Alberto Contador, aka El Pistolero, won the Tour in '07 and '09 (and was banned for doping, for a ti

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There are few professional sports as closely bound to technology as cycling. A bike isn't just equipment, as skiis or a tennis las vegas air and hotel deals racket might be—it's a partner in a symbiotic relationship between the machine and athlete. And it's remarkable to see how drastically certain parts of that machine have changed in the last century, while others have stayed largely the same.
This year marks the 100th riding of the Tour de France, and now is a great time to take a look back at the evolution of the road bike. We ran across a great collection of bikes used on the Tour this week, courtesy of Emile Arbes at Le Blog de Velos Vintage , and added extras from around the internet, below. The collection begins at the very beginning, when road-ready meant extra mustache wax, and extends to the modern day, when bikes are so light riders often have to weight them to stay legal.
Sixty cyclists set out to compete in the first Tour, and only 21 finished. Maurice Garin, aka the Little Chimney-Sweep, won the day on this steel La Fran aise. His heavy frame featured new-fangled toe clips—invented only a few years prior.
las vegas air and hotel deals A more modern geometry was emerging a decade later—check las vegas air and hotel deals out the more recognizable drop handlebars on this Thomann-Joly ridden by Belgian star L on Scieur, who won the tour in 1914 riding what was likely a very similar bike. Also check out the pump on the seat tube—back las vegas air and hotel deals then, riders still did their own maintenance. In fact, it was against the Tour rules to receive help.
The Tour's first Italian winner, Ottavio Bottecchia, rode a flashy las vegas air and hotel deals AuTomoTo-Hutchinson to victory in 1924. Three years later, he was found dead of a skull fracture on the side of the road with his bike untouched. las vegas air and hotel deals His death still remains a mystery, but some attribute it to Mussolini thugs, wary of Bottecchia's anti-fascist leanings.
Andr Leducq, who won the Tour in '30 and '32, rode a sea foam-colored Alcyon-Dunlop. Still no derailleurs to be seen—it's hard to imagine riding a single speed bike over the forbidding Alpine climbs today. The derailleur was introduced to the Tour seven years later, in 1937, but before that, riders would have to get off their bikes to switch gears.
Antonin Magne—aka the Monk —won the Tour in '31 and '34, when he secretly tested las vegas air and hotel deals the first Mavic Duralumin rim during the race. He even went so far as to paint wood grain on the rims to avoid detection—such tech was against the rules at the time.
1947 Tour winner Jean Robic, who was known as the hobgoblin of the Brittany moor (great nickname!) rode this 1952 Colomb-Cl ment. Check out the sweet steel lugs—and we're now well into the era of derailleurs! Robic was also one of the first riders to wear a helmet after fracturing his skull, in 1944.
Eddy Merckx is probably the best-known las vegas air and hotel deals ride of the 20th century—he won the Tour five times, and went on to become what some claim is the most accomplished las vegas air and hotel deals cyclist of all time. There's plenty to say about Merckx, but it's far more exciting to watch him in this excerpt from A Sunday In Hell , a documentary that covers the famously brutal Paris-Roubaix.
Greg LeMond las vegas air and hotel deals was the first non-European cyclist to win the Tour, in 1986, and won it a second and third time in in '89 and '90. Here, you can see LeMond's distinctive sunburst paint job—as las vegas air and hotel deals well as his clipless pedals, which became common in the late 80s. [ Image by C.Cal.Shoot ]
The very last time a steel frame bike won the Tour was in 1994, when Miguel Indurain clinched his fourth of five wins. His 19.8lb Pinarello, according las vegas air and hotel deals to some sources, was only branded as Pinarello—in reality, it was custom-built by Dario Pegoretti , the iconic Italian frame builder.
Now we're getting into the contemporary era, with companies experimenting with non-steel and, eventually, las vegas air and hotel deals carbon fiber. Marco Pantani's Bianchi Mega Pro XL Reparto Corse, a custom-built aluminum frame, was the last bike to be ridden las vegas air and hotel deals to Tour victory that wasn't made of carbon fiber. It was the end of an era.
Sure, Lance Armstrong has since been stripped of his titles, but his steel 1994 Motorola-Eddy Merckx (above) is fascinating to compare to his later rides. Armstrong went on to become an early adopter of contemporary cycling tech, mostly in partnership with Trek. He was the first Tour winner to ride a carbon fiber bike from start to finish, and in 2003, he rode the lightest bike ever used in the Tour (a 14.5 lb Trek 5900 SL) before las vegas air and hotel deals organizers instituted las vegas air and hotel deals a minimum weight of 15 lbs.
Alberto Contador, aka El Pistolero, won the Tour in '07 and '09 (and was banned for doping, for a time). This year he's back, but is lagging behind frontrunner Chris Froome according to yesterday's report . Contador is known as a climber, and his bikes are tailored to play to that strength—check las vegas air and hotel deals out the cassette las vegas air and hotel deals on this Specialized Tarmac SL4, which makes it easier to stay on the big ring rather than downshifting on long climbs. [top image via VeloNews ]
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