The 1903 Tour de France was the first cycling race set up and sponsored by the newspaper L'Auto, ancestor of the current daily, L'Équipe.
It ran from 1 to 19 July in six stages over 2,428 km, and was won by Maurice Garin.
The race was invented to boost the circulation of L'Auto, after its circulation started to plummet from competition with the long-standing Le Vélo.
Originally scheduled to start in June, the race was postponed one month, and the prize money was increased, after a disappointing level of applications from competitors.
The 1903 Tour de France was the first stage road race, and compared to modern Grand Tours, it had relatively few stages, but each was much longer than those raced today. The cyclists did not have to compete in all six stages, although this was necessary to qualify for the general classification.
The pre-race favourite, Maurice Garin, won the first stage, and retained the lead throughout. He also won the last two stages, and had a margin of almost three hours over the next cyclist. The circulation of L'Auto increased more than sixfold during and after the race, so the race was considered successful enough to be rerun in 1904, by which time Le Vélo had been forced out of business.
More information: Le Tour
The 1903 Tour de France was run in six stages. Compared to modern stage races, the stages were extraordinarily long, with an average distance of over 400 km, compared to the 171 km average stage length in the 2004 Tour de France; cyclists had one to three rest days between each stage, and the route was largely flat, with only one stage featuring a significant mountain.
The cyclists were not grouped in teams but raced as individuals, and paid a fee of ten francs, €87.50 at 2021 prices, to compete in the race for general classification, or five francs to enter a single stage. As the stages were so long, all but the first started before dawn: the last stage started at 21:00 the night before.
The first Tour de France crossed no mountain passes, but several lesser cols. The first was the col des Echarmeaux (712 m), on the opening stage from Paris to Lyon, on what is now the old road from Autun to Lyon. The stage from Lyon to Marseille included the col de la République (1,161 m), also known as the col du Grand Bois, at the edge of St-Etienne.
More information: Eurosport
In 1903, it was normal for a professional cyclist to hire pacers, who would lead them during the race. Desgrange forbade this: it was originally intended that in the final, longest, stage pacers would be allowed, but this was rescinded after the fifth stage.
To ensure that the cyclists rode the entire route, stewards were stationed at various points around the course. The yellow jersey for the leader in the general classification had not yet been introduced, but the leader was identified by a green armband.
The fastest eight cyclists on each stage received a prize between 50 francs and 1,500 francs, varying per stage. The fourteen best cyclists in the general classification received a prize from 3,000 francs for the winner to 25 francs for fourteenth place.
The remaining seven cyclists to
finish in the general classification each received 95 francs, 5 francs
for each of the 19 days that the race took, provided that they had not
won more than 200 francs in prize money and did not have an average
speed below 20 km/h on any stage.
More information: We Love Cycling
In contrast to modern stage races, a cyclist who gave up during a stage was allowed to start again the next stage, although he would no longer be in contention for the general classification.
Thus, Hippolyte Aucouturier, who gave up during the first stage, was able to return, and won the second and third stages. Charles Laeser, winner of the fourth stage, had not completed the third stage.
Sixty cyclists, all professionals or semi-professionals, started the race, of whom 49 were French, 4 Belgian, 4 Swiss, 2 German, and one Italian; 21 of them were sponsored by bicycle manufacturers, while 39 entered without commercial support.
24 other cyclists took advantage of the opportunity to enter specific stages: one rode in both the second and fourth stages, and additionally three cyclists took part in the second stage, one in the third stage, fifteen in the fourth stage only, and a further four only competed in the fifth stage.
More information: Two Wheeled Ronin
that it actually lowers your immune system,
and you expose yourself to a tremendous amount of elements
-so certain people might get a chronic overload
and develop, say, bad asthma.
Greg LeMond
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