The Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes was the first successful cycling related enterprise of Henri Desgrange (“the founding father of the Tour de France”) and his business partner Victor Goddet (the uncle of future Tour de France director Jacques Goddet).
It was build in 1897, and included 3000 seats and a 666,66 m track, which was twice bigger then the usual cycling tracks of those days. Also, it was a bit far from the city centre, thus many people thought it would be a failure, but Desgrange was able to make the place profitalbe.
During the pre-Tour de France era one of the biggest spectacle (and financial success was the cycling match between Marshall “Major” Taylor and Edmond Jacquelin. Also, the UCI World Track Championship was held in the stadium in 1900.
Parc de Princes marked the finish of the Tour de France between 1903 and 1967.
The stadium was used also for other sport events since the beginning.
It was reconstructed several times (basically to expand the capacity to welcome more visitors). Nowadays it’s better known for football (soccer) fans. The stadium is now the home of the Paris Saint-Germain FC.