Alone in the Alps

Not much known about the rider and the picture seems to epitomize the information about Pierre Gallien. He one a stage in the 1939 Tour but otherwise not much comes up on my Google trawl.This photo is beautiful though showing him on his own in the Alps breaking away or even possibly lagging behind on the dirt roads. It amazes me every time I see these images how the early day races really were epic races with little assistance and crazy riding surfaces compared to today's race conditions.

via Nationaal Archief

I was wondering whether he was riding a single speed bike as they did in those days and I then came across want looks like a chain tensioner. I will need to look into this a bit more but I can remember seeing/reading somewhere about these types of bikes. If anyone has any idea let me know.

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