The Tour was quite a bit less… sporty in its early years. There are plenty of stories about riders basically stealing wine, champagne and beers from local cafe’s or whatever when the Tour passed through.
Cigarettes were marketed as actively healthy and good for the lungs. They used doctors to sell them. And wanted everyone to know that the only reason that smokers kept dying of lung diseases is because cigarettes are good for lungs so of course people with bad lungs were smokers. Duh.
I love the guy in a full aero tuck trying to get into the photo haha
And the spare tubes around the arms, these guys were animals
Those aren't tubes, they're whole tubular tires, essentially an integrated tube and tire in one unit that is glued to the rim. Changing a flat first required peeling the old one off before the new tire could be stretched (they fit tight!) onto the rim.
Tubulars are still used regularly by at least one world tour team (French, naturally), but these days a flat is fixed by swapping the wheel or even the whole bike for a spare carried by the team car. That wasn't allowed in the early days.
[off topic]
I remember reading a story of patients smoking on the lung ward, circa 1930.
I've known two respiratory therapists. They spend their days working with people suffering from emphysema and other smoking related ailments. Both of them smoked.
People are weird.
I used to work for a public health organization and spent a lot of time in hospitals.
Nurses smoking outside the Emergency Room was something I saw every day
Seems like having your own cigarettes would be safer.
They used to drink wine too. Also occasionally catch the train.
