Mapping Le Tour: The unofficial history of all 100 Tour de France races. Ellis Bacon

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       1935

       29th Edition

	Start: Paris, France, on 4 JulyFinish: Paris, France, on 28 July
	Total distance: 4338 km (2696 miles)Longest stage: 325 km (202 miles)
	Highest point:Col du Galibier: 2556 m (8386 ft) Mountain stages: 9
	Starters: 93Finishers: 46
	Winning time: 141 h 32’ 00”Average speed: 30.650 kph (19.045 mph)
	1. Romain Maes (Bel)2. Ambrogio Morelli (Ita) at 17’ 52” 3. Félicien Vervaecke (Bel) at 24’ 06”
	Mountains: Félicien Vervaecke (Bel)

      Romain Maes became the fifth rider – and still the last – to have led the race from the first stage all the way to the finish in Paris. The Belgian escaped the clutches of the peloton on the opening stage, and while he at first appeared to present no real danger to overall contenders such as defending champion Antonin Magne, when Maes slipped through a railway crossing in Haubourdin on the outskirts of Lille just before the gates closed, with a group of chasers hot on his heels, the rest of the race was stopped in its tracks and he was able to hold on to win by a minute.

      Maes battled gamely on through the first week in the maillot jaune, even finishing the stage 5b time trial between Geneva and Évian in fourth place, while Magne fought hard to steadily close the gap.

      However, when Magne was hit by a car in the race convoy on the Col du Télégraphe on stage 7, and had to abandon the race, Maes found himself with a 12-minute lead over the rest. That same stage was also marked by the death of Spain’s Francisco Cepeda, who died from his injuries after a crash on the descent of the Col du Galibier.

      The race route had taken another step towards resembling modern Tour routes, with shorter stages than ever – interspersed, nevertheless, with a few longer ones too – and three individual time trials, following the success of the race’s first one in 1934, as well as three team time trials. It was also at the 1935 Tour that the famous ‘red kite’, strung over the road to mark each stage’s final kilometre, made its first appearance.

      Maes finished things off as fabulously as he’d started them: just as he had on the first stage, he escaped the clutches of the main bunch on the final stage, bursting into the Parc des Princes alone in a blur of yellow to win overall by almost 18 minutes.

      Romain Maes storms to victory in the Parc des Princes velodrome having led the race from start to finish

       1936

       30th Edition

	Start: Paris, France, on 7 JulyFinish: Paris, France, on 2 August
	Total distance: 4438 km (2758 miles)Longest stage: 325 km (202 miles)
	Highest point:Col du Galibier: 2556 m (8386 ft) Mountain stages: 9
	Starters: 90Finishers: 43
	Winning time: 142 h 47’ 32”Average speed: 31.045 kph (19.290 mph)
	1. Sylvère Maes (Bel)2. Antonin Magne (Fra) at 26’ 55” 3. Félicien Vervaecke (Bel) at 27’ 53”
	Mountains: Julian Berrendero (Spa)

      If a return to five stages run as team time trials and no individual time trials at all made the 1936 Tour feel like a step back in time, it was but a temporary blip. There was to be a return to what resembles the modern Tour, complete with individual time trials, in 1937, and with it a new era as Henri Desgrange, the founding father and race organiser since the first edition in 1903, stepped aside to let Jacques Goddet, Desgrange’s deputy at L’Auto, take hold of the reins.

      However, having had a prostate operation prior to the 1936 race, and already struggling on stage 1, Desgrange had to abandon his own race, handing over what he hoped was only temporary control of his event to Goddet as early as stage 2.

      Defending Tour champion Romain Maes then abandoned on stage 7 –the by-now regular ‘queen stage’, which included the brutal climbs of the Télégraphe, the Galibier and the Lautaret – and it was his Belgian team-mate, Sylvère Maes, and no relation, who rose to the top in the Alps.

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