1939 Tour de France Information & 1939 Tour de France Links at HealthHaven.com

← 1939 Tour de France →
Race details
Dates	10–30 July 1939
Stages	18
Distance	4,224 km (2,625 mi)
Winning time	132h 03' 17" (31.986 km/h/19.875 mph)
Palmarès

The 1939 Tour de France was the 33rd Tour de France, taking Place July 10 to July 30, 1939. The total distance was 4,224 km and the average speed of the riders was 31.986 km/h.^[1]

Taking place on the eve of World War II, there was already much animosity in Europe. Italy, Germany and Spain all declined to send teams to the race, so the 1938 Italian champion Gino Bartali would not be defending his title. To fill out the ranks, Belgium sent two teams, and France had five teams. This would be the final Tour for eight years, until 1947.

Between the second and the seventh stage, the last rider in the general classification was eliminated.^[2]

[edit] Results

[edit] Stage winners

Stage results^[2]^[3]
Stage	Route	Length^{[Stage notes 1]}	Winner	Race leader
1	Paris – Caen	215 km (134 mi)	Amédée Fournier (FRA)	Amédée Fournier (FRA)
2A	Caen – Vire	64 km (40 mi)	Romain Maes (BEL)	Romain Maes (BEL)
2B	Vire – Rennes	119 km (74 mi)	Eloi Tassin (FRA)	Jean Fontenay (FRA)
3	Rennes – Brest	244 km (152 mi)	Pierre Cloarec (FRA)	Jean Fontenay (FRA)
4	Brest – Lorient	174 km (108 mi)	Raymond Louviot (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
5	Lorient – Nantes	207 km (129 mi)	Amédée Fournier (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
6A	Nantes – La Rochelle	144 km (89 mi)	Lucien Storme (BEL)	René Vietto (FRA)
6B	La Rochelle – Royan	107 km (66 mi)	Edmond Pagès (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
7	Royan – Bordeaux	198 km (123 mi)	Raymond Passat (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
8A	Bordeaux – Salies-de-Béarn	210 km (130 mi)	Marcel Kint (BEL)	René Vietto (FRA)
8B	Salies-de-Béarn – Pau	69 km (43 mi)	Karl Litschi (SUI)	René Vietto (FRA)
9	Pau – Toulouse	311 km (193 mi)	Edward Vissers (BEL)	René Vietto (FRA)
10A	Toulouse – Narbonne	149 km (93 mi)	Pierre Jaminet (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
10B	Narbonne – Béziers	27 km (17 mi)	Maurice Archambaud (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
10C	Béziers – Montpellier	70 km (43 mi)	Maurice Archambaud (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
11	Montpellier – Marseille	212 km (132 mi)	Fabien Galateau (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
12A	Marseille – Saint-Raphaël	157 km (98 mi)	François Neuens (LUX)	René Vietto (FRA)
12B	Saint-Raphaël – Monaco	122 km (76 mi)	Maurice Archambaud (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
13	Monaco – Monaco	101 km (63 mi)	Pierre Gallien (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
14	Monaco – Digne	175 km (109 mi)	Pierre Cloarec (FRA)	René Vietto (FRA)
15	Digne – Briançon	219 km (136 mi)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
16A	Briançon – Briançon	126 km (78 mi)	Pierre Jaminet (FRA)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
16B	Bonneval – Bourg-Saint-Maurice	64 km (40 mi)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
16C	Bourg-Saint-Maurice – Annecy	104 km (65 mi)	Antoon van Schendel (NED)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
17A	Annecy – Dôle	226 km (140 mi)	François Neuens (LUX)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
17B	Dôle – Dijon	59 km (37 mi)	Maurice Archambaud (FRA)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
18A	Dijon – Troyes	151 km (94 mi)	René Le Grevès (FRA)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)
18B	Troyes – Paris	201 km (125 mi)	Marcel Kint (BEL)	Sylvère Maes (BEL)

Notes

^ In 1939, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate whether the stage was run as a time trial, the stage was flat or the stage included mountains.

[edit] Final general standings

Of the 79 cyclists that started the race, 49 finished.

Final general standings (1–10)^[2]^[4]^[5]
Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Sylvère Maes (BEL)	Belgium	132h 03' 17"
2	René Vietto (FRA)	South-East	+30' 38"
3	Lucien Vlaemynck (BEL)	Belgium B	+32' 08"
4	Mathias Clemens (LUX)	Luxembourg	+36' 09"
5	Edward Vissers (BEL)	Belgium	+38' 05"
6	Sylvain Marcaillou (FRA)	France	+45' 16"
7	Albertin Disseaux (BEL)	Belgium B	+46' 54"
8	Jan Lambrichs (NED)	Netherlands	+48' 01"
9	Albert Ritserveldt (BEL)	Belgium B	+48' 27"
10	Cyriel Vanoverberghe (BEL)	Belgium B	+49' 44"

[edit] Final team classification

The team classification was calculated in 1939 by adding up the times of the best three cyclists of a team; the team with the least time was the winner. In 1939, there were ten teams of eight cyclists. There were the national teams of Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and France. Belgium also sent a second team, "Belgium B". Finally, there were four regional French teams: North-East, West, South-West and South-East.^[2] The South-West team was registered with eight cyclist, but only seven cyclists started the race. Only two of the South-West cyclists finished the race, so they were not in the team classification.

Team classification (1–9)^[4]^[5]
Rank	Team	Time
1	Belgium B	398h 17' 20"
2	France	+35' 47"
3	Belgium	+36' 18"
4	Luxembourg	+1h 12' 35"
5	North-East	+1h 23' 20"
6	South-East	+1h 38' 09"
7	Netherlands	+2h 06' 07"
8	West	+5h 50' 37"
9	Switzerland	+6h 45' 27"

[edit] Mountains classification

The mountains classification in 1939 was won by Sylvère Maes. Ten mountain peaks were used in the classification, and the first cyclist to reach the top received 10 points, the second cyclist 9 points, and so on until the tenth cyclist who received 1 point.

Mountain classification (1–5)^[2]^[6]
Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Sylvère Maes (BEL)	Belgium	85
2	Edward Vissers (BEL)	Belgium	84
3	Albert Ritseveldt (BEL)	Belgium B	71
4	Dante Gianello (FRA)	France	61
5	René Vietto (FRA)	South-East	22

[edit] References

^ Jacques Augendre (2009). "Guide Historique" (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03. http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1254580608579206. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "33ème Tour de France 1939" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1939.php. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
^ Arian Zwegers. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. http://www.webcitation.org/5gWiBhPaH. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
^ ^a ^b "De Ronde van Frankrijk - Sylver Maes winnaar" (in Dutch). Leeuwarder Courant. 31 July 1939. http://www.archiefleeuwardercourant.nl/site/article.do?code=LC&date=19390731&id=LC-19390731-11007. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
^ ^a ^b Tom James (15 August 2003). "1939: "Le Roi René" and the regionals". http://www.veloarchive.com/races/tour/1939.php. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
^ "Tour-Giro-Vuelta". http://www.tour-giro-vuelta.net/. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

[3] In 1939, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate whether the stage was run as a time trial, the stage was flat or the stage included mountains.

[guide-0] Jacques Augendre (2009). "Guide Historique" (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03. http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1254580608579206. Retrieved 1 October 2009.

[mdc1939-1] "33ème Tour de France 1939" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. http://memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tdf_1903_1939/tdf1939.php. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

[topten-2] Arian Zwegers. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. http://www.webcitation.org/5gWiBhPaH. Retrieved 2009-04-20.

[lc-4] "De Ronde van Frankrijk - Sylver Maes winnaar" (in Dutch). Leeuwarder Courant. 31 July 1939. http://www.archiefleeuwardercourant.nl/site/article.do?code=LC&date=19390731&id=LC-19390731-11007. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

[veloarchive-5] Tom James (15 August 2003). "1939: "Le Roi René" and the regionals". http://www.veloarchive.com/races/tour/1939.php. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

[tgv-6] "Tour-Giro-Vuelta". http://www.tour-giro-vuelta.net/. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[Stage notes 1]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Contents