The first Tour de France was held in 1903, and the overall winner was Maurice Garin (3 March 1871, Arvier, Aosta Valley, Italy – 19 February 1957, Lens or Haute-Savoie, France). His bicycle, a La Française was the first bike to win the Tour de France.
The first Tour de France was 2,428 km in length, and contained only 6 stages!
- Stage 1: Wednesday, July 1, Paris – Lyon, 467 km [Won by Maurice Garin (FRA)]
- Stage 2: Sunday, July 5, Lyon – Marseille, 374 km [Won by Hippolyte Aucouturier (FRA)]
- Stage 3: Wednesday, July 8, Marseille – Toulouse, 423 km [Won by Hippolyte Aucouturier (FRA)]
- Stage 4: Sunday, July 12, Toulouse – Bordeaux, 268 km [Won by Charles Laeser (SUI)]
- Stage 5: Monday, July 13, Bordeaux – Nantes, 425 km [Won by Maurice Garin (FRA)]
- Stage 6: Saturday, July 18, Nantes – Paris, 471 km [Won by Maurice Garin (FRA)]
Garin won the first stage and then successfully defended his lead until the finish of the race. He also won the last two stages.
Garin’s La Française bike weighed 18 kg (the UCI limit today is 6.8 kg and all the bikes are around 6.8-7.5 kg). Despite the extremely long stages, a heavy bike with no gears, and the bad roads, Garin’s average speed was 25.679 kph. He was riding for the “La Française Diamant” team.
Garin’s written notes said:
“The 2,500 km that I’ve just ridden seem a long line, grey and monotonous, where nothing stood out from anything else. But I suffered on the road; I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was sleepy, I suffered, I cried between Lyon and Marseille, I had the pride of winning other stages, and at the controls, I saw the fine figure of my friend Delattre, who had prepared my sustenance, but I repeat, nothing strikes me particularly.”
“But wait! I’m completely wrong when I say that nothing strikes me, I’m confusing things or explaining myself badly. I must say that one single thing struck me, that a single thing sticks in my memory: I see myself, from the start of the Tour de France, like a bull pierced by banderillas, who pulls the banderillas with him, never able to rid himself of them.”
Sources
- Maurice Garin on Wikipedia
- 1903 Tour de France on Wikipedia
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