100 editions of the Tour de France, 1919

1919 La Sportive ridden by Firmin Lambert BEL

For the 1919 race several of the big name bike manufacturers, including Peugeot, Alcycon, Automoto, La Français and Labor formed the 'La Sportive' team to try to stop the increasing salary demands of the top riders and to reduce the costs for an industry on its knees after the hostilities. La Sportive would last three Tours (all of which they won, unsurprisingly since they equipped half the peloton). La Sportive was opposed by the J.B. Louvet company, which fielded its own team led by the Pelissier brothers, Henri (who went on to win the Tour in 1923) and Francis.

The war had taken it's toll on the country, with over 6 million either dead or wounded. The riders had suffered too, with many killed in action, and the remaining ones were obviously totally unprepared for such a test. It was and still is, the slowest ever Tour at 24.06 kph though despite that there were only 10 finishers.

It seems trivial to talk of the actual racing when great campions, like Peit-Breton, François Faber, Octave Lapize to name but three were lost in the war, but the racing went on and it's a credit to those who dragged themselves around the war torn roads of France that year.

It's also widely credited as the Tour that introduced the yellow jersey though recent research seems to suggest that it was actually first seen in the previous, 1914, race.

Eventually it was Fermin Lambert who prevailed but Christophe had ridden another great race, though yet again succombed to numerous crashes, punctures and another set of broken forks!

Peugeot AE21 on Car Body Design

Nice to see that bicycles are being recognised elsewhere in the media, for example on the Car Body design site. You can see one of the five videos there, that were made to launch the bike and feature a tour of some design and fashion hotspots of europe.

Peugeot AE21

A mention recently on Bicycle design of the AE2 electric city bike, which will be launched later this year.  
There are more photographs on the Peugeot design Lab web site and some of my sketches.



In the first design I had the bag in the frame but it wasn't really a practical solution.



Same concept but with the bag in the U of the frame.



An idea for a very simple tubular frame incorporating a lock and pump as well as the bag.

The first sketch where I created a container for the bag. The style is also much more sculptural.

100 editions of the Tour de France, 1914

1914 Peugeot ridden by Philippe Thys BEL

Thys wins his second of three Tours and again Peugeot are triumphant, with a totally dominant display which saw them take the top three places overall plus 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th.

The stage from Le Harve to Cherbourg passes through Pont-Audemer, a familiar town to all Lavallois-Honfleur riders

It's hardly surprising that they were dominant, with a team consisting of 4 riders who had won, or would win, the Tour and another 4 podium finishers. But that's not the full story since Peugeot were up against a formidable field with the peloton containing 11 riders who would finish the careers having won the Tour.

This was the last Tour before the Great War and in fact the same day the riders set out from Saint Cloud on the outskirts of Paris, Serbian secret agent Gavrilo Princip assassinated Austro-Hungary's Archduke Ferdinand. The Tour was to finish exactly a week before the Nazis declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Many of the Tour riders would be lost in the war.

Peugeot AE21

After a lot of hard work, the production version of the Peugeot eDL122 bike is final out. When the first, non electric, version was released at the Geneva motor show we hoped it would make it to production but there was still a lot to learn about the production process and the making of a bicycle without just using tubes. The DL122 was launched alongside the new 208 and was designed with the same philosophy of compactness, agility and practicality.
A year or so on and Marc Beaugé takes the first preproduction bike on a tour of some of europes best cities.

 

Longchamp

Any cyclist who finds themselves in Paris, with a bike, has to try out a few laps round the much loved Longchamp circuit.
The Hippodrome de Longchamp, or simply Longchamp to the regulars, is a system of cycle paths and closed roads that create a loop around the famous home of French horse racing. 

Situated just outside the périférique, which encircles Paris, in the western suburb of Bois de Boulogne the circuit lies at the heart of French cycling. The first ever bicycle race took place in 1868 just over the river in the park at Saint Cloud when Englishman James Moore won the 1200m event. 
Also from the area is the Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt, one time stepping stone to the pro ranks and specifically  the Peugeot team. Back in the 70s and 80s ACBB was the temporary home for many English speaking riders as the club became the first to recognize the talents from the 'new worlds' as they welcomed Robert Miller, Phil Anderson, Stephen Roche and Sean Yates, amongst many others.
Many champions from France also passed through ACBB, most notably Bernard Thévenet and the great Anquetil.
These days the circuit is home to weekend worriers, lunch time keep fitters as well as the occasional pro team. The most popular times seem to be Tuesday and Thursday evening, when groups can reach 100 riders, but at pretty much anytime you can see riders at the circuit.

Not only a Parisian sanctuary for cyclists but you'll also see plenty of runners, triathletes (doing a bit of both) and crazy dudes on roller blades. These guys can stay with the big groups of cyclists up until the speed gets really hot. I've been with them at 40+ kph and not much slower on the uphill sections.

One of the delights of Longchamp, to me, is the wonderful pedestrian footbridge that takes you high above the noise and bustle of the city roads to the edge of the circuit from the Saint Cloud side of the river. 

All sorts ride at Longchamp

The starting gates of the race course

Views of La Defence 

RIP Richard Ballantine

This is how Richard Ballantine's wonderful book should look like, oily, battered, dog eared and loved. I got my first copy in 1979 as my book gift at the school speech day. I'm sure I should have asked for Tess of the d'urbervilles or 1984 but in so many ways Richards Bicycle book coloured my life.



There's a nice tribute to him in the Telegraph (of all places, how the world has changed, not least by Ballantine), including a couple of classic quotes, the first to the simple joy of turning the pedals;

“It’s immediate and direct. You pedal. You make decisions. You experience the tang of the air and the surge of power as you bite into the road. You’re vitalised. As you hum along you fully and gloriously experience the day, the sunshine, the 
clouds, the breezes. You’re alive!”

Whilst another I remember from the first time I read the book. A shocking account of how to deal with dogs, which seemed so alien to a boy growing up in rural Yorkshire. Maybe the dogs are wilder in the US (though he spent much of his life in the UK). In fact, going back to the telegraph article to pinch the quote I see they've removed it from the original story. Shame. 

Ballantine, despite guiding my early cycling exploits always seemed a bit potty, in an extremely endearing way, much like another hero of mine and cyclists generally, Mike Burrows. Both were leading lights in the Human Powered Vehicle community, which often seems to attract the more alternative personalities. Despite that he was obviously also very in-tune with the wider cycling world and in fact was the first person to import mountain bikes into the UK.

Mr Ballantine, I'll be getting my Bicycle Book out tonight and thinking of you. Thanks.