Ellis Bacon - Mapping Le Tour - The unofficial history of all 100 Tour de France races

The Climbs

“I had one of the hardest moments ever on the Col du Glandon in 1977. I was at the end of my career, and what I had was gone by then.”

Eddy Merckx

Top 10 highest climbs

Many battles have been won and lost over the Tour’s mountain stages. Whether it is in the Alps, Pyrenees or the Massif Central, riders need grit, determintaion and extraordinary fitness to overcome the punishing ascents of these now famous climbs.

The Winners

Tour wins by country

Riders make their way from Lyon to Marseille during stage 2 of the first Tour de France. Only twenty-one competitors would complete the race, covering 2428 km (1509 miles) in six days.

1903

1st Edition

“The ideal Tour would be one that only one rider was capable of finishing.”

Henri Desgrange, founder of the Tour de France

	Start: Paris, France, on 1 JulyFinish: Paris, France, on 19 July
	Total distance: 2428 km (1509 miles)Longest stage: 471 km (293 miles)
	Highest point:Col de la République: 1161 m (3809 ft)Mountain stages: 1
	Starters: 60Finishers: 21
	Winning time: 94 h 33’ 14”Average speed: 25.679 kph (15.956 mph)
	1. Maurice Garin (Fra)2. Lucien Pothier (Fra) at 2 h 59’ 02”3. Fernand Augereau (Fra) at 4 h 29’ 24”

Just six stages made up the route of the first Tour de France in 1903. Rather than the race being easy by today’s standards, however, the shortest stage – between Toulouse and Bordeaux – was still 268 km (167 miles), while most of the rest were well over 400 km (250 miles).

Where the stages were easier compared to today’s, however, was in their relative lack of climbing, with a route that avoided both the Alps and the Pyrenees, instead focusing on featuring France’s major towns and cities.

While the Ballon d’Alsace, in the Vosges, is widely credited with being the first major climb to have been included on the Tour route, in 1905, the inaugural race did in fact include a number of climbs, although they were not noted as particular challenges to the riders.

Stage 1, between Montgeron, on the southeast edge of Paris, and Lyon featured both the Col des Echarmeaux and the Col du Pin-Bouchain – 712 m (2336 ft) and 759 m (2490 ft) high, respectively – while on the second stage riders had to tackle the Col de la République, near St-Étienne, with France’s Hippolyte Aucouturier the first rider to reach the top of the 1161-m (3809-ft)-high pass.

Named as one of the pre-race favourites, Aucouturier, riding as an ‘independent’, had failed to finish the Tour’s opening stage due to stomach cramps, but was allowed to start stage 2 under rules that said that he could no longer remain in the hunt for the overall prize. He went on to win the second stage in Marseille, and repeated the feat on stage 3.

The first Tour ended in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Parc des Princes velodrome, where another pre-race favourite, Frenchman Maurice Garin, riding in the colours of bicycle manufacturer La Française, took his third stage win of the race, and with it the honour of being the first Tour de France winner, having held the lead since his victory on the opening stage in Lyon.

The Tour was born, but its second edition was to be a lot less celebrated.

Maurice Garin (in white) becomes the Tour’s first champion

1904

2nd Edition

“The Tour de France is over, although its second edition will have been, I fear, its last – a victim of its own success.”

Henri Desgrange, founder of the Tour de France, following the 1904 race

	Start: Paris, France, on 2 JulyFinish: Paris, France, on 24 July
	Total distance: 2428 km (1509 miles)Longest stage: 471 km (293 miles)
	Highest point:Col de la République: 1161 m (3809 ft)Mountain stages: 1
	Starters: 88Finishers: 15
	Winning time: 96 h 05’ 55”Average speed: 25.265 kph (15.699 mph)
	1. Henri Cornet (Fra)2. Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq (Fra) at 2 h 16’ 14”3. Aloïs Catteau (Bel) at 9 h 01’ 25”

It’s become somewhat of a cliché, but the second edition of the Tour de France, in 1904, was almost its last.