1931 Tour de France
Route of the 1931 Tour de France
Followed counterclockwise, starting in Paris |
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 30 June – 26 July | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 5,091 km (3,163 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 177h 10' 03" | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Winner |
 Antonin Magne (FRA)
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(France) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
 Jef Demuysere (BEL)
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(Belgium) | |
| Third |
 Antonio Pesenti (ITA)
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(Italy) | |
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| Team | Belgium | ||
The 1931 Tour de France was the 25th edition of the Tour de France, which took place from 30 June to 26 July. It consisted of 24 stages over 5,091 km (3,163 mi).
The race was won by French cyclist Antonin Magne. The sprinters Charles Pélissier and Rafaele di Paco both managed to win five stages.
The cyclists were separated into national teams and touriste-routiers, who were grouped into regional teams. In some stages (2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 12), the national teams started 10 minutes before the touriste-routiers.
One of these touriste-routiers was Max Bulla. In the second stage, when the touriste-routiers started 10 minutes later than the national teams, Bulla overtook the national teams, won the stage and took the lead, the only time in history that a touriste-routier was leading the Tour de France.
In 1931, the touriste-routiers started 10 minutes later than the national teams in some stages (2, 3, 4, 6, and 12). The number of rest days in the Tour de France was reduced to three.
The time bonus for the winner, which had been used before in the 1924 Tour de France, was reintroduced.
For the second year, the race was run in the national team format, with six different teams. Belgium, Italy, Germany and France each sent a team with eight cyclists. Australia and Switzerland sent a combined team, each with four cyclists. The last team was the Spanish team, with only one cyclist. In addition, 40 cyclists joined as touriste-routiers.
The French team was favourite, because they had dominated the 1930 Tour. The most competition was expected from the Belgian team, followed by the Italian team.
In the early flat stages, the sprinters dominated. In the second stage, Austrian Max Bulla won the stage. He was a touriste-routier, and had started ten minutes later than the A-class cyclists. He became the first, and only, touriste-routier to lead the Tour de France, and as of 2011 is the only Austrian to have led the race. Max Bulla was the only Austrian cyclist to win a stage in the Tour de France until 2005, when Georg Totschnig won the 14th stage.
After the fifth stage, Charles Pélissier and Rafaele di Paco shared the lead, thanks to the time bonus. After the seventh stage, the race was still completely open: the first 30 cyclists in the general classification were within 10 minutes of each other.
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