Italy, Germany and Spain did not send teams to the 1939 Tour de France. The Tour organisation were short on participating cyclists, because of this. To solve the problem, they allowed Belgium to send two teams, and France to send four additional regional teams.
The French cyclists had been successful in the 1930s, but their Tour winners were absent in 1939: 1930 and 1932 winner André Leducq had retired in 1938, as had 1931 and 1934 winner Antonin Magne; 1933 winner Georges Speicher did not ride, and 1937 winner Roger Lapébie was injured. This all made the Belgian team favourite.
By rider + Legend No. Starting number worn by the rider during the Tour Pos. Position in the general classification DNF Denotes a rider who did not finish
No. Name Nationality Team Pos. 1 Sylvère Maes Belgium 1 2 Félicien Vervaecke Belgium DNF 3 Edward Vissers Belgium 5 4 Marcel Kint Belgium 34 5 Lucien Storme Belgium DNF 6 Albert Hendrickx Belgium 26 7 François Neuville Belgium 27 8 Romain Maes Belgium DNF 9 Karl Litschi Switzerland DNF 10 Werner Jaisli Switzerland DNF 11 Josef Wagner Switzerland 30 12 Walter Gross Switzerland DNF 13 Théo Perret Switzerland 41 14 Karl Wyss Switzerland DNF 15 Ettore Maestranzi Switzerland DNF 16 René Pedroli Switzerland 44 17 Jean Majerus Luxembourg DNF 18 Pierre Clemens Luxembourg 20 19 Mathias Clemens Luxembourg 4 20 François Neuens Luxembourg 42 21 Arsène Mersch Luxembourg DNF 22 Grégoire Leisen Luxembourg DNF 23 Christophe Didier Luxembourg 18 24 Lucien Bidinger Luxembourg DNF 25 Albert van Schendel Netherlands 15 26 Antoon van Schendel Netherlands 38 27 Janus Hellemons Netherlands 46 28 Jan Lambrichs Netherlands 8 29 Jozef Dominicus Netherlands 39 30 Jan Gommers Netherlands DNF 31 André de Korver Netherlands 28 32 Hubert Sijen Netherlands DNF 33 Auguste Mallet France 13 34 Georges Naisse France 19 35 Lucien Le Guével France 35 36 Victor Cosson France 25 37 Sylvain Marcaillou France 6 38 Pierre Jaminet France DNF 39 Dante Gianello France 11 40 Raymond Louviot France 29 41 Albertin Disseaux Belgium B 7 42 Jules Lowie Belgium B DNF 43 Lucien Vlaemynck Belgium B 3 44 Albert Ritserveldt Belgium B 9 45 Éloi Meulenberg Belgium B DNF 46 Cyriel Vanoverberghe Belgium B 10 47 Albert Perikel Belgium B 21 48 Edmond Delathouwer Belgium B DNF 49 Maurice Archambaud France – North-East/Île de France 14 50 Fernand Mithouard France – North-East/Île de France DNF 51 Louis Thiétard France – North-East/Île de France 17 52 Pierre Gallien France – North-East/Île de France 16 53 Gabriel Dubois France – North-East/Île de France DNF 54 Amédée Fournier France – North-East/Île de France 47 55 Roger Bailleux France – North-East/Île de France DNF 56 Victor Codron France – North-East/Île de France 40 57 René Le Grevès France – West 45 58 Pierre Cloarec France – West 31 59 Christophe Taëron France – West DNF 60 Jean Fontenay France – West 43 61 Armand Le Moal France – West 49 62 Yvan Marie France – West DNF 63 Albert Goutal France – West DNF 64 Eloi Tassin France – West 32 65 Paul Maye France – South-West DNF 66 Jean Fréchaut France – South-West DNF 67 Gérard Virol France – South-West DNF 68 Edmond Pagès France – South-West 23 69 André Bramard France – South-West DNF 70 Joffre Daran France – South-West DNF 71 François Garcia France – South-West DNF 72 Raymond Passat France – South-West 12 73 Oreste Bernardoni France – South-East 24 74 René Vietto France – South-East 2 75 Charles Berty France – South-East 33 76 Joseph Soffietti France – South-East 48 77 Gabriel Bouffier France – South-East DNF 78 Trino Yelamos France – South-East 36 79 Fabien Galateau France – South-East 22 80 Joseph Aureille France – South-East 37
References