Pic of the Day 24 August 2008
1949 Tour de France, in Color
Up until about 1965, there aren't many color photos in old French sports journals (unless you count sepiatone, aquamarine, or verdigris), so it's fun to find pics like this. Paris-Match ran a two-page article about the Tour in their July 16th, 1949 edition. In the red car, wearing a white shirt, is race director Jacques Goddet. Note the advertisements pasted to the wall ("Vildo" was a shoe polish), ghost signs in the distance, and the red-tile roof occupied by young men risking life and limb for a better view of the race. Wish I had a better view of the bikes leaning against the building!
I wonder if the blue-white-red kites designate a cash sprint... seems like
lots of Belgian jerseys at the front.
>From "Paris-Match" No.17, 16 July 1949.
http://www.wooljersey.com/
Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio, USA