Tour historic times. If 1906 was the first time the Tour reached the Tourmalet, the 1913 edition will be remembered as one in which the then leader Eugene Christophe, in the stage from Bayonne to Luchon (326 km!), Was leaked on the rise the Tourmalet, with more than 5 minutes ahead of his pursuers. And fall, after a fall had to travel 14 kilometers on foot (some sections of the road itself, and sometimes cutting field through) to St Marie de Campan where to find a blacksmith to repair his broken fork so we can continue. Things Tour, which at the time did not allow mechanical assistance or replacement of components. All forging operation of the fork made under the supervision of Henry Desgrange, the pattern of the Tour, which came to punish him with 10 minutes to ask a boy to assist him fan the flames of the forge. Cristophe, all courage, did not give up and came to the end of the stage.
In 2003, the centenary edition of the Tour, put on a plaque to remember the events that occurred in 1913. As the plaque states: "On the occasion of centenary of the Tour de France, Eugene Christophe honors during the Tour in 1913 noticed the fork on your bike in the forging of Sainte Marie de Campan. Eugene Christophe, leader of the test, he lost any chance of victory here, but gave a formidable lesson in courage and tenacity. The Tour de France points with respect this exemplary behavior. July 21, 2003.
To me it gives me goosebumps to read it. These are the values \u200b\u200bof cycling's Tour de France plays year after year, fighting against the current, facing the world in his crusade against doping and against any shortcut that is not the effort and sacrifice.
Every time I went to the Tourmalet I looked for that board. And finally this year found. Lowering the Aspin (or Hourquette d'Ancizan, beautiful port, as the Aspin, linking the valley with the valley Arreau Campan), past the square where the Tourmalet starts (see photo). Following the road to Bagneres de Bigorre, a hundred yards on the right, next to the road, there it is. Mythical plate in a mythical town.
