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 2025. (Leadpicture: Emile Georget in the Alps, possibly during Tour de France 1911)
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 5th stage of Tour de France 1911 between Chamonix and Grenoble was 366 km long and it took 13 hours and 35 minutes for stage winner Émile Georget to finish it. Paul Duboc was 15 minutes, Gustave Garrigou, the leader of the general classification 26 minutes behind him. (Please note, this was the time, between 1905 and 1912, when the… Read More »10 July 1911 The first mountain stage in the Alps at Tour de France