| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Region | France |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | Professional and Annual |
| History | |
| First edition | 1903 |
| First winner |  Maurice Garin |
The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage road cycling race which is mostly held in France, beginning in 1903 when L'Auto needed to increase sales of the newspaper. It has been annually and it didn't run during the two World Wars.
History[]
Beginnings[]
The first Tour de France was held in 1903 with six stages that went all around the country which compared to the modern day, was relatively long with the shortest stage being 268 km from Toulouse–Bordeaux. Maurice Garin won the first ever edition of the tour and it would be his last as he was one of ten that cheated because of the use of cars and trains. This change meant that it went to a point system which would last until 1912 when it was replaced with the time system again. During this time, the stage length was doubled to 11 in 1905 and then 13 in 1906. During that time, Lucien Petit-Breton become the first rider to win two Tour de Frances in a row after winning 1907 and 1908 before François Faber did the same two years later.
Two World Wars[]
The initial route of the Tour de France was going all around the borders of France and actually stuck to 15 stages between the 1910-1924 editions where the time system coming back in 1913 with Philippe Thys winning the first one before winning the race in the closest gap until 1956. After the war, Belgium kept hold the general classification winner until 1923 when Ottavio Bottecchia became the first winner to come from Italy. An attempt in 1927, with the use of the team time-trials, wasn't a success with Alcyon dominating the race. This appearance was dropped from 1928 and would not return until 1954.
National teams were in when in 1930, France took the team classification out while in the individual classification it was Learco Guerra taking the yellow jersey. The national team competition went to 1961 before being a minor trophy which is still done to this day. The Maes brothers dominated 1935 and 1936 with both of the riders finishing one-two. Sylvère Maes would win the 1939 edition as that would be the last one before the second world war kicked in.
After WWII[]
When the Second World War eased in 1945, L'Auto was nailed shut and the belongings included the Tour was up for grabs. After news outlets organized events around France in 1946, L'Équipe won the rights to organise the 1947 Tour de France as the potential for national teams which was successful before the war. In the first edition back, it was Pierre Brambilla who would take out the title and also aided in taking out the team title. The next year, saw the tour heading outside France for the first time with the tour started in Belgium with Coppi taking out the title in 1949.
The 1950 edition was the first time that stages of the race had been televised with the last three stages being broadcast to the French audience, that was the start of it increasing to the full broadcast of the tour in 1956. The edition would see a split in the Italian team when Stage 11 saw Alfero Binda wanting to leave the race after getting kicked when he fell. The Italian Cadets stayed at the tour wanting to finish the race on their terms as they were given grey uniforms so that they wouldn't be recognised. But with the main Italian team gone, Ferdinand Kubler would go on to take the yellow jersey all the way to Paris.
Coppi would take back the yellow jersey in 1952 with a domination of the tour as he finished ahead of second place Ocker by more than thirty-five minutes as he won six stages on his way to the jersey. The following year saw the introduction of a green jersey with the initial system being based off, the ranking that they finished for the stage. The first winner of that being Swiss rider Fritz Schar which would finish sixth overall in the general classification which would be won by Louison Bobet
Winners[]
| Year | Country | Cyclist | Sponsor/Team | Distance | Time/Points | Margin | Stage wins | Yellow jerseys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 |  France
|
Maurice Garin | La Française | 2,428 km (1,509 mi) | 94h 33' 14" | + 2h 59' 21" | 3 | 6 |
| 1904 |  Belgium
|
Aloïs Catteau | 2,428 km (1,509 mi) | 97h 24' 18 | + 1h 23' 19" | 0 | 1 | |
| 1905 | France
|
Louis Trousselier | Peugeot-Wolber | 2,994 km (1,860 mi) | 43 | 18 | 4 | 11 |
| 1906 | France
|
Georges Passerieu | Peugeot | 4,637 km (2,881 mi) | 33 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 1907 | France
|
Lucien Petit-Breton | Peugeot-Wolber | 4,488 km (2,789 mi) | 47 | 20 | 4 | 6 |
| 1908 | France
|
Lucien Petit-Breton | Peugeot-Wolber | 4,497 km (2,794 mi) | 42 | 26 | 6 | 13 |
| 1909 |  Luxembourg
|
François Faber | Alcyon | 4,498 km (2,795 mi) | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 |
| 1910 | Luxembourg
|
François Faber | Alcyon | 4,734 km (2,942 mi) | 61 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 1911 | France
|
Gustave Garrigou | Alcyon | 5,344 km (3,321 mi) | 51 | 10 | 3 | 11 |
| 1912 | Belgium
|
Odile Defraye | Alcyon | 5,289 km (3,286 mi) | 49 | 52 | 2 | 14 |
| 1913 | Belgium
|
Philippe Thys | Peugeot | 5,388 km (3,348 mi) | 197h 54' 00" | +10' 43" | 1 | 8 |
| 1914 | Belgium
|
Philippe Thys | Peugeot–Wolber | 5,388 km (3,348 mi) | 200h 28' 48" | +1' 12" | 1 | 11 |
| 1915-1918 | Cancelled because of World War I | |||||||
| 1919 | Belgium
|
Firmin Lambot | La Sportive | 5,560 km (3,455 mi) | 231h 08' 23" | +1h 37' 55" | 1 | 2 |
| 1920 | Belgium
|
Philippe Thys | La Sportive | 5,503 km (3,419 mi) | 228h 36' 13" | +1h 13' 48" | 5 | 15 |
| 1921 | Belgium
|
Hector Heusghem | La Sportive | 5,484 km (3,408 mi) | 223h 34' 77" | +21' 13" | 2 | 6 |
| 1922 | Belgium
|
Firmin Lambot | La Sportive | 5,372 km (3,338 mi) | 222h 08' 06" | +42' 33" | 0 | 3 |
| 1923 |  Italy
|
Ottavio Bottecchia | Automoto | 5,386 km (3,347 mi) | 222h 23' 42" | +33' 14" | 2 | 12 |
| 1924 | Italy
|
Ottavio Bottecchia | Automoto | 5,425 km (3,371 mi) | 223h 43' 19" | +32' 16" | 4 | 15 |
| 1925 | Italy
|
Ottavio Bottecchia | Automoto | 5,430 km (3,374 mi) | 219h 35' 55" | +43' 46" | 3 | 13 |
| 1926 | Luxembourg
|
Nicolas Frantz | Automoto | 5,745 km (3,570 mi) | 240h 26' 13" | +6' 22" | 5 | 2 |
| 1927 | Luxembourg
|
Nicolas Frantz | Alcyon | 5,340 km (3,318 mi) | 204h 54' 23" | +1h 52' 21" | 2 | 12 |
| 1928 | Luxembourg
|
Nicolas Frantz | Alcyon | 5,476 km (3,403 mi) | 204h 31' 24" | +37' 44" | 4 | 23 |
| 1929 | Belgium
|
Maurice Dewaele | Alcyon | 5,286 km (3,285 mi) | 195h 35' 33" | +35' 57" | 0 | 13 |
| 1930 | Italy
|
Learco Guerra | Italy | 5,286 km (3,285 mi) | 174h 33' 52" | +11' 31" | 4 | 9 |
| 1931 | France
|
Antonin Magne | France | 5,091 km (3,163 mi) | 177h 23' 11" | +13' 42" | 2 | 15 |
| 1932 | France
|
André Leducq | France | 4,479 km (2,783 mi) | 156h 32' 11" | +15' 53" | 7 | 19 |
| 1933 | Italy
|
Learco Guerra | Italy | 4,479 km (2,783 mi) | 151h 23' 51" | +8' 13" | 5 | 1 |
| 1934 | France
|
Antonin Magne | France | 4,363 km (2,711 mi) | 149h 34' 23" | +22' 14" | 3 | 22 |
| 1935 | Belgium
|
Romain Maes | Belgium | 4,338 km (2,696 mi) | 142h 15' 03" | +17' 33" | 2 | 21 |
| 1936 | Belgium
|
Sylvère Maes | Belgium | 4,418 km (2,745 mi) | 142h 34' 55" | +41' 42" | 5 | 14 |
| 1937 | Italy
|
Mario Vicini | Italy | 4,415 km (2,743 mi) | 139h 22' 14" | +2' 44" | 1 | 1 |
| 1938 | Italy
|
Gino Bartali | Italy | 4,694 km (2,917 mi) | 147h 32' 27" | +33' 36" | 3 | 10 |
| 1939 | Belgium
|
Sylvère Maes | Belgium | 4,224 km (2,625 mi) | 147h 32' 27" | +45' 44" | 3 | 6 |
| 1947 |  Italy
|
Pierre Brambilla | Italy | 4,642 km (2,884 mi) | 148h 04' 15" | +1' 13" | 0 | 3 |
| 1948 | Italy
|
Gino Bartali | Italy | 4,922 km (3,058 mi) | 146h 28' 11" | +27' 11" | 7 | 10 |
| 1949 | Italy
|
Fausto Coppi | Italy | 4,808 km (2,988 mi) | 145h 38' 13" | +13' 12" | 3 | 5 |
| 1950 |  Switzerland
|
Ferdinand Kübler | Switzerland | 4,773 km (2,966 mi) | 145h 36' 56" | +10' 04" | 3 | 11 |
| 1951 | Switzerland
|
Hugo Koblet | Switzerland | 4,690 km (2,910 mi) | 142h 00' 13" | +31' 15" | 6 | 12 |
| 1952 | Italy
|
Fausto Coppi | Italy | 4,898 km (3,043 mi) | 151h 33' 51" | +35' 33" | 6 | 14 |
| 1953 | France
|
Louis Bobet | France | 4,476 km (2,781 mi) | 129h 25' 51" | +12' 12" | 2 | 5 |
| 1954 | France
|
Louis Bobet | France | 4,656 km (2,893 mi) | 140h 10' 22" | +11' 31" | 3 | 13 |