1939 Tour de France
Route of the 1939 Tour de France
Followed counterclockwise, starting in Paris |
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 10–30 July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 18, including eight split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 4,224 km (2,625 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 132h 03' 17" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
Winner |
 Sylvère Maes (BEL)
|
(Belgium) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
 René Vietto (FRA)
|
(France) | |
| Third |
Lucien Vlaemynck (BEL)
|
(Belgium B) | |
|
|
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| Mountains |
Sylvère Maes (BEL)
|
(Belgium) | |
| Team | Belgium B | ||
The 1939 Tour de France was the 33rd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 10 to 30 July. The total distance was 4,224 km (2,625 mi).
Taking place on the eve of World War II, there was already much animosity in Europe. Italy, Germany and Spain all declined to send teams to the race, so the 1938 Italian champion Gino Bartali would not be defending his title. To fill out the ranks, Belgium sent two teams, and France had five teams. This would be the final Tour for eight years, until 1947.
Between the second and the seventh stage, the last rider in the general classification was eliminated.
The race was won by Belgian Sylvère Maes who also won the mountains classification.
For the first time, a mountain time trial was scheduled: stage 16b. A rule was added to make it more difficult to finish the race: from the second stage to the seventh stage, the last rider in the classification was to be removed from the race.
The nutrition of the cyclists became more professional: cyclists were reporting that the use of vitamins increased their performance.
Because Italy, Germany and Spain did not send teams, the Tour organisation were short on participating cyclists. To solve this, they allowed Belgium to send two teams, and France to send four additional regional teams.
The French cyclists had been successful in the 1930s, but their Tour winners were absent in 1939: 1930 and 1932 winner André Leducq had retired in 1938, as had 1931 and 1934 winner Antonin Magne; 1933 winner Georges Speicher did not ride, and 1937 winner Roger Lapébie was injured. This all made the Belgian team favourite.
The teams entering the race were:
In the first stage, regional Amedée Fournier won the sprint of a group of nine cyclists, and was the first cyclist in 1939 to wear the yellow jersey. In the next stage, Romain Maes, who had finished in the same group as Fournier, won the time trial, and captured the lead. He lost it in the second part of that stage, when a group got away. Three regional riders were now on top of the general classification, led by Jean Fontenay.
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