a space on our website for the three great cycling tours and their history.
Tour de France - Giro d´Italia - Vuelta a Espaņa
- Tour de France
- Giro d´Italia
The Tour takes place in Italy and sometimes in the neighbouring countries over three weeks, with a different route every year.
The first was held in 1909 over 2,400 km in eight stages and the winner was Luigi Ganna.
The Tour was suspended between 1915 and 1918 and later due to the First and Second World Wars.
At first, in 1922, the Tour was fought out with one day of racing and one day of rest.
Since 1931, the Giro has rewarded winners with a pink jersey because of the colour of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the tour organisers. The cyclists who have worn it on three occasions each are Alfredo Brinda (between 1925 and 1933), Fausto Coppi (between 1940 and 1953) and Eddy Merckx (between 1968 and 1974). One champion who stands out for his victory in the stages is Mario Cipollini, who in 2003 beat the 41-stage victory record held by Alfredo Brinda since the 1930s. The afore-mentioned Brinda, in his day, was paid not to go too fast, as he was so superior to the rest.
- La vuelta Ciclista a Espaņa
After France and Italy, Spain produced the third of the great Tours. The competition has stages and teams and is held over three weeks. It was first held in 1935 and organised by Clemente López Doriga and Juan Pujol, editor of the Informaciones newspaper.
This Tour’s great champions have been Tony Rominger and Roberto Heras, with three overall victories apiece.
First held in 1935, it was spread over 14 stages and 3,400 km. In spite of the delicate situation in Spain as a result of the Civil War it was held for a second successive year and was then stopped until 1941 and was later stopped again because of the Second World War.
In 1945 the Ya newspaper took over the organisation, which had poor foreign participation. Delio Rodríguez took the final victory.
In 1955 organisation passed over to the Spanish Postal Service (El Correo Español/El Pueblo Vasco) the Basque Nation who organised it until 1979 when the Unipublic Company took over.
In the sixties, the Tour gained prestige and many great cyclists at that time took part in the Vuelta.
The seventies were dominated by Luis Ocaña, while the prominent Spanish figure of the eighties was Perico Delgado.
The nineties were great years for Tony Rominguer, while Roberto Heras dominated the following decade.
Some highlights on our stage are climbs as classic and tough as Los lagos de Covadonga and the legendary Angliru, one of the toughest passes of the three great Tours.
The Tour de France is a race in stages which has been held since 1903, with the only interruptions from 1915 to 1918 during the First World War and from 1940 to 1946 during the Second World War.
In those years it was almost impossible to imagine a race of almost 2,500 km around the whole country. Creator Géo Lefèvre was a journalist for L´Auto magazine, whose editor Henri Desgrange believed in his idea. On the 1st July 1903 the first race, with 60 participants, was held. Only 21 finished, overcoming stages of more than 470km, and Maurice Garin was declared the winner.
What began as a race for the French has become an international event over the years and is undoubtedly the most important race in professional cycling.
The leader of the Tour wears the traditional yellow jersey. Throughout history some great champions have added their names to the list of winners in golden letters. However, without a doubt the most significant has been Lance Armstrong, who, after overcoming cancer, became champion on seven occasions and was unrivalled between 1999 and 2005.
