1929 Tour de France

June 30- July 28

Results, stages with running GC, photos and history

1928 Tour | 1930 Tour | Tour de France Database | 1929 Tour Quick Facts | 1929 Tour de France Final GC | Stage results with running GC | The Story of the 1929 Tour de France

---

David L. Stanley's book Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle is available as an audiobook read by the author here.

1929 Tour Quick Facts:

5,286 km raced at an average speed of 28.320 km/hr.

155 starters, 53 classified as "aces" who were on sponsored teams and 102 independent touristes-routiers, some of whom were grouped into regional teams.

There were 60 classified finishers.

It was thought Victor Fontan was going to win the 1929 Tour, but he broke his forks in the Pyrenees.

Maurice De Waele turned out to be the year's strong man. He was ill at the beginning of stage 14 in Grenoble, but Belgian riders, many from other teams, worked to help him survive his crisis.

Outraged, Tour boss Henri Desgrange said, "My race has been won by a corpse."

The next year he instituted the national team format.

---

1929 Tour de France Complete Final General Classification:

From the Tour Encyclopedie: After an inquiry, Demuysère got a 25-minute penalty for illegal drinking and Charles Pélissier was relegated to last place in the Nice-Grenoble stage because he was caught in the wake of some cars which did not belong in the race. In this way Demuysère lost the second place in the final ranking and Pélissier lost four places.

1. Maurice De Waele (Alcyon) 186hr 39min 15sec
2. Giuseppe Pancera (La Rafale) @ 44min 23sec
3. Joseph "Jef" Demuysère (Lucifer) @ 57min 10sec
4. Salavador Cardona (Fontan) @ 57min 46sec
5. Nicolas Frantz (Alcyon) @ 58min
6. Louis Delannoy @ 1hr 6min 9sec
7. Antonin Magne (Alleluia) @ 1hr 8min
8. Julien Vervaecke (Alcyon) @ 2hr 1,om 37sec
9. Pierre Magne (Alleluia) @ 2hr 3min
10. Gaston Rebry (Alcyon) @ 2hr 17min 49sec
11. André Leducq (Alcyon) @ 2hr 24min 51sec
12. Frans Bonduel (Dilecta) @ 2hr 52min 35sec
13. Désiré Louesse (Fontan) @ 3hr 3min
14. Bernard Van Rysselberghe (Dilecta) @ 3hr 6min 23sec
15. Benoît Faure (touriste-routier, Sud-Est) @ 2hr 33min 29sec
16. Marcel Bidot (La Français) @ 3hr 40min 49sec
17. Armand Van Bruaene (De Dion) @ 4hr 11min 54sec
18. Charles Govaerts (Elvish) @ 4hr 14min 24sec
19. Francis Bouillet (Lucifer) @ 5hr 7min 51sec
20. Ernest Neuhard (De Dion) @ 5hr 45min 12sec
21. Omer Taverne (touriste-routier)@ 5hr 49min 39sec
22. Léon Chene (Alleluia) @ 6hr 0min 7sec
23. Jules Merviel (Alleluia) @ 6hr 5min 2sec
24. Mario Pomposi (La Rafale) @ 6hr 14min 9sec
25. Georges Laloup (touriste-routier) @ 6hr 30min 50sec
26. Settimo Innocenti (La Rafale) @ 6hr 30min 50sec
27. Julien Perrain (Elvish) @ 8hr 31min 45sec
28. Charles Pélissier (JB Louvet) @ 8hr 54min 3sec
29. Georges Berton (touriste-routier, Champagne) @ 8hr 55min 50sec
30. Roger Gregoire (Lucifer) @ 9hr 50min 15sec
31. Hector Denis (touriste-routier, Champagne) @ 10hr 26min 35sec
32. Charles Martinet (touriste-routier) @ 10hr 33min 0sec
33. Auguste Encrine (touriste-routier, Cote d'Azur)@ 11hr 32min 17sec
34. Albert Jordens (touriste-routier) @ 11hr 35min 10sec
35. Adrien Plautin (touriste-routier, Midi)@ 11hr 36min 51sec
36. Jean Preuss (touriste-routier, Nord)@ 12hr 13min 56sec
37. Guerrino Canova (touriste-routier) @ 12hr 22min 38sec
38. François Moreels (touriste-routier, Ile de France)@ 12hr 38min 15sec
39. Henri Touzard (touriste-routier, Normandie) @ 12hr 41min 44sec
40. Roger Lebas (touriste-routier, Ile de France) @ 13hr 8min 33sec
41. Marcel Mazeyrat (touriste-routier, Sud Est) @ 13hr 27min 23sec
42. Léopold Boisselle (touriste-routier, Bretagne)@ 13hr 49min 49sec
43. Guy Bariffi (touriste-routier, Champagne) @ 14hr 7min 34sec
44. Paul Delbart (touriste-routier, Champagne) @ 15hr 6min 16sec
45. Henri Thomas (touriste-routier) @ 16hr 28min 38sec
46. Robert Recordon (touriste-routier) @ 16hr 36min 50sec
47. Eugène Gréau (touriste-routier) @ 16hr 49min 47sec
48. Eduoard Teisseire (touriste-routier) @ 17hr 9min 50sec
49. Battista Berardi (touriste-routier, Cote d'Azur)@ 19hr 14min 16sec
50. Georges Petit (touriste-routier) @ 19hr 57min 59sec
51. Eugen Werner (touriste-routier) @ 21hr 20min 17sec
52. Marcel Masson (touriste-routier, Normandie)@ 21hr 52min 55sec
53. Henri Prévost (touriste-routier) @ 22hr 14min 52sec
54. Marcel Gendrin (touriste-routier, Nord) @ 22hr 24min 53sec
55. François Ondet (touriste-routier, Sud Est) @ 22hr 30min 0sec
56. Charles Cottalorda (touriste-routier) @ 23hr 6min 13sec
57. Emile Faillu (touriste-routier) @ 24hr 50min 41sec
58. Paul Denis (touriste-routier, Normandie) @ 25hr 17min 57sec
59. Marcel Ilpide (touriste-routier) @ 26hr 8min 50sec
60. André Leger (touriste-routier, Champagne) @ 31hr 37min 55sec
    

---

1929 Tour stage results with running GC:

Stage 1: Sunday, June 30, Paris - Caen, 206 km

1. Aimé Dossche: 5hr 55min 21sec
2. Aimé Déolet s.t.
3. Marcel Bidot s.t.
4. Maurice De Waele s.t.
5. André Leducq @ 47sec
6. Raymond Decorte s.t.
7. André Godinat s.t.
8. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
9. Michele Mara s.t.
10. Henri Simonin s.t.

Stage 2: Monday, July 1, Caen - Cherbourg, 140 km

1. André Leducq: 4hr 20min 51sec
2. Aimé Dossche s.t.
3. Charles Pélissier s.t.
4. Hector Martin s.t.
5. Aimé Déolet s.t.
6. Frans Bonduel s.t.
7. Désiré Louesse s.t.
8. Armand Van Bruaene s.t.
9. Maurice De Waele s.t.
10. Alfonso Piccin s.t.

GC after Stage 2:

4-way tie for first place, Dossche is the Yellow Jersey

1. Aimé Dossche 10hr 16min 12sec
2. Aimé Déolet s.t.
3. Marcel Bidot s.t.
4. Maurice De Waele s.t.

Stage 3: Tuesday, July 2, Cherbourg - Dinan, 199 km

Places 5 - 28 given same time and place

1. Omer Taverne: 6hr 21min 3sec
2. Charles Pelissier s.t.
3. Jef Demuysère s.t.
4. André Godinat s.t.
5. Luc Govaerts, Pierre Magne, Aimé Déolet, Jules Merviel, Louis Delannoy, Julien Delbecque, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 3:

4-way tie for first place, Dossche is the Yellow Jersey

1. Aimé Dossche 16hr 37min 15sec
2. Aimé Déolet s.t.
3. Marcel Bidot s.t.
4. Maurice De Waele s.t.

Stage 4: Wednesday, July 4, Dinan - Brest, 206 km

Places 9 - 41 given same time and place

1. Louis Delannoy: 6hr 41min 54sec
2. Maurice De Waele s.t.
3. Nicolas Frantz @ 3min 8sec
4. Charles Pélissier s.t.
5. Aimé Déolet s.t.
6. Raymond Decorte s.t.
7. Omer Taverne s.t.
8. Jef Demuysère s.t.
9. Karel Van Haaselt, Frans Bonduel, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 4:

1. Maurice De Waele: 23hr 19min 9sec
2. Louis Delannoy @ 47sec
3. Aimé Dossche @ 3min 8sec

Stage 5: Thursday, July 4, Brest - Vannes, 208 km

Places 6 - 27 given same time and place

1. Gustaaf Van Slembrouck: 6hr 29min 3sec
2. Alfonso Crippa s.t.
3. Jean Aerts s.t.
4. Aimé Dossche s.t.
5. Albert Barthélemy s.t.
6. Antonio Pesenti, Jules Merviel, Aimé Déolet, Salvador Cadrona, Pierre Magne, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 5:

1. Maurice De Waele: 29hr 48min 12sec
2. Marcel Bindot, Aimé Déolet, Aimé Dossche @ 3min 8sec

Stage 6: Friday, July 5, Vannes - Les Sables d'Olonne, 204 km

Places 8 - 39 given same time and place

1. Paul Le Drogo: 6hr 23min 14sec
2. Jules Merviel s.t.
3. André Leducq s.t.
4. Hector Martin s.t.
5. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
6. Charles Pélissier s.t.
7. Jean Aerts s.t.
8. Lucien Buysse, Frans Bonduel, Désiré Louesse, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 6:

1. Maurice De Waele: 36hr 11min 26sec
2. Marcel Bindot, Aimé Déolet, Aimé Dossche @ 3min 8sec

Stage 7: Saturday, July 6, Les Sables d'Olonne - Bordeaux, 285 km

1. Nicolas Frantz: 9hr 13min 7sec
2. Antonin Magne s.t.
3. Jef Demuysère s.t.
4. Victor Fontan s.t.
5. André Leducq s.t.
6. Charles Pélissier @ 43sec
7. Jules Merviel @ 55sec
8. André Godinat s.t.
9. Louis Delannoy s.t.
10. Salvador Cardona s.t.

GC after Stage 7:

The Tour awarded 3 Yellow Jerseys at Bordeaux:

1. Nicolas Frantz, André Leducq, Victor Fontan @ 45hr 29min 28sec

Stage 8: Sunday, July 7, Bordeaux - Bayonne, 182 km

Places 8 - 41 given same time and place

1. Julien Moineau: 5hr 36min 25sec
2. Gustaaf Van Slembrouck s.t.
3. Gaston Rebry s.t.
4. Nicolas Frantz @ 3min 21sec
5. Charles Pélissier s.t.
6. Francis Bouillet s.t.
7. Jean Aerts s.t.
8. Jules Merviel, Maurice De Waele, Armand Van Bruaene, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 8:

1. Gaston Rebry: 51hr 5min 48sec
2. Nicolas Frantz, André Leducq, Victor Fontan @ 2min 26sec

Stage 9: Tuesday, July 9, Bayonne - Luchon, 363 km

Major ascents: Aubisque, Tourmalet

1. Salvador Cardona: 16hr 31min 57sec
2. Victor Fontan s.t.
3. Maurice De Waele @ 8min 6sec
4. Nicolas Frantz @ 11min 4sec
5. Romain Bellenger s.t.
6. Giseppe Pancera s.t.
7. Jef Demuysère @ 16min 23sec
8. Antonin Magne @ 25min 30sec
9. Settimo Innocenti s.t.
10. Benoît Faure s.t.

GC after Stage 9:

1. Victor Fontan: 67hr 40min 11sec
2. Maurice De Waele @ 9min 54sec
3. Nicolas Frantz @ 11min 4sec

Stage 10: Thursday, July 11, Luchon - Perpignan, 323 km

Major ascents: Portet d'Aspet, Port, Puymorens

1. Jef Demuysère: 11hr 42min 48sec
2. Louis Delannoy s.t.
3. Maurice De Waele @ 11sec
4. Benoît Faure @ 5min 29sec
5. André Leducq @ 11min 47sec
6. Frans Bonduel s.t.
7. Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
8. Francis Bouillet @ 13min 13sec
9. Bernard Van Rysselberghe @ 25min 25sec
10. Salvador Cardona s.t.

GC after Stage 10:

1. Maurice De Waele: 79hr 33min 2sec
2. Jef Demuysère @ 14min 49sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 22min 1sec

Stage 11: Saturday, July 13, Perpignan - Marseille, 366 km

Places 9 - 25 given same time and place

1. André Leducq: 13hr 37min 29sec
2. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
3. Charles Pélissier s.t.
4. Julien Delbecque s.t.
5. Hector Martin s.t.
6. Antonin Magne s.t.
7. Omer Taverne s.t.
8. Luc Govaerts s.t.
9. Léon Chene s.t.
10. Bernard Van Rysselberghe s.t.

GC after Stage 11:

1. Maurice De Waele: 93hr 10min 31sec
2. Jef Demuysère @ 14min 49sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 22min 1sec

Stage 12: Monday, July 15, Marseille - Cannes, 191 km

Places 8 - 12 given same time and place

1. Marcel Bidot: 5hr 57min 45sec
2. Nicolas Frantz @ 2min 36sec
3. Frans Bonduel s.t.
4. Hector Martin s.t.
5. Antonin Magne s.t.
6. Gaston Rebry s.t.
7. Jef Demuysère s.t.
8. Pierre Magne s.t.
9. Salvador Cardona s.t.
10. Louis Delannoy s.t.

19. Giuseppe Pancera @ 6min 34sec

GC after Stage 12:

1. Maurice De Waele: 99hr 12min 33sec
2. Jef Demuysère @ 13min 8sec
3. Louis Delannoy @ 23min 5sec

Stage 13: Tuesday, July 16, Cannes - Nice, 133 km

Major asents: Braus, Castillon

1. Benoît Faure 4hr 52min 18sec
2. Julien Moineau @ 38sec
3. André Leducq @ 3min 52sec
4. Pierre Magne @ 4min 43sec
5. Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
6. Mario Pomposi s.t.
7. Maurice De Waele @ 7min 39sec
8. Julien Vervaecke @ 9min 5sec
9. Marcel Bidot @ 11min 50sec
10. Louis Delannoy s.t.

GC after Stage 13:

1. Maurice De Waele: 104hr 12min 30sec
2. Giuseppe Pancera @ 21min 22sec
3. Jef Demuysère @ 25min 2sec

Stage 14: Thursday, July 18, Nice - Grenoble, 333 km

Major ascents: Allos, Bayard

1. Gaston Rebry: 13hr 19min 6sec
2. Jef Demuysère s.t.
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 6min 42sec
4. Maurice De Waele s.t.
5. Bernard Van Rysselberghe @ 11min 51sec
6. Benoît Faure s.t.
7. Salvador Cardona s.t.
8. Frans Bonduel s.t.
9. Charles Pélissier @ 13min 55sec
10. André Leducq @ 14min 59sec

GC after Stage 14:

1. Maurice De Waele: 117hr 38min 18sec
2. Jef Demuysère @ 18min 20sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 21min 22sec

Stage 15: Saturday, July 20, Grenoble - Evian, 329 km

Major ascents: Lautaret, Galibier, Aravis

1. Julien Vervaecke: 13hr 9min 37sec
2. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
3. Pierre Magne @ 4min 45sec
4. Antonin Magne @ 7min 34sec
5. Désiré Louesse s.t.
6. Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
7. Julien Moineau @ 10min 23sec
8. Salvador Cardona s.t.
9. Benoît Faure s.t.
10. Gaston Rebry @ 13min 25sec

GC after stage 15:

1. Maurice De Waele 131hr 1min 20sec (?)
2. Giuseppe Pancera @ 15min 31sec
3. Jef Demuysère @ 19min 20sec

Stage 16: Monday, July 22, Evian - Belfort, 283 km

Major ascent: Faucille

Places 7 - 26 given same time and place

1. Charles Pélissier: 9hr 34min 5sec
2. André Leducq @ 24min 31sec
3. Bernard Van Rysselberghe s.t.
4. Antonin Magne s.t.
5. Frans Bonduel s.t.
6. Armand Van Bruaene s.t.
7. Désiré Louesse, Julien Vervaecke, Léon Chene, Nicolas Frantz, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 16:

1. Maurice De Waele
2. Giuseppe Pancera @ 15min 31sec
3. Jef Demuysère @ 18min 20sec

Stage 17: Tuesday, July 23, Belfort - Strasbourg, 145 km

1. André Leducq: 4hr 27min 24sec
2. Frans Bonduel s.t.
3. Bernard Van Rysselberghe s.t.
4. Antonin Magne s.t.
5. Pierre Magne s.t.
6. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
7. Louis Delannoy s.t
8. Francis Bouillet s.t.
9. Georges Laloup s.t.
10. Savador Cardona s.t.

Gc after Stage 17:

1. Maurice De Waele
2. Giuseppe Pancera @ 15min 31sec
3. Jef Demuysère @ 18min 20sec

Stage 18: Wednesday, July 24, Strasbourg - Metz, 165 km

1. André Leducq: 5hr 47min 10sec
2. Charles Pélissier s.t.
3. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
4. Armand Van Bruaene s.t.
5. Antonin Magne s.t.
6. Gaston Rebry s.t.
7. Bernard Van Rysselberghe s.t.
8. Omer Taverne s.t.
9. Maurice De Waele s.t.
10. Julien Vervaecke s.t.

GC after Stage 18:

1. Maurice De Waele
2. Jef Demuysère @ 18min 20sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 20min 9sec

Stage 19: Thursday, July 25, Metz - Charleville, 159 km

Places 9 - 15 given same time and place

1. Bernard Van Rysselberghe: 4hr 44min 6sec
2. Antonin Magne s.t.
3. Frans Bonduel s.t.
4. Armand Van Bruaene s.t.
5. Gaston Rebry s.t.
6. Désiré Louesse s.t.
7. Louis Delannoy s.t.
8. Pierre Magne s.t.
9. Maurice De Waele, Julien Vervaecke, etc. s.t.

GC after Stage 19:

1. Maurice De Waele
2. Jef Demuysère @ 18min 20sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 24min 2sec

Stage 20: Friday, July 26, Charleville - Malo les Bains, 270 km

1. Maurice De Waele: 9hr 16min 16sec
2. Julien Vervaecke s.t.
3. Gaston Rebry s.t.
4. Nicolas Frantz @ 10min
5. Antonin Magne s.t.
6. Louis Delannoy s.t.
7. Jef Demuysère s.t.
8. Savador Cardona s.t.
9. Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
10. Julien Perrain s.t.

GC after Stage 20:

1. Maurice De Waele
2. Jef Demuysère @ 28min 20sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 34min 2sec

Stage 21: Saturday, Suly 27, Malo les Bains - Dieppe, 234 km

1. André Leducq: 9hr 3min 52sec
2. Charles Pélissier s.t.
3. Jef Demuysére s.t.
4. Jules Merviel s.t.
5. Louis Delannoy s.t.
6. Antonin Magne s.t.
7. Nicolas Frantz s.t.
8. Bernard Van Rysselberghe s.t.
9. Léon Chene s.t.
10. Benoît Faure s.t.

GC after Stage 21:

1. Maurice De Waele
2. Jef Demuysère @ 28min 20sec
3. Giuseppe Pancera @ 34min 2sec

Stage 22 (final stage): Sunday, July 28, Dieppe - Paris, 332 km

Place 6 - 12 given same time and place

1. Nicolas Frantz: 12hr 19min 19sec
2. Charles Pélissier s.t.
3. Jules Merviel s.t.
4. Frans Bonduel s.t.
5. Benoît Faure s.t.
6. Jef Demuysère, Salvador Cardona, Louis Delannoy, Antonin Magne, Marcel Bidot, etc. s.t.

Complete Final 1929 Tour de France General Classificaton

---

The Story of the 1929 Tour de France

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 1 If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, eBook or audiobook. The Amazon link here will make the purchase easy.

In addition to being a fascinating race with unpredictable twists and turns, the 1929 Tour transformed the great race for decades to come.

Tour boss Henri Desgrange didn't completely abandon his confusing and unpopular team time trial format for the flat stages. He left in 3 of them, stages 12, 19 and 20, with staggered departures by team. These were the stages deemed to be slower than 30 kilometers an hour. Desgrange went with a 22-stage, 5,276 kilometer Tour, just a little shorter than the year before.

Desgrange went back to requiring the riders to fix their own flat tires.

We should make a special mention here regarding distances given in the early Tours. They were not exact. Many stages had the distance estimated. From about 1928 on the distances given are pretty accurate. For that reason also, average speeds in the early Tours given to the thousandths of a kilometer per hour would rate an "F" from any math teacher because the underlying data is not accurate to that many digits.

Leducq edges out Frantz for the stage 11 victory in Marseille

Alcyon returned with nearly the same squad that they had used with such success the previous year, headed by 1927 and 1928 Tour winner Nicolas Frantz. 1926 Tour winner Lucien Buysse was now on the Lucifer team that sported some rather capable riders as well, including Gustave Van Slembrouck, Joseph Demuysére and Pé Verhaegen. Capable though they may have been, almost all of them, notably excepting Demuysére, abandoned the Tour by stage 9.

Belgian Aimé Dossche won the first stage with the sprint into Caen. He kept the Yellow Jersey over the next 2 stages with pack sprints deciding the winners.

This is what pure speed looks like. If I were as fast as Charles Pélissier, I'd smile a lot too.

Maurice De Waele and Louis Delannoy slipped away on the fourth stage, beating the group by 3 minutes. That put De Waele in Yellow. He had been second in the 1927 Tour and third in 1928. De Waele was able to keep the lead until stage 7, which went from Les Sables d'Olonne to Bordeaux. De Waele was delayed with 2 flats that day. Under the 1929 rules, he had to fix them himself. The time loss cost him the lead. A 5-man break led in by Nicolas Frantz won the stage.

A new situation confronted the timekeepers. Frantz, André Leducq and Victor Fontan, who were in that winning stage 7 break, were exactly tied in time. Today the judges would go back to the time trials and look at the fractions-of-a-second differences. If that doesn't resolve the tie, then a look at placings solves the problem. The Tour didn't have rules to take care of ties, so 3 Yellow Jerseys were awarded.

The 3 Yellow Jersey problem resolved itself the next day when Gaston Rebry got in a 3-man break and took over the lead. Leducq, Frantz and Fontan were now tied for second.

A rider gets a hand-up on the fly. It looks like he's getting quite a tow along the way. This would be called a 'turbo" hand up today.

The God of the Flat Tire wasn't done with De Waele. On the crucial stage 9 with the Pyreneen climbs of the Aubisque and Tourmalet, De Waele got into a break with Salvador Cardona and Victor Fontan. De Waele flatted while his companions continued on and won the stage. De Waele finished third, over 8 minutes later. Fontan was now in Yellow and De Waele almost 10 minutes behind.

Life should have been good to Fontan. He was a strong rider with a good lead. Although he was 37 years old, he had prepared for this moment with care and was riding in the Pyrenees, his home turf. But life takes strange turns. On the next stage, from Luchon to Perpignan, Fontan crashed badly after either falling into a gutter by the side of the road or hitting a dog; accounts differ. He was unhurt but his forks were broken. Starting with Eugène Christophe in 1913, the Pyrenees seem to have a long history of being hard on bicycle forks.

Being 323 kilometers, the stage started before sunrise. Fontan, the General Classification leader of the Tour de France and the wearer of the Yellow Jersey was reduced to knocking on the doors of the villagers in the dark of the early morning looking for another bike that he might borrow. At last he found a bike to resume the race, but he didn't just ride off. He couldn't: he had his broken bike strapped to his back. That year a rider had to finish with the bike he used to start the stage.

Fontan rode for 145 kilometers in the high Pyrenees with a bike strapped to his back trying to catch the greatest riders in the world.

It was too much for him and in tears he quit, still wearing the Yellow Jersey. Desgrange, realizing the arbitrariness and unfairness of the rule, changed it for 1930 to allow riders to get new bikes from follow vehicles. Fontan, by the way, was a bit of a miracle rider. In World War One he was twice hit by bullets in the leg. He didn't ride the Tour until 1924 when he was 36, an age when most other racers have already retired. He was one of the oldest Yellow Jerseys in Tour history. It's a shame fate was not kinder to him.

With Fontan's retirement De Waele was back in Yellow with a nearly 15 minute lead on Joseph Demuysére of the Lucifer team. Again, this looked like a secure lead.

Stage 14 finished in Grenoble. De Waele became very ill. He was so sick that he could not eat solid food. The next day was the Queen Stage in the Alps with the Lautaret, the Galibier and the Aravis climbs. This would be a challenging stage for even the strongest rider in good health. In terrible misery, helped and pushed by his teammates, De Waele made it to the end of the stage in Évian and kept his lead. That was Saturday.

Stage 15: The riders are on the Lauteret and still have to climb the Galibier and the Aravis

On Monday, at the start of the next stage, the Alcyon team asked for and was granted an hour's delay before starting the stage because De Waele was still asleep, exhausted by the efforts 2 days before. From then on until the last day in Paris, the Alcyon team did everything in their power to drag, help and push their Yellow Jersey'd leader to the end of the race.

Stage 16: The racers stop to sign in at a control stop in Pontarlier.

De Waele won the 1929 Tour but Desgrange was furious. "A corpse has won my race!" Not only was Desgrange upset with the help given to De Waele by his teammates, some of it against the rules, he felt that there had been collusion from the other teams since the sub-par De Waele never received a serious challenge from the other teams.

Stage 17: Leducq, a superb sprinter, edges out Frans Bonduel in Strasbourg.

As we will see in 1930, Desgrange's solution was a radical gamble that entirely changed the nature and style of racing in the Tour de France.

Winner Maurice De Waele in a photo taken in 1927.

Final 1929 Tour de France General Classification:

1. Maurice De Waele (Alcyon): 186 hours 39 minutes 15 seconds

2. Giuseppe Pancera (La Rafale) @ 44 minutes 23 seconds

3. Joseph Demuysère (Lucifer) @ 57 minutes 10 seconds

4. Salvador Cardona (Fontan-Wolber) @ 57 minutes 46 seconds

5. Nicolas Frantz (Alcyon) @ 58 minutes

 

.