- I'm at the Centrum Ronde Van Vlaanderen,
or Tour of Flanders Center, here in Oudenaarde, Belgium.
This is a really cool place.
There's loads to see and do here
and it's absolute must-visit
for, well, any cycling fan who's coming through the area.
But I'm here to see an exhibition
on the very first editions of the Tour of Flanders,
editions that were cruelly interrupted by World War I.
I'm going to show you some of the tech
and equipment that was used back then,
which is absolutely incredible,
and I think some of it will surprise you.
But before I do,
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And yeah that's Eddy Merckx's old team car.
(chuckling)
(metallic whooshing)
(hypnotic EDM music)
The first ever edition of the Tour of Flanders was in 1913
and it was won by this chap, a 25 year-old carpet fitter,
by the name of Paul Deman.
That edition of the race was the longest it's ever been.
It was 330 kilometers
and it came down to a six-man sprint
in a velodrome in Ghent.
(hypnotic EDM music)
This is the kind of kit
that the riders of the day would've used.
So you've got a steel canteen there
with a cork stopper attached to a piece of string
on an old steel-pressed bottle cage.
Then you've got, well,
forget your modern day sort of cycling eyewear,
you've got some googles
to stop the dirt of Flanders getting in your eyes,
a nice little neat leather saddle pouch
that would go on the back of the saddle,
and a little frame satchel, as well, at the front.
A traditional flat cap, rather then the casquette,
which became more popular later on.
And also this lamp is intriguing me.
Modern bike lights, we just take them so for granted now.
Back then, they didn't exist,
so in order to see in the dark,
we've got, well, like a paraffin lamp
that would be precariously attached
to the front of your bike.
Insane, I can't imaging its lumens were very high.
And underneath here, we've got a classic pair
of woolen cycling shorts
that were used back in the day.
Chamois weren't around.
Riding 330 kilometers in a pair of these,
(stammering) I wouldn't like to do.
It's like modern torture.
And then you've got the classic leather shoes
of the time as well.
They would've been used in conjunction with a flat pedal
and a toe strap.
They don't like very comfortable either,
but they do look quite light.
These are actually the personal effects
of this gentleman, Henri Vanlerberghe,
who was pressed into service during World War I
and actually fought in a motor battalion as a cyclist,
well, couriering messages.
And he's described as being an absolute bear of man
and he was actually able to get reprieve
from fighting at the front
and sort of recover and have R&R by doing cycle races,
which he was allowed to do.
And he was known in the peloton
as the Devil Rider of Lichtervelde.
Quite an ominous nickname to have, but it was duly deserved
because when Tour of Flanders resumed in 1919, he won.
This is an example of the kind of bikes
that the early editions of the race would've been ridden on,
although some would've been fitted with front brakes.
This one is currently in full fixie mode,
but there was the option to fit front brakes on these.
I can't believe that someone would ride
100 kilometers on this, let alone 330.
It's just blowing my mind right now.
It weighs an absolutely ton.
I don't have scales with me unfortunately,
but I'm going to estimate that it's over 14 kilos.
You've got a steel construction with lugged tubes in here,
which was used for a considerable time
after this initial period.
But you've got these rather strange handlebars
that were mainly just used in the drops.
They're quite narrow, actually.
Pretty aero.
And a really slack head angle on there.
Now, you've got a single gear.
It's fixed.
That's all you've got to get up the bergs of Flanders.
I don't envy that either.
And some interesting stuff here.
I mean, this saddle doesn't look particularly comfortable,
but the way that that saddle is attached onto this post
and can be slid along the rails
gives considerable amount of adjustment.
That's a neat idea
and something that I wouldn't have expected
in a bike so old.
(tranquil EDM music)
The wheels, they're wooden, wooden wheels,
and they're tubular.
Tubular tires were what the guys used back then
and you'll often see in photos them with a tubular tire
wrapped around the top of their body as a spare.
That's where they carried it.
And these tires are quite wide,
which is because the roads back then weren't the best
and so they used wider tires,
kind of like now that we've wider tires now
'cause the roads aren't the best.
Some things never change, I guess.
Unfortunately, when World War I broke out in 1914,
the careers are many cyclists, including Deman,
were put on hold and the Flanders region in particular
was especially ravaged by the conflict.
But owing to his reputation
as an absolute hitter on the bike,
Deman was recruited by Belgium's espionage service
and worked as a spy.
His job was to transfer information and documents
across the border into the neutral Netherlands,
all the while by evading the Germans.
And he was able to do this on his bike
and because he could ride so fast.
He risked his life doing this
and was able to hide the documents that he was smuggling
inside the hollow tubes of his bicycle.
Absolutely incredible.
And after 14 successful missions
smuggling them across the border,
unfortunately his luck ran out
and he was captured by the Germans
and put in prison in Leuven.
He was held there to be executed by firing squad
but, fortunately, before that could happen,
the Americans came to Leuven, the Armistice happened,
the war was over, and his life was spared.
He then went on to carry on riding after the war
and he won Paris-Roubaix in 1920.
Amazing.
(soft, somber music)
This bike is incredibly interesting.
It's an original bike used by the Belgian Army in 1913.
It's a folding design for ease of transportation.
It means it can be put away easily
and not take up much space when needed.
But what's fascinating about this
is there was a unit in the Belgian Army
called the Carabiniers Cyclistes,
a battalion of soldiers that traveled around by bikes.
And bikes were integral to armies in World War I.
They were seen as a really reliable use of transport.
You have to remember that back then,
motorized transport was neither reliable or widespread.
A lot of transportation was done by horses,
but bikes have the advantage that they don't eat oats,
making them much cheaper and, in some cases, more reliable.
(futuristic synth music)
The advantage of this kind of solider
and a battalion that could travel around on bike
was enormous because they could travel three times faster
than soldiers marching to the front on foot,
meaning that they could surprise the enemy
and get to places far quicker
and they did so on several occasions during the War,
earning them the nickname the Black Devils from the Germans.
This is the uniform worn
by the Carabiniers Cyclistes battalion.
Certainly doesn't look very comfortable for cycling
and I don't suspect this woolen tunic and trousers
is particularly good in the wet, doesn't look like Gortex.
But I'm quite intrigued by the cap
and the head wear they were wearing,
which was specialist and different from other soldier units,
definitely specific to cycling.
And it resembles the kind of modern day casquette
that you'd wear for cycling as well.
I say modern day, it's quite a traditional hat,
but you get what I'm saying.
(futuristic synth music)
Italy was the first nation to use bikes in its army
and one example of a solider that rode bikes
for the Italian Army was Ottavio Bottecchia.
I've got an example of the kind of bike he would've used
while in service over there, but before I show you it,
let me tell you a bit about his incredible story.
So he was a young bricklayer
and had never ridden a bike prior to joining the Army.
His family was poor and he couldn't afford one.
But as soon as he did
and he joined this cycling unit in the Army,
it became apparent that he was an absolute talent
at riding a bike.
He fought in World War I in the Alps,
where it was apparent that he was a natural climber.
He was captured three times and each time he was captured,
he was able to escape by bike
because the guards couldn't keep up with him.
He was that strong!
Now this impressed his superior officers
and they suggested he should become a professional,
so after the war, he survived,
he saved up his money as a bricklayer and bought a bike
and then became a cyclist.
He instantly won races
and he entered his first Tour de France in 1923,
which he came second in and won a stage,
and then in '24 and '25, he won the Tour de France.
Incredible!
This is the Italian Army bike of World War I
and it's massively ahead of its time.
The tech in this is actually blowing my mind,
(chuckling) I can't believe it.
So first up, it's a Bianchi,
Bianchi laying claim to be the oldest bike manufacturer
in the world, starting bikes in 1885 in Milan.
And the key feature of this is it's a folding bike,
a bit like a modern Brompton,
which is useful for stowing it when it's not needed
on the battlefield.
It's got two gears,
which obviously isn't that great, and to change gear,
you have to actually remove the rear wheel
or you just can slide it in this dropout.
You'd have to stop and get off the bike.
And the adjustable dropout at the back
is to make up for that change in chain tension,
because derailleurs haven't been invented at this point.
But it's got one brake, which is a cantilever design,
at the front and this is really curious.
So you pull this lever here
and then there's a rod that goes through the steerer tube
that pulls the brake up.
I've never seen anything like that before,
and I guess you don't get cable stretch
with that kind of design, but that's fascinating.
Now in terms of practicality, the tires are solid rubber.
This was a deliberate choice
for this bike being an army bike,
because it wanted to be more rugged
and avoid getting punctures,
but solid tires 100 years
before Tannus Tires being solid tires,
they were around back then.
What's really blowing my mind though (chuckling)
is the suspension on this bike.
Suspension as far back as 1916.
These are little shock absorbers built into the fork here,
one on either side.
And at the back, you've got a shock as well,
which, I mean, it looks exactly like the one that we see
on the modern Pinarello K8 that's used by Team Sky,
well, now Team Ineos,
in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
That's amazing, 100 years earlier,
that that kind of thing was being used!
I don't want to actually push it down though.
I mean, this is a very old bike,
so, I mean, I assume it doesn't work
as well as it used to either.
When it's folded up,
this little hook here is used to keep it secure
with this little eyelet there.
And something else that's fascinating about this bike,
another way in which it was well ahead of its time
is storage and bikepacking.
Bikepacking, we think it's a new thing,
and I don't think they called it bikepacking
in World War I, but this bike was designed to be used
with several different bags, including a frame bag,
a rear kind of seatpost bag
that rested on this platform there, and bar bag as well,
so it could transport supplies and equipment.
There's even pictures of them fitted with a machine gun,
not to be fired while riding,
but just to store it in the frame as well.
Absolutely incredible that that kind of thing
was being done back then.
(quiet dramatic music)
So this is the kind of the bike
that Bottecchia would have learned to ride on
and used while in service in the Italian Army.
And in 1927, Bottecchia was out for a training ride
from which he didn't return.
He was later found, tragically, at the side of the road
with a fractured skull, his bike next to him
and it was untouched, propped up against a wall.
Now, it's not known what happened to him
but it's speculated that he was killed by Fascists
or perhaps even the Mafia,
as he as known to be a prominent anti-Fascist.
A tragic end to an incredible story.
Someone should really make a film about this guy.
Unbelievable!
But as for his bike, what're we saying,
nice or super nice?
I mean, there's only really one answer, isn't there?
I hope you've enjoyed this look
at some of the bikes and riders and tech
from those early days in the Tour of Flanders.
Thanks to the Centrum Ronde Van Vlaanderen
for letting us have access.
There's loads more to see here
so if you're interested, you can come down.
And if you've enjoyed this video,
then please give it a thumbs up
and share it with your friends.
This kind of era is especially poignant to me
'cause one of my grandads actually fought in World War I.
So if you'd like to watch another video,
then click down here.