History

  The Grand Tour trilogy was not completed until 1935, when, following the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a España was organised in Spain. It took a long time for the Vuelta to be recognized as one of the most important UCI World Tour events. This event was disrupted for several years in the beginning due to various issues such as the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and even poor organisation. However, the Spanish tour is considered now as prestigious as the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, and every cyclist...

It was mourned on May 24, 1994, at Notre-Dame des Cyclistes in Labastide d'Armagnac, France. It was the funeral of Tour and Vuelta winner Luis Ocaña. On May 19, 1994, at the age of 48, Luis Ocaña ended his life with a gunshot through the head. According to the story, the depressed Luis suffered from hepatitis-B and cancer and could no longer bear life. The Spanish mountain king and time trial specialist was honoured with a stained glass window and a green marble plaque at Notre-Dame des Cyclistes. The drama of  life Luis Ocaña's life was not always rosy. He...

Before July, 1903, nothing like the Tour de France had ever been attempted. 60 men, mostly French, mounted their bicycles outside a café in Paris. The challenge of embarking on an unprecedented endurance without knowing the prize money of 20,000 francs brought all of these cyclists together. Henri Desgrange, a French cyclist and journalist, organised this endurance race, which was sponsored for advertising purposes by the newspaper L'Auto (now L'Equipe). Thus, the legendary Tour de France has begun. However, the Tour de France, like everything else in the world, has undergone many changes over time.

The world's largest cycling race, a national landmark that France values almost as much as the  Eiffel Tower and its 360 cheeses! Nothing compares with La Grande Boucle (French for The Great  Loop and Tour de France nickname) in the world of cycling. For more than a century, the Tour de  France has taken place over a three-week period every summer (except during warfare). It is  remarkable in that it draws over 12 million spectators along the streets, in addition to millions of  people watching on television from all around the world.

The Giro d'Italia has been won by a French rider a total of seven times, making France the third most victorious rider at the Giro over time. The Maglia Rosa was won by three great riders: Jacques Anquetil (2x), Bernard Hinault (3x) and Laurent Fignon (1x).

Throughout the 1970s, Merckx was a dominant figure in the world of cycling. It was as early as 1968 that he succeeded in winning the Giro d'Italia for the first time, followed by another victory in 1970, after which he was able to take home the pink jersey three years in a row between 1972 and 1974.