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The 1903 Tour de France was the first Tour de France, a cycling race set up and sponsored by the newspaper L'Auto, ancestor of the current daily, L'Équipe. It was run from 1 July to 19 July in six stages over 2428 km, and won by Maurice Garin.[1] The race was invented to boost the circulation of l'Auto, after it separated from another newspaper. After not enough cyclist had entered the race, the race was postponed a few weeks, and the prize money was increased. The cyclists did not have to compete in all six stages, but to qualify for the general classification it was necessary. The pre-race favourite, Maurice Garin, won the first stage, and never gave away the lead. He also won the last two stages, and had a margin of almost three hours over the next cyclist. The circulation of the newspaper l'Auto increased during and after the race, so the race would be rerun in 1904.
[edit] OriginAfter the Dreyfus affair separated some advertisers from the newspaper Le Vélo, a new newspaper l'Auto-Vélo was founded in 1900, with former cyclist Henri Desgrange as editor. After being forced to remove the name of the newspaper to l'Auto in 1903, Desgrange needed something to keep the cycling fans; with circulation at 20.000, he could not afford to lose them.[2] When Desgrange and young employee Géo Lefèvre were coming back from the cycling race Marseille-Paris,[3] Lefèvre suggested to start a race around France, bigger than other newspaper could do, similar to the popular six-day races on the track. On 19 January 1903, the Tour de France was announced in l'Auto. It would be a five-week race, from 1 June to 5 July, and entry fee would be 20 francs. These conditions were too hard for most cyclists: one week before the race would start, only 15 competitors had signed up. Desgrange then rescheduled the race from 1 July to 19 July, increased to prize money to 20.000 francs, reduced the entry fee to 10 francs and promised five francs a day for living allowance for the first 50 cyclists in the classification. After that, 60 cyclists had signed up for the race; 21 sponsored by bicycle factories, 39 others unsponsored.[2] Géo Lefévre became the director, judge and time-keeper; Henri Desgrange was the directeur-général, although he did not follow the race. [edit] Rules and courseThe 1903 Tour de France was to be run in six stages. Compared to more recent stage races, the stages were longer; the longest was 471 km and cyclists had 1 to 3 rest days between every stage,[4] and flat; no mountains were climbed. The cyclists were not grouped in teams; all entrants were individuals. They paid a fee of ten francs which translates into 87.50 euro today with inflation taken into account.[5] Different than today, a cyclist who gave up during a stage, was allowed to start again the next stage, although he was not counted for the general classification anymore. This happened with Hippolyte Aucouturier, who gave up during the first stage, but came back and won the second and third stage. Charles Laeser, winner of the fourth stage, did not complete the third stage. The pre-race favourites for the victory were Maurice Garin and Hippolyte Aucouturier.[3] [edit] Race detailsThe 1903 Tour began with the stage Montgeron-Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, route de Corbeil on Wednesday 1 July, 15:00 at "l'auberge du Réveille-Matin"[4] and ended with the Vile-d'Avray, restaurant du Père stage on July 19. It had six stages, with a total distance of 2428 km. The stages were long, the longest between Nantes and Paris at 471 km and the shortest between Toulouse and Bordeaux at 268 km (compared to the 171 km average of the 2004 Tour de France). Maurice Garin dominated the race. He started by winning the first stage. His main rival Hippolyte Aucouturier broke his frame at that stage,[3] and had to abandon later.[6] At that first stage, the first penalty of the Tour de France occurred: Jean Fischer had sheltered behind a car, which was illegal.[6] Although Aucouturier had abandoned in the first stage, he could still start in the next stages, and he did, without competing for the overall classification. Aucouturier won the second (Lyon to Marsailles) and third stage (Marsailles to Toulouse), but Garin remained in the lead. In the fourth stage, Aucouturier was leading again, and seemed to win the stage. But then he was caught stayering behind a car, and was removed from the race.[3] The fourth stage was the first non-French win, as Swiss Charles Laeser (who had abandoned in the 3rd stage.[4])took the victory. At that point, Garin was leading with Émile Georget almost two hours behind[7] In the fifth stage, Georget had two flat tires, and set by the road to rest a little, when he fell asleep.[3] Garin then solidified his lead by winning the last two stages.[8] [edit] AftermathThe circulation of l'Auto increased significantly due to this event; a special edition of 130,000 copies was made after the race was over,[9] and normal circulation increased from 25.000 to 65.000.[2] The cyclists had also become national heroes. Maurice Garin would come back in the 1904 Tour de France where he unsuccessfully tried to defend his title. [edit] Results[edit] Stage results
[edit] Overall resultsIn the end, Maurice Garin had won the race in 94 hours 33 minutes and 14 seconds, Lucien Pothier was second at 2 hours 49 minutes and 21 seconds; Garin still holds the record for largest winning margin.[8] Before the race, 79 cyclists had signed in for the overall classification; only 60 cyclists started the race. At the end, 21 cyclists had completed all the stages and were listed in the overall classificaiton.[4] The lanterne rouge (final finisher) was Arsène Millocheau, at 64 hours, 57 minutes and 8 seconds. Winner Maurice Garin received 6075 Francs for his victory.[4] 
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