1909 Tour de France
Encyclopedia
The 1909 Tour de France was the seventh Tour de France
, taking place from 5 July to 1 August 1909. It consisted of 14 stages over 4498 kilometres (2,794.9 mi), ridden at an average 28.658 km/h. The results were computed by points accorded finishing positions on each stage, the rider with fewest points at the end of the race winning the race. The stages were approximately the same as in the 1907
and 1908 Tour de France
.
Because Lucien Petit-Breton
, the winner of the Tour de France in 1907 and 1908, did not enter, the runner-up of 1908, François Faber
, was the favourite. Faber went on to win six of the 14 stages and won the race easily.
After the eighth stage, the classification was cleaned up, by removing the cyclists from the result of the previous stages and recalculating the points of the remaining cyclists. This happened again after the thirteenth stage.
In 1908, the cyclists had to use Tour-supplied frames; this rule was abandoned in 1909. The bicycles were still marked with a stamp, to ensure that the riders only used one bicycle.
For the first time, cyclists could enter the race in teams, although technically they were still considered sponsored individuals.
In the previous Tours, the Tour organisation had become embarrassed by cyclists urinating in front of spectators, so at the check points obligatory bathrooms were installed.
, was not competing in 1909. Petit-Breton expected his former team mate François Faber, who had become second in 1908, to win the race. Faber had transferred from the Peugeot team, that had dominated the 1908 edition, to the Alcyon team.
A new record of 150 cyclists started the race. The previous Tours had been successful, and similar races were initiated in other countries (most notably the Tour of Belgium
, which started in 1908 and the Giro d'Italia
, which started in 1909). The Tour de France was still the major race where the best cyclists came, and it was the first large-scale invasion of foreign stars. In total, 19 Italians, 5 Belgians, 4 Swiss, 1 German and 1 Luxembourgian started the race.
Because cyclists could enter the race as sponsored cyclists, there were two classes of cyclists: cyclists with sponsors and cyclists without sponsors. There were seven different sponsors in the race (Nil-Supra, Alcyon, Biguet-Dunlop, Le Globe, Atala, Legnano and Felsina), with three to six cyclists. The majority of the cyclists, 112 in total, were not sponsored but were in the Isolé class, the class for cyclists without a sponsor.
The first stage was won by Belgian Cyrille van Hauwaert
, the first Belgian stage victory ever. As a result, he was leading also the race, the first time in the Tour de France history that a non-Frenchman was leading the race.In the 1904 Tour de France
, after the disqualifications, Swiss Michel Frédérick
and Belgian Emile Lombard
retroactively had led the race after the first and second stage, but this was not acknowledged during the race. François Faber, the pre-race favourite, finished in second place. Faber won the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th stage, this record of five stages in a row has not been broken since. In stage two, Faber broke away halfway the stage, and rode the last 200 km alone. In the third stage (at a temperature of only 4 degrees Celsius), Faber's chain broke in the last kilometre, and he had to run his bicycle across the finish line. In the fifth stage, Faber was blown of the road by a strong wind, but remounted. Later, he was knocked down by a horse that also kicked his bicycle away. Faber remounted again, and won the stage with a five minute margin. In the sixth stage, 20,000 fans had come to see Faber win his fifth stage in a row, which he did. The 7th stage was won by Ernest Paul
, Faber's half brother. Because of the bad weather, already 50 cyclists (1/3 of the field) had quit the race at that point.
The Tour organizers asked Faber to calm down, in order to keep the Tour exciting. His team leader agreed and Faber slowed down and let others win stages; his leading position was never endangered.
In the ninth stage, Faber finished in 10th place at 46 minutes from the winner, his worst performance of the race. He was still leading the race with 26 points, whereas second placed cyclist Gustave Garrigou
had 40 points.
In the fourteenth stage, Jean Alavoine
was leading when his bicycle broke, with only 10 km to go. Changing bicycles was not allowed, so Alavoine ran the last 10 km with his bicycle on his shoulders, and won the stage with a margin of 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
-sponsored cyclists dominated the 1909 Tour de France, winning 13 out of 14 stages. Only the 7th stage was not won by a cyclist sponsored by Alcyon, but by Ernest Paul
, without sponsor.
The general classification was calculated by points: at every stage, the winner was given one point, the next cyclist two points, etc. After the eighth stage, when only 71 cyclists were still in the race, the points given in the first eight stages were redistributed among the remaining cyclists, in accordance with their positions in those stages. Of the 150 starting cyclists, 55 finished.
François Faber is one of the youngest Tour de France winners in history at only 22 years and 7 months; as of 2010, only Henri Cornet
in 1904 and Romain Maes
in 1935 were younger (19 years and 11 months resp. 21 years and 11 months).
The organising newspaper l'Auto named François Faber
the meilleur grimpeur. This unofficial title is the precursor to the mountains classification.
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
, taking place from 5 July to 1 August 1909. It consisted of 14 stages over 4498 kilometres (2,794.9 mi), ridden at an average 28.658 km/h. The results were computed by points accorded finishing positions on each stage, the rider with fewest points at the end of the race winning the race. The stages were approximately the same as in the 1907
1907 Tour de France
The 1907 Tour de France was the 5th annual Tour de France bicycle race. From 8 July to 4 August, participants cycled 4488 km . across France. The winner, Lucien Petit-Breton, completed the race at an average speed of 28.47 km/h . For the first time, climbs in the Western Alps were...
and 1908 Tour de France
1908 Tour de France
The 1908 Tour de France was the sixth Tour de France. Taking place between 13 July and 9 August 1908, the total race distance was . After his 1907 victory, Lucien Petit-Breton was considered main favourite. Winning 5 of the 14 stages and the overall classification, he showed that his 1907 victory...
.
Because Lucien Petit-Breton
Lucien Petit-Breton
Lucien Georges Mazan was a French racing cyclist .He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique , a part of Brittany, now part of Pays de la Loire. When he was six he moved with his parents to Buenos Aires where he took Argentine nationality...
, the winner of the Tour de France in 1907 and 1908, did not enter, the runner-up of 1908, François Faber
François Faber
François Faber was a Luxembourgian/French racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands...
, was the favourite. Faber went on to win six of the 14 stages and won the race easily.
Changes from the 1908 Tour de France
The 1909 Tour de France was again decided by the point system: the winner of a stage received one point, the second placed cyclist two points, and so on. The cyclist with the least points at the end of the race was the winner.After the eighth stage, the classification was cleaned up, by removing the cyclists from the result of the previous stages and recalculating the points of the remaining cyclists. This happened again after the thirteenth stage.
In 1908, the cyclists had to use Tour-supplied frames; this rule was abandoned in 1909. The bicycles were still marked with a stamp, to ensure that the riders only used one bicycle.
For the first time, cyclists could enter the race in teams, although technically they were still considered sponsored individuals.
In the previous Tours, the Tour organisation had become embarrassed by cyclists urinating in front of spectators, so at the check points obligatory bathrooms were installed.
Participants
The winner of the previous two editions, Lucien Petit-BretonLucien Petit-Breton
Lucien Georges Mazan was a French racing cyclist .He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique , a part of Brittany, now part of Pays de la Loire. When he was six he moved with his parents to Buenos Aires where he took Argentine nationality...
, was not competing in 1909. Petit-Breton expected his former team mate François Faber, who had become second in 1908, to win the race. Faber had transferred from the Peugeot team, that had dominated the 1908 edition, to the Alcyon team.
A new record of 150 cyclists started the race. The previous Tours had been successful, and similar races were initiated in other countries (most notably the Tour of Belgium
Tour of Belgium
The Tour of Belgium is a four-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium.It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several of races were not organised and none at all during the decade 1991 to 2001...
, which started in 1908 and the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
, which started in 1909). The Tour de France was still the major race where the best cyclists came, and it was the first large-scale invasion of foreign stars. In total, 19 Italians, 5 Belgians, 4 Swiss, 1 German and 1 Luxembourgian started the race.
Because cyclists could enter the race as sponsored cyclists, there were two classes of cyclists: cyclists with sponsors and cyclists without sponsors. There were seven different sponsors in the race (Nil-Supra, Alcyon, Biguet-Dunlop, Le Globe, Atala, Legnano and Felsina), with three to six cyclists. The majority of the cyclists, 112 in total, were not sponsored but were in the Isolé class, the class for cyclists without a sponsor.
Race details
The 1909 Tour de France was considered the most difficult one so far, because of the cold temperatures, the rain and snow.Cyrille van Hauwaert
Cyrille van Hauwaert was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, known for winning classics as Bordeaux–Paris , Milan – San Remo and Paris–Roubaix . In 1909 he won the first stage of the Tour de France, and was leading the general classification for one day.- Palmarès :19071908...
, the first Belgian stage victory ever. As a result, he was leading also the race, the first time in the Tour de France history that a non-Frenchman was leading the race.In the 1904 Tour de France
1904 Tour de France
The 1904 Tour de France was the second Tour de France, held from 2 July to 24 July. With a route similar to its previous edition, 1903 Tour de France winner Maurice Garin seemed to have repeated his win by a small margin over Lucien Pothier, while Hippolyte Aucouturier won four of the six stages...
, after the disqualifications, Swiss Michel Frédérick
Michel Frédérick
Michel Frédérick was a Swiss professional road bicycle racer, who won the first stage of the 1904 Tour de France, and was leading the classification for one day, the second non-French person to do so after Charles Laeser in the 1903 Tour de France...
and Belgian Emile Lombard
Emile Lombard
Emile Lombard was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, who raced the 1904 Tour de France. During the race, after the second stage, Lombard was in 4th place...
retroactively had led the race after the first and second stage, but this was not acknowledged during the race. François Faber, the pre-race favourite, finished in second place. Faber won the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th stage, this record of five stages in a row has not been broken since. In stage two, Faber broke away halfway the stage, and rode the last 200 km alone. In the third stage (at a temperature of only 4 degrees Celsius), Faber's chain broke in the last kilometre, and he had to run his bicycle across the finish line. In the fifth stage, Faber was blown of the road by a strong wind, but remounted. Later, he was knocked down by a horse that also kicked his bicycle away. Faber remounted again, and won the stage with a five minute margin. In the sixth stage, 20,000 fans had come to see Faber win his fifth stage in a row, which he did. The 7th stage was won by Ernest Paul
Ernest Paul
Ernest Paul was a French professional road bicycle racer. He was a half brother of Tour de France-winner François Faber. Ernest Paul rode the Tour de France seven times, finished six times, and won two stages...
, Faber's half brother. Because of the bad weather, already 50 cyclists (1/3 of the field) had quit the race at that point.
The Tour organizers asked Faber to calm down, in order to keep the Tour exciting. His team leader agreed and Faber slowed down and let others win stages; his leading position was never endangered.
In the ninth stage, Faber finished in 10th place at 46 minutes from the winner, his worst performance of the race. He was still leading the race with 26 points, whereas second placed cyclist Gustave Garrigou
Gustave Garrigou
Cyprien Gustave Garrigou was one of the best professional racing cyclists of his era. He rode the Tour de France eight times and won once...
had 40 points.
In the fourteenth stage, Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine was a French professional cyclist, who won 17 stages in the Tour de France - only 8 riders have won more stages - and wore the yellow jersey for 5 days. In Daniel Marszalek's list of best road riders in history, he is ranked 96th....
was leading when his bicycle broke, with only 10 km to go. Changing bicycles was not allowed, so Alavoine ran the last 10 km with his bicycle on his shoulders, and won the stage with a margin of 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
Results
The AlcyonAlcyon (cycling team)
Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :...
-sponsored cyclists dominated the 1909 Tour de France, winning 13 out of 14 stages. Only the 7th stage was not won by a cyclist sponsored by Alcyon, but by Ernest Paul
Ernest Paul
Ernest Paul was a French professional road bicycle racer. He was a half brother of Tour de France-winner François Faber. Ernest Paul rode the Tour de France seven times, finished six times, and won two stages...
, without sponsor.
Stage results
| Stage | Date | Route | TerrainIn 1909, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate whether the stage included mountains. | Length | Winner | Race leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 July | Paris–Roubaix Roubaix Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:... |
 |
272 km (169 mi) | ||
| 2 | 7 July | Roubaix–Metz Metz Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place... |
|
398 km (247.3 mi) | ||
| 3 | 9 July | Metz–Belfort Belfort Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-... |
 |
259 km (160.9 mi) | ||
| 4 | 11 July | Belfort–Lyon Lyon Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.... |
|
309 km (192 mi) | ||
| 5 | 13 July | Lyon–Grenoble Grenoble Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère... |
|
311 km (193.2 mi) | ||
| 6 | 15 July | Grenoble–Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of... |
|
346 km (215 mi) | ||
| 7 | 17 July | Nice–Nîmes Nîmes Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:... |
|
345 km (214.4 mi) | ||
| 8 | 19 July | Nîmes–Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea... |
|
303 km (188.3 mi) | ||
| 9 | 21 July | Toulouse–Bayonne Bayonne Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture... |
|
299 km (185.8 mi) | ||
| 10 | 23 July | Bayonne–Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture... |
|
269 km (167.1 mi) | ||
| 11 | 25 July | Bordeaux–Nantes Nantes Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants.... |
|
391 km (243 mi) | ||
| 12 | 27 July | Nantes–Brest Brest, France Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon... |
|
321 km (199.5 mi) | ||
| 13 | 29 July | Brest–Caen Caen Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel.... |
|
424 km (263.5 mi) | ||
| 14 | 1 August | Caen–Paris | |
250 km (155.3 mi) |
General classification
François Faber is one of the youngest Tour de France winners in history at only 22 years and 7 months; as of 2010, only Henri Cornet
Henri Cornet
Henri Jardry called Henri Cornet was a French cyclist who won the 1904 Tour de France. He is its youngest winner, just short of his 20th birthday.-Background:...
in 1904 and Romain Maes
Romain Maes
Romain Maes was a Belgian cyclist who won the 1935 Tour de France after wearing the yellow jersey of leadership from beginning to end....
in 1935 were younger (19 years and 11 months resp. 21 years and 11 months).
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcyon Alcyon (cycling team) Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :... |
37 | |
| 2 | Alcyon Alcyon (cycling team) Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :... |
57 | |
| 3 | Alcyon Alcyon (cycling team) Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :... |
66 | |
| 4 | Alcyon Alcyon (cycling team) Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :... |
70 | |
| 5 | Alcyon Alcyon (cycling team) Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :... |
92 | |
| 6 | – | 95 | |
| 7 | Le Globe | 102 | |
| 8 | Alcyon Alcyon (cycling team) Alcyon is a former French professional cycling team that was active from 1906 to 1955. It was owned by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.- History :... |
114 | |
| 9 | – | 139 | |
| 10 | – | 142 |
Other classifications
Sixth-placed Ernest Paul became the winner of the "isolé" category.The organising newspaper l'Auto named François Faber
François Faber
François Faber was a Luxembourgian/French racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands...
the meilleur grimpeur. This unofficial title is the precursor to the mountains classification.