Bridge to the Future

The Tour's successful resurrection created a bridge between cycling's pre-war golden age and its modern future. Veterans like Bartali passed wisdom to young riders like Coppi and Bobet. Officials who had preserved the Tour's integrity through occupation now guided its expansion. Journalists who had risked their lives for free expression now celebrated freedom through sport.

This continuity, maintained through history's darkest chapter, ensured the Tour's essence survived even as everything around it changed. The race that resumed in 1946 was simultaneously the same Tour that had stopped in 1939 and something entirely new—scarred by experience but strengthened by survival.

The Tour during World War II was defined by absence—the races not run, the champions not crowned, the roads not traveled. Yet this absence spoke louder than presence could have. By choosing silence over collaboration, the Tour preserved its soul. When it returned, that preserved integrity provided the foundation for growth that would transform it from French race to global phenomenon. The war years proved that the Tour de France was more than just a bicycle race—it was an idea worth preserving, even at the cost of its own existence.# Chapter 4: The Golden Age and National Heroes