How well do you knowé French masters
Will your knowledge triumph in this quiz on all things French cycling?
1 The inaugural Tour de France in 1903 was won by which rider?
2 In the 1913 Tour, which rider was handed a time penalty for allowing a blacksmith’s boy to pump the bellows for him while he mended a broken fork?
3 The same rider later became known for putting his name to which cycling accessory/component?
4 Louison Bobet was the first rider to win how many Tours de France?
5 Which French rider finally won Paris-roubaix after 15 years of trying in 1992 – and then promptly won it again the following spring?
6 Five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil was known as Maître Jacques; what other nickname was he given?
7 When did Anquetil win his first Tour de France?
8 Which two-time Tour winner is the most recent Frenchman to have won the Giro d’italia?
9 True or false: ‘Eternal Second’ Raymond Poulidor never won a Grand Tour.
10 The slopes of which climb were the site of a legendary Tour de France duel between Poulidor and Anquetil in 1964? Immortalised on film and video, the summit finish battle ultimately saw Poulidor get the better of Anquetil, but it wasn’t enough to win the Tour.
11 Poulidor rode for the Mercier team in 1964; what was the title sponsor of arch-rival Anquetil’s squad?
12 Despite never winning the Tour, Poulidor did win a Monument – which one?
13 The picture, below left, shows Bernard Hinault in the unique colours of which team?
14 In 1986 Hinault became the 11th winner at the top of which storied Tour climb?
15 A memorial to which French multiple Tour winner sits alongside one of Fausto Coppi on the slopes of the Col d’izoard?
16 Which French great is famous for the quote: “As long as I breathe, I attack”?
17 Only one Frenchman has won three Giro d’italia. Who is it?
18 Frenchwoman Jeannie Longo won prolifically throughout her long career, but found a worthy Italian rival in
the Eighties who beat her regularly – what was her name?
19 Which French rider changed his focus from sprinting to GC after a terrible finishing-straight crash in 1994, and went on to win the Vuelta the following year?
20 The picture above left shows which rider, briefly tipped as the successor to Bernard Hinault, on the way to winning stage 18 of the 1987 Tour – a time trial up Mont Ventoux?
21 Name the only two French postwar winners of Paris-roubaix to have also won the Tour de France.
22 Famed for losing the Tour to Greg Lemond by just eight seconds in 1989, Laurent Fignon did receive one award on the race that year – what was it?
23 The Col d’izoard has featured many times in the Tour de France, traditionally preceded by which smaller climb?
24 Bernard Hinault hails from which cycling-centric region of France?
25 In 1965 Jacques Anquetil supplemented his Tour de France record with a win in which – now defunct – mammoth French Classic?
26 The French Peugeot team, formed in the 1940s, proved the most enduring of set-ups. It saw many big wins and different title sponsors, ultimately folding in 2008 when the sponsorship of which company ended?
27 Which previously little-known Frenchman’s Tour win in 1956 left the nation’s fans nonplussed, particularly as he didn’t win a stage?
28 The picture on the left shows Laurent Fignon winning which race on which famous cycling strada?
29 Only three Frenchmen have won the Giro d’italia – who was the first?
30 It’s been a while since France had a Tour Ttt-winning team. Which was the last to do so and when? (Clue: Jens Voigt and Thor Hushovd rode on the team that day.)