#maurice garin

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[frimleyblogger]

The First Tour De France

It all began with a battle for dominance between two French sports newspapers, the well-established Le Vèlo and the upstart L’Auto, founded in 1899. L’Auto’s circulation figures were low and at a crisis meeting held at the paper’s office at 10 Rue de Faubourg Montmartre in Paris on November 10, 1902 to discuss ways of boosting the flagging journal, its chief cycling correspondent, Géo Lefèvre,…

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Tour de France Zodiac

Pisces (20th February - 20th March)

Maurice Garin

Filmin Lambot

Léon Scieur

André Leducq

Louison Bobet

Roger Walkowiak

Gastone Nencini

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Italian-born French cyclist Maurice Garin. Winner of the first Tour de France in 1903. Stripped of his second title in 1904 after allegations of cheating, including that instead of riding between start and finish points, he caught a train.

[sepiacycling]

Maurice Garin eating some grapes while riding the 1902 Bordeaux-Paris race.

[sykose]

Cycling 770 miles non-stop on a 100-year-old bike with onions

The Paris-Brest-Paris race is said to be one of the hardest long distance cycle races in the world.

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[bigringriding]

WELL ROGER ME SIDEWAYS IF MAURICE GARIN ISN'T BRAD PITT'S HARDER, BETTER-FUCKING-LOOKING GRANDDAD. 

[skoda-cycling]

Surely, True Heroes

Heroes.

467 kilometers in 18 hours. That is what it took Maurice Garin to win the first stage of the premiere Tour de France, leading from Paris to Lyon. Reading this you might wonder: How much has the race's difficulty changed over the years? 

Considering the circumstances Maurice Garin might be forgiven that he didn't hesitate (most presumably) to cheat the following year. In spite of being the overall winner of the 2nd Tour, he was subsequently disqualified by the French Cycling Union because, although he never admitted it, he allegedly took a shortcut on the first stage of the Tour – by train!

Has it, in the course of its evolution, become more strenuous for cyclists or, on the other hand, are the achievements of contemporary cyclists no longer that exceptional as they were for the early (and now, sadly, mostly forgotten) victorious figures of the race's early days?

In the early days the riders also were their own service team and trainers. (Photo: Anders)

In the early days of the Tour, the course itself was more demanding and exhausting than the present one. The longest stage at the 100st Tour this years is barely 250 kilometers long, which is long enough for any nonprofessional cyclist but seems much less than in the early days.

Many differences are evident at a glance at the archaic photos from the early days. The components and the materials of contemporary bikes bear no comparison to those of yesteryear. The well-trained physiques of the modern, professional cyclists just don't compare with those of the enthusiasts whose only training was to go to work by bike or to go cycling in their spare time. Our early heroes weren't on any king of special diet nor could they have a recovery period after finishing a partial stage, even though it was much further than today. Any kind of assistance with technical troubles was prohibited, which means a complete lack of support from a service team. The only thing they had was hard-work, hectoliters of sweat and a can-do attitude. A lot of effort with no guarantee of success – just the real, pure sport.

For the villages the Tour passes through, it has always been a special happening. (Photo: Anders)

Today it is not only about making it to Paris anymore, but about strategies and the whole big picture since there are points to be gained for the UCI World Tour. For some cyclists it is more important to win a certain stage than wearing the yellow jersey, simply because they are specialized as climbers or sprinters.

So, it is difficult to proclaim who might be the greatest hero of this legendary event, even if some of the gladiators triumphed in the previous ninety-nine Tours on more occasions.

Fights and Fans - essential part of the every race.

Maurice Garin was a chimney sweep, not a professional cyclist. Louis Trousseliere, the winner of the third Tour, was an army deserter, who just didn't go back to barracks after a one-day pass, but took a one-month leave to ride the Tour. Some might consider these bygone pioneers the original heroes of the Tour's history, because they were purely and simply all alone in the race.

Essentially, every single cyclist who climbs up the steep, seemingly endless hairpins of the French mountains in the burning hot sun or a heavy downpour heading up to reach those lofty summits, to descend again and spot the Eiffel Tower after three weeks of pain and body breaking exhaustion, is surely a true hero.