There is a café-restaurant in the Parisian suburb Mortgeon, that witnessed cycling history 117 years ago.
On the afternoon of 1 July 1903, people gathered on the street in front of the café Au Reveil Matin‘s building: the first Tour de France was ready to start.
Originally 78 riders signed up to the race, and 60 of them appeared at the startline. Some of them used pseudonyms, like the Belgian Julien Lootens, who signed up as Samson. (Wealthy upper-middle-class or noble family usually didn’t love the idea, that some of the family members would “disgrace”, their family names by appearing in the sports news, so they rode under a different name.)
The first stage of the Tour de France started at 3:16 pm. It was 467 km long and finished in Lyon. Stage winner Maurice Garin spent 17 hours 45 mins and 13 secs in the saddle.
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