FIRE & ICE
1933 THE FIRST EDITION
Paris-Nice wasn’t even called Paris-Nice when it was created, but the taste for stage races linking distant parts of France and organised by newspapers meant that the ‘Six Jours de la Route’ would be a success. There was no getting through the early stages and letting the hills of the Riviera decide the race in those days – Alphonse Schepers of Belgium led a five-man break into Dijon on the first stage, two and a half minutes ahead of another group of 17 riders. He would not relinquish the lead after then following up his stage win with three more second places. The sport was renowned for its brutal long stages in the first half of the 20th century, but the organisers already showed a taste for experimentation – the final stage into Nice, won by Francesco Camusso with Schepers safely home in sixth, was only 110km long.
1966 THE LAST BATTLE
By 1966, Jacques Anquetil’s reign as the supreme Tour de France champion was coming to its end. He’d won the 1964 race in a head-to-head battle
