The 12th Tour de France started on the very same day (28th June), when Austrian-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo.
11 former or future Tour de France winners participated the race: Philippe Thys,Louis Trousselier, Lucien Petit-Breton, Octave Lapize, François Faber, Odile Defraye, Gustave Garrigou, Philippe Thys, Firmin Lambot, Léon Scieur, Henri Pélissier and Lucien Buysse.
Costante Girardengo, the future first “Campionissimo” of the Italian cycling and two-time Giro d’Italia winner also started the race, but did not finished.
During downhill, cyclists used whistles to warn others that they’re coming.
Philippe Thys defended his victory from previous year. He won only one stage, but led the general classification since the first stage. That happened before only at the first Tour de France, when Maurice Garin led the overall after all the six stages.
MORE POSTS ABOUT THE EARLY YEARS OF TOUR DE FRANCE ON PELOTONTALES
Vintage cycling image of the day: checkpoint at Tour de France 1911
Paul Duboc was one of the favourite of the Tour de France in 1911. Here youcan see him at one of the official checkpoints of the race. Paul Duboc (1884-1941) rode Tour de France twice (1908 and 1909) before, and earned some success (a stage victory and 4h place in overall in 1909) already, when … Read more
The Tour de France stage, that started at 9 pm
In the early days of road cycling races, when the courses were over 300 km long or even longer and the riders sat in the saddle for a half a day (or even longer), it was usual, that the race started in the middle of the night or very early at dawn. It was the … Read more
5 facts about Tour de France 1904
One of the most scandalous editions of Tour de France was originally won by Maurice Garin. The first four cyclists of the general classification, Maurice Garin, Lucien Pothier, César Garin and Hippolyte Aucouturier were disquaified.
Faces from the peloton: the cyclist called Samson
At the turn of the century, when Tour de France was born, the tiny little details of a sport event could tell much more about the society than nowadays. Bicycle was quite a democratic new vehicle in sense of every social class has found its own joy in it. But mostly in the bourgeoisie, the … Read more
Drunk from a poisoned bottle, lost the Tour de France
The early history of Tour de France is full with strange stories. Not necessarily great stories, sometimes quite unpleasant ones, as it, for example, happened at the 9th edition (1911) of the famous French grand tour. Paul Duboc (1884-1941) rode Tour de France twice (1908 and 1909) before, and earned some success (a stage victory … Read more
When Tour de France went abroad before 1914
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
19 July 1903 Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France
The first Tour de France started with 60 riders on the 1st of July in 1903. After six stages (a total of 2428 km) only 21 cyclists arrived in the Parc de Princes velodrome in Paris. Maurice Garin won the first stage already and remained in leading position untill the end of the race. More … Read more