There was an article in the 1960s "Sporting Cyclist" (xeroxes available from Velo-Retro, I believe) on the touriste-routiers. Basically, they were unattached amateurs. Often racers looking for a contract - some, like Benoit Faure, who won the climbers prize in the 1930s, quite good - or bike shop owners who wanted the fame of having ridden in the Tour. (For more on Benoit Faure, check out the article "How I won the 1930 Tour de France" by Andre Leducq in Vintage Bicycle Quarterly Vol. 4, No. 3.)
Several sources say that Touriste-Routiers were allowed derailleurs when racers were not. However, I have not yet seen any photos of touriste-routiers with derailleurs. Aldo?
Touriste-Routiers no longer were part of the Tour after WW II. I believe they last raced in the late 1930s.
It would be fun, though, wouldn't it, to race the Tour like that?
Jan Heine Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com
>I'm reading the book "Le Tour" and in the early years of the tour, it
>mentions riders on National teams and others classified as
>"Touriste-Routier". What does this exactly mean? Are these individual
>riders not associated with a national team? Or are they amateurs?
>
>Doland Cheung
>SoCal