118 years ago, Géo Lefèvre and Henri Desgrange — both former cyclists turned journalists — hatched the idea for the Tour de France to help sell newspapers.
"If I understand you right, petit Géo," said Desgrange, "what you are proposing is a Tour de France."
The riders of the first Tour: The following July in 1903, the inaugural event took place, with 60 cyclists from five countries (France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy).
The six stages of the first Tour: Montgeron → Lyon → Marseille → Toulouse → Bordeaux → Nantes → Paris.
The first winner: France's Maurice Garin won in a time of 94 hours, 33 minutes and 14 seconds. He won again in 1904 but had his medal stripped due to cheating allegations.
In the 1900s, the bikes that Tour de France cyclists pedaled up and down mountains weighed in at a whopping 40 pounds each.
Prior to 1937, riders had to get off their bikes to switch gears because bikes did not have a derailleur before then.
Why is the leader's jersey yellow? L’Auto, the newspaper that first started and sponsored the race, was printed on yellow paper, it was essentially an advertising strategy.
#TdF soft power: Around 3.5 billion people tune in to watch the Tour each year during the weeks of coverage, in 190 countries, making it the third-largest sporting event in the world.
#TourdeFrance #BrigadoonWeekend
Tour de France | Data Points
