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Monovisions, a journal of black and white photography, captures the history of the Tour de France in stunning detail

The Tour de France is an event with a compelling visual history -- especially in black and white.

Image: Monovisions
Image: Monovisions

In the annals of competitive sports, it doesn’t get much more exciting — nor more picturesque, in many ways — than the Tour de France. As riders hit the road this weekend, coursing through the stunning natural vista of the Netherlands and proceeding towards Antwerp, many, no doubt most, are thinking the same thing.

It’s an event with a compelling visual history — especially in black and white.

Monovisions, a renowned journal of black and white photography, has collected some of the best images from the history of the Tour de France and assembled them into a post, with some images dating all the way back to 1905 and the victory of French rider Hippolyte Aucoturier, who won three of that year’s stages and finished second overall. There are also images of some of the more controversial events in the Tour’s history, too, like Roger Lapebie’s 1937 win, after passing a set of railroad tracks that found his pursuers blocked from heating up the chase by the bulk of a passing train.

As is often the case, looking back over such a gruelling, defining event in the sporting world, it’s amazing to look at these photos and see how much has changed. It’s not just the lack of helmets or the decidedly more pared-down gear of riders during the early to mid-20th century, but the way that the Tour’s do-or-die terrain was conquered by these minimally-equipped warriors on bikes in its early years, something Monovisions’s gallery brilliantly captures.

It’s a testament, really, to the spartan spirit that continues to define cycling’s biggest event. Take a look for yourself as you follow the action of this year’s competition.