Piedmont Velo Sports: 1924 Tour de France

Riders and the follow cars during stage 15 of the 1924 Tour de France.

The 1924 Tour de France was the eighteenth edition of the race. It was total length of 5,425 kilometers (3,371 miles), consisted of 15 stages, and was raced at an average speed of 23.97 km/h (14.90 mph). Of the one hundred and fifty seven cyclist that started, sixty racers finished the race.

A new rule during the 1923 Tour de France awarded a two minute time bonus to the winner of each stage. Desgrange, the race organizer of the Tour de France, was pleased with the way the time bonuses worked out during the 1923 tour. He changed the bonus to three minutes at the 1924 edition of the race.

One of the most dramatic events of the 1924 race was when the previous year's winner, Henri Pelissier, abandoned the race during the third stage.

Pelissier's argument with Desgranger began during the second stage. The second stage was 371 kilometers in length (230.53 miles) and took most of the racers over fourteen hours to complete. The stage began in the early morning hours when it was still cool. Pelissier wore a couple of jerseys at the beginning of the stage. Later in the day he discarded one of them. Another team's director saw him throwing away the jersey and reported it to race officials. There was a rule at this time that stated that the racers had to finish each stage with everything that they had started the stage with. Pelissier was given a time penalty for discarding the jersey.

During the third stage Henri Pelissier was outraged by his treatment and abandoned the race. It was cold at the early start of the stage. Pellissier wore several jerseys to stay warm. Race officials stopped him several times during the stage to count the number of jerseys he had on. The officials wanted to see if he had discarded any of them. Henry was infuriated by this and found it disrespectful. When he abandoned the race he also talked his brother, Francis Pelissier, and another racer, Maurice Ville, into quitting also. It was easy to convince Ville into quitting, since he was having problems with his knees.

Click here to learn more about Henri Pelissier.

The previous years edition, the 1923 Tour de France, was won by Henri Pellissier. After he won he stated that his Automoto teammate, Ottavio Bottecchia, will win the next Tour de France. Bottecchia finished second to Pellissier at the 1923 tour. It was Bottecchia's first time riding the Tour de France.

Victor Lenaers taking a quick break during the third stage of the 1924 Tour de France.

Ottavio Bottecchia did in fact win the 1924 Tour de France. He was the first Italian to win the Tour de France. Bottecchia was also the first rider to ever wear the yellow jersey of the race leader from the beginning to very end of the race, without even once loosing it to another rider.

Ottavio Bottecchia at the 1924 Tour de France

Stage five of the 1924 Tour de France was the longest stage ever in tour history. It was 482 kilometers (299.50 miles) in length. The stage started in Les Sables and ended in Bayonne. It took the winning rider, Omer Huyse, nineteen hours and 40 minutes to complete it. This stage was not included in future tours.

Bottecchia dominated stage six of the race, which contained the four tough Alpine climbs of: the Aubisque, the Tourmalet, the Aspin and the Peyresourde. When he crossed the finish line, in Luchon, he was almost nineteen minutes ahead of the second rider to arrive.

The General Classification after stage 6:

1. Ottavio Bottecchia - race leader
2. Lucien Buysse - 30 minutes 21 seconds behind the race leader
3. Nicolas Frantz - 42 minutes 15 seconds behind the race leader

Robert Jacquinot climbs the Aubisque during the 1924 Tour de France

Bottecchia could have mostly like repeated his previous day's performance in stage 7. Stage 7 was the second day of climbing in the Pyreneese Mountains. He rode to the finish with two other riders: Phillippe Thys and Arsene Alancourt.

Phillippe Thys during stage 6 of the 1924 Tour de France

Nicolas Frantz had a standout performance in the tenth stage of the race. This stage in the Alps contained the three climbs: the Allos, the Vars and the Izoard. Frantz was first over all three of the climbs and finished in second place behind the stage winner Giovanni Brunero. Bottecchia was following closely behind through out the stage and Frantz was only able to gain nine minutes on his lead.

The General Classification after stage 10:

1. Ottvio Bottecchia - race leader

2. Nicolas Frantz - 41 minutes 52 seconds behind the race leader

3. Giovanni Brunero 45 minutes 37 seconds behind the race leader

Ottavio Bottecchia climbing the Izoard during the 1924 Tour de France

No one gained much time on Bottecchia during the remaining five stages of the race. He punctuated his tour victory by winning the sprint, the final stage and the overall Tour de France on the last day in Paris.

The Final 1924 Tour de France General Classification:

1. Ottavio Bottecchia (Automoto) - Race Winner - 226 hours 18 minutes 21 seconds

2. Nicolas Frantz (Alcyon) - 35 minutes 36 seconds behind the race winner

3. Lucien Buysse (Automoto) 1 hour 32 minutes 13 seconds behind the race winner

4. Bartolomeo Almo (Legnano) 1 hour 32 minutes 47 seconds behind the race winner

5. Theophile Beeckman (Griffon) 2 hours 11 minutes 12 seconds behind the race winner