30 August 1908 Liège -Bastone-Liège finishes in Liège for the first time

The first Tour de France started at 3 pm on the 1st of July in 1903 from the Café au Reveil Matin (Paris).

There are few records from the early days of Tour de France still standing. One of them is the five consecutive stage victories during the race. The record holder is Francois Faber, the winner of the 1909 edition. Faber won eight stages that year, the the fiveco secutive knes he managed between the 2 and… Read More »15 July 1909 Francois Faber wins his5th consecutive stage

The opening stage of Tour de France 1906 was relatively short according to the standards of the time, “only” 271 km. The day started in Paris (as it was usual until 1926) and the finished in Lille. Emile Georget was the best rider on that day. Tour de France will return to Lille also in… Read More »4 July 1906 Tour de France visits Lille for the very first time

In the middle of the night on 13th May 1909, 127 cyclists rolled out from the Piazzale Loreto (from the headquarter of La Gazzetta dello Sport) in Milan. The first Giro d’Italia was underway. Unlike the first Tour de France what started in the middle of the afternoon, the participants of the first Italian grand… Read More »13 May 1909 The first Giro d’Italia started

Tour de France 1914 started on the same day, 28th June, as the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg  were assassinated in Sarajevo. When the riders lined up in the middle of the nigh for the start of the first stage in Paris, they knew nothing about that this day… Read More »Climbing Col d’Allos at Tour de France 1914 -Vintage cycling image of the day

Defining historical events of the 20th century often left  their marks on road cycling history. Just think about, for istance, the impact of World War 1 on the mythology of some famous races, like Paris-Roubaix. The born of the famous phase of “Hell of the North” is a quite well known story among cycling fans.… Read More »When Tour de France went abroad before 1914

In its more than 120-year-long history Tour de France, the most famous road cycling race of the world witnessed good time and bad time either. It had plenty of glourious moments, but also some shameful ones. Here are the four (arguably) most scandalous editions in the history of Tour de France . 1904 – an… Read More »Four scandalous Tour de France editions

Lucien Petit-Breton was the winner of Tour de France 1907. Therefore his victory in 1908 ment that he was the first rider to win the Tour de Framce twice. Important note: Although Maurice Garin, the winner of the first Tour de France won also the edition of 1904, he later was disqualified.

After the introduction of the Pyrenees to the race in 1910, the next big challenge of Tour de France was how to include the “giants of the Alps” into the program.  The story behind using Galibier, Thelegraphe, Aravis, and Lautarer was far less dramatic than the organizers’ first encounter with Col du Tourmalet. Nevertheless, the… Read More »10 July 1911 The first mountain stage in the Alps at Tour de France

The first Tour de France was held between 1 and 18 July 1903, included only 6 stages. (However, the complete route was 2428 km long.)60 riders started and 21 finished the race.The fist Tour de France was won by Maurice Garin.