Race Details
The 1909 Tour de France was considered the most difficult one so far, because of the cold temperatures, the rain and snow.
The first stage was won by Belgian Cyrille van Hauwaert, the first Belgian stage victory ever. As a result, he was leading also the race, the first time in the Tour de France history that a non-Frenchman was leading the race. François Faber, the pre-race favourite, finished in second place. Faber won the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th stage, this record of five stages in a row has not been broken since. In stage two, Faber broke away halfway the stage, and rode the last 200 km alone. In the third stage (at a temperature of only 4 degrees Celsius), Faber's chain broke in the last kilometre, and he had to run his bicycle across the finish line. In the fifth stage, Faber was blown of the road by a strong wind, but remounted. Later, he was knocked down by a horse that also kicked his bicycle away. Faber remounted again, and won the stage with a five minute margin. In the sixth stage, 20,000 fans had come to see Faber win his fifth stage in a row, which he did. The 7th stage was won by Ernest Paul, Faber's half brother. Because of the bad weather, already 50 cyclists (1/3 of the field) had quit the race at that point.
The Tour organizers asked Faber to calm down, in order to keep the Tour exciting. His team leader agreed and Faber slowed down and let others win stages; his leading position was never endangered.
In the ninth stage, Faber finished in 10th place at 46 minutes from the winner, his worst performance of the race. He was still leading the race with 26 points, whereas second placed cyclist Gustave Garrigou had 40 points.
In the fourteenth stage, Jean Alavoine was leading when his bicycle broke, with only 10 km to go. Changing bicycles was not allowed, so Alavoine ran the last 10 km with his bicycle on his shoulders, and won the stage with a margin of 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
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