Welcome to the 'Kings of the Road' Tour de France gallery. All these pictures are taken from the French magazines Le Miroir des Sports or Miroir Sprint from the 1920s to 1950s. The quality of the photographs is superb and the pictures were always attributed to "l'envoye special" so the photographers never got recognition. It is interesting to see how bike racing and Le Tour has changed, and if it's hard now then it was even harder then. Sure, they used to stop at the odd cafe on the way but these pictures give some flavour of the grit and determination needed to race over the Alps and Pyrenees on dirt tracks with little support. They were indeed, Kings of the Road.

click on thumbnail images for larger vesions
Antonin Magne braves the rain, 1931 Pelissier & Magne wait for a train to pass, 1935 Morelli & Tiani attack on the Col d'Aubisque, 1935


Tonin (left) & Merviel 1935 Romain Maes after crash, 1935 Frantz signing on, 1932 Tonin, 1932
Alex Close with cramp, 1957 Fedirico Behamontes, King of the Mountains, 1957 Riders on a cafe stop, 1924 Lenaers & Barthelemy drink, 1924
Ville, Henri, Pelissier abandon (left) and head to the cafe (right), 1924 Sylvere Maes (left) & Felicien Vervaeke on le Col des Aris, 1935 Paul Choque at the summit of Le Col du Tourmalet, 1935
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Page last updated May 1998