Participated 1 time
in 1967
Peter Chisman, England
Tour de France 2026 starts from Barcelona, Spain in
Stats and Facts from
Tour de France.

2026   2025   2024   2023  2022  2021  2020  2019   2018  2017   2016   2015  2014  2013   2012   2011  2010   2009   2008   2007   2006   2005   2004   2003   2002   2001   2000   1999   1998   1997  1996   1995   1994   1993   1992  1991   1990   1989   1988   1987   1986   1985   1984   1983  1982  1981   1980   1979  1978  1977   1976  1975  1974  1973   1972   1971   1970  1969   1968   1967   1966   1965  1964  1963   1962   1961   1960   1959   1958   1957  1956   1955   1954   1953   1952  1951  1950  1949   1948  1947  1939   1938   1937   1936   1935   1934   1933  1932   1931   1930  1929   1928   1927   1926  1925  1924  1923   1922   1921   1920   1919  1914   1913   1912   1911   1910  1909   1908   1907   1906  1905  1904   1903 

Tourstats
Sitemap

After stage 21 - 2025:
 16451 starters.
  5463 different riders.
  689 teams.
  2398 stages.
  470 restdays.
  466506.50 km.
  5925 abandoned riders.

Name:  Henri Desgrange

Born:  31 / 01 1865 in Paris, France
Died:  16 / 08 1940 in Grimaud, France
75 years old		Desgrange is credited with founding the Tour de France in 1903 but the idea came from one of his journalists, Géo Lefèvre, who said he blurted out the idea because he felt under pressure to say something at a crisis meeting held at the newspaper's headquarters at 10 rue faubourg Montmartre to resolve its poor circulation.
Desgrange looked at the third man present, Georges Prade, and then back to his young journalist: "If I understand you right, petit Géo, what you are proposing is a Tour de France", he said.
The words had been used for other sporting events but never for cycling.

Desgrange was cautious and suggested that he and Lefèvre lunch at the Taverne Zimmer in the boulevard de Montmartre.
The subject wasn't mentioned until coffee, Lefèvre recalled, and the most Desgrange would say is that he would discuss it with Victor Goddet, the L'Auto financial manager.
Lefèvre said he was sure Desgrange was passing the buck.

Instead, Goddet was delighted and was said to have pointed at the safe and invited Desgrange to take all he needed. L'Auto announced the race on January 19, 1903.

Although Desgrange liked to be called "the father of the Tour", the idea was not only not his but he was so unsure of it that he stayed away from the first event in 1903 until it turned out, against his expectations, to be a success.
He wasn't even at the start, when the riders were waved away from outside the Reveil Matin in Montgeron outside Paris.
His uncertainty extended to taking the riders into the Pyrenees.
That idea came from another colleague, Adolphe Steinès, who proposed it so persistently that Desgrange finally exploded and told him to do whatever he wished.
He regretted the decision when riders began protesting they would be eaten by bears even assuming they reached the summits alive.
Desgrange feigned illness and stayed away, leaving the race to his deputy, Victor Breyer.

Promotion of the Tour de France proved a great success for the newspaper.
Circulation leapt from 25,000 before the Tour to 65,000 after it. In 1908, the race boosted circulation past a quarter of a million, and during the 1923 Tour, it was selling 500,000 copies a day.
The record circulation claimed by Desgrange was 854,000, achieved during the 1933 Tour.

Lefèvre, whose idea it had been and who had reported the first race while travelling by bicycle and train, was switched from cycling to other sports.

"
Todays birthdays.

1877 • Henri Anthoine
1891 • Gottfried Burgat
1899 • Maurice Protin
1899 • Paul Thondoux
1911 • Theo Heimann
1921 • Henri Massal
1925 • Umberto Drei
1929 • Valentin Huot
1929 • Robert Varnajo
1954 • Géry Verlinden
1957 • Charly Jochums
1959 • Frédéric Vichot
1960 • Eduardo Gonzalez
1968 • Thomas Davy
1989 • Armindo Fonseca

 

Optimized for Chrome - Edge
and Opera browsers.