The 1973 UCI Road World Championships in Barcelona is remembered as a significant event in cycling history, marked by the ongoing rivalry between Eddy Merckx… Read More »Felice Gimondi outsprints the Belgian duo (World Championships 1973)
The 1969 edition of the Tour de France was Merckx’s first. Coming off wins in other prestigious races such as the Giro d’Italia, Merckx had… Read More »Eddy Merckx’s epic solo victory in the Pyrenees (Tour de France 1969)
In 1910, Henri Desgrange, the Tour’s founder and director, decided to introduce mountain stages into the race to make it even more challenging. The Pyrenean… Read More »When Octave Lapize called the Tour de France organizers “murderers”
The history of the Tour de France is filled with monumental stages and dramatic moments that have shaped the race into the iconic event it… Read More »Tour de France’s first visit in the Alps (1911)
The more I dvelve into the history of road cycling races the more I convinced that the stories born on the slopes of Col d’Aubisque… Read More »Inexperienced cyclist in yellow jersey rescued from the ravine (Wim van Est, Tour de France 1951)
Vintage Cycling Stories is a website about the history of road cycling races. It’s the very heart and soul of the original PelotonTales project. But… Read More »Are you curious about Tour de France 2025?
Tour de France has always been more than just a test of physical endurance. From its inception, the race has been a battleground not only… Read More »The mystery of the poisoned bottle at Tour de France 1911
On May 15th 1963, when Jacques Anquetil crossed the finish line of the last stage of Vuelta a España, he became the first cyclist to… Read More »The first Vuelta-Tour double (Jacques Anquetil, 1963)
Vuelta a Espana was not organized for several years after the first two editions in 1935 and 1936. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) made it… Read More »An astonishing record : 12 of 21 stages won by the same cyclist at Vuelta a Espana
Eddy Merckx, arguably the greatest cyclist ever, participated in Vuelta a Espana only once during his extraordinary successful career. The significance of this singular achievement… Read More »Eddy Merckx’s only Vuelta a Espana victory (1973)