Pic of the Day 15th July, 1929
Fontan Quits While Wearing Yellow
Tour de France, 1929. Victor Fontan took the lead on stage 9, but the next day he struck a dog (some stories say he struck a pothole in the dark) and damaged his bike. Delayed forty minutes, he resumed the race and is pictured here in the company of back markers Marcel Ilpide, Charles Cottalorda, Georges Petit, and a few others - riders who would all lose over 2 hours on the stage. Some stories say Fontan borrowed a bike at a house and rode to the finish with his broken bike strapped to his back, but we can see from this picture that this isn't the case). He continued to lose time, and soon abandoned the race in tears. From "Match", number unknown, date unknown (I found this page stuffed inside a 1930 issue of "l'Intran Match").
http://www.wooljersey.com/
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Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio, USA