It is not public knowledge that the first Tour de France was thought of by newspapermen as a publicity stunt. An unorganized group of cyclists began from outside a bar on the outskirts of Paris in 1903.
Soon enough, the tour grew to become a race with legendary champions, a set of iconic leaders, and a wanderlust that took the race into the deep corners of France.
The editor of L’Auto, Henri Desgrange, was desperate to win more publicity than Le Vélo, the rival sports newspaper and when the Tour de France was suggested as a sales promotion, he jumped on the plan.
It was intended to be a five-week race, from 1 June to 5 July, with an entry fee of 20 francs. However, the conditions brought very few cyclists and a week before the race was to start, only 15 cyclists had signed up.
Henri Desgrange rescheduled the race as a result of this and reviewed the conditions. He increased the total prize money, reduced the entry fee and assured five francs a day to the first 50 cyclists.
The first Tour de France was run in six stages. The stages were also extraordinarily longer than modern-day competitions, with an average distance of over 400 km. The cyclists could rest for one to three days between each stage, and the route was flat, with only one stage featuring a notable mountain.
The cyclists were not grouped into teams rather they raced as individuals. Henri Desgrange also forbade the cyclists from hiring pacers during the race and stationed stewards at various points to make sure that the cyclists rode the entire course.
Out of the 79 that registered, 60 cyclists participated, all of who were professionals or semi-professionals, and 49 were French, 4 Belgian, 4 Swiss, 2 German, and 1 Italian; 21 of them were sponsored by bicycle manufacturers, while 39 entered without sponsorship.
Maurice Garin, who was the favourite of the crowd, won the first stage and maintained the lead throughout. He also won the last two stages and had a gap of three hours over the next cyclist.
The market for L’Auto increased greatly as a result of the race and a special edition of 130,000 copies was made when the race was over. The normal circulation also increased from 25,000 to 65,000. This enormous success ensured that the Tour de France was scheduled again for 1904. The cyclists also became national heroes.
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