Tour de France 1909

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7th Tour de France 1909 - final score
Route length 14 stages, 4488 km
Tour winner François Faber 37 P.
156: 55: 10 h
(28.601 km / h)
Second Gustave Garrigou 57 P.
Third Jean Alavoine 66 P.
Fourth Paul Duboc 70 p.
fifth Cyrille Van Hauwaert 92 P.
Sixth Ernest Paul 95 p.
seventh Constant menager 102 P.
Eighth Louis Trousselier 114 P.
Ninth Eugène Christophe 139 P.
Tenth Aldo Bettini 142 P.
Route map of the Tour de France 1909

The 1909 Tour de France took place from July 5th to August 1st. The route was identical to that of the two previous events. A new category was introduced for drivers who were not under contract with a company team.

Race course

This tour went down in history as the one with the worst external conditions. In the first half of July France was hit by a severe cold snap. The roads were softened by the constant rain, the drivers had to fight their way through the mud and were even surprised by snow flurries in the mountains. After the sixth stage, 69 of the 150 drivers had already given up the race. A total of 95 drivers gave up the tour, so only 55 reached the destination.

Only the later tour winner François Faber did not seem affected by the adverse circumstances; he won five stages in a row. His performance in the third stage was particularly impressive, when he arrived in Belfort with a lead of over 33 minutes after a solo escape of 255 km . The Luxembourger defended the top position until the finish in Paris, making him the first foreigner to win the tour.

On the last stage, Jean Alavoine's bike was no longer usable after an accident. The Frenchman did not give up, however, but carried his bike on his shoulders to the finish ten kilometers away and won the stage.

The stages

Stages Day Start finish km Stage winner Overall first
1st stage 5th July Paris - Roubaix 272 Cyrille Van Hauwaert Cyrille Van Hauwaert
2nd stage 7th of July Roubaix - Metz (DR) 398 François Faber François Faber
3rd stage July 9 Metz (DR) - Belfort 259 François Faber François Faber
4th stage July 11th Belfort - Lyon 309 François Faber François Faber
5th stage July 13th Lyon - Grenoble 311 François Faber François Faber
6th stage 15th of July Grenoble - Nice 345 François Faber François Faber
7th stage 17th July Nice - Nîmes 345 Ernest Paul François Faber
8th stage July 19 Nîmes - Toulouse 303 Jean Alavoine François Faber
9th stage 21 July Toulouse - Bayonne 299 Constant menager François Faber
10th stage July 23 Bayonne - Bordeaux 269 François Faber François Faber
11th stage July 25th Bordeaux - Nantes 391 Louis Trousselier François Faber
12th stage July 27th Nantes - Brest 321 Gustave Garrigou François Faber
13th stage 29th of July Brest - Caen 415 Paul Duboc François Faber
14th stage August 1st Caen - Paris 251 Jean Alavoine François Faber

Web links

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