1937 Tour de France
Route of the 1937 Tour de France
Followed clockwise, starting in Paris |
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 30 June – 25 July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 20, including eight split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 4,415 km (2,743 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 138h 58' 31" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
Winner |
 Roger Lapébie (FRA)
|
(France) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
 Mario Vicini (ITA)
|
(Individual) | |
| Third |
 Léo Amberg (SUI)
|
(Switzerland) | |
|
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| Mountains |
 Félicien Vervaecke (BEL)
|
(Belgium) | |
| Team | France | ||
The 1937 Tour de France was the 31st edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 30 June to 25 July. It consisted of 20 stages with a total length of 4,415 km (2,743 mi).
Charles Holland and Bill Burl became the first British cyclists to ride the Tour. Burl lasted only two stages, but Holland rode well until he was eliminated on stage 14c after mechanical problems. The British Empire was also represented by the only non-European in the Tour: Canadian Pierre Gachon, who never completed the first stage. The complete Belgian team (including 1936 and 1939 winner Sylvère Maes) withdraw from the race because of "French chauvinism". Complaints from the Belgian team included of French spectators throwing stones at the Belgian team, closing train crossings, and throwing pepper in the eyes, and being punished unreasonable strictly (adding extra time in the standing) while French riders were hardly punished at all while being helped.
The race was won by French cyclist Roger Lapébie.
The Tours from 1903 to 1936 had all been organised by Henri Desgrange, but during the 1936 Tour de France he had to stop due to health reasons, and Jacques Goddet took over. The Tour in 1937 was the first Tour where Goddet was in charge, and one of the first rules that he changed was to allow gear changes. Each team had its own car with extra material to help with mechanical problems.
The Italian team, that had been absent from the 1936 Tour de France, returned in 1937, after Benito Mussolini removed their boycott of the Tour, and selected new star Gino Bartali, who had won the 1936 and 1937 Giro d'Italia, as the Italian team leader. The Italian team had 10 cyclists, just as the Belgian, German and French teams. There were also small teams of six cyclists: the Spanish, Dutch, Luxembourgian and Swiss teams. The last national team was the Great Britain-Canada team, consisting of two British cyclists and one Canadian.
The French team included Roger Lapébie. Lapébie had had a difficult relation with Desgrange. This had caused Lapébie to be out of the national team in 1935, and completely absent from the Tour in 1936. In 1937, Desgrange had retired, and Lapébie was back. In the month before the Tour started, Lapébie had undergone surgery for a lumbur hernia, and there were doubts about his form.
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