The Centenary Legend of the Tour de France: From Newspaper Marketing to the World’s Greatest Sporting Event

The Tour de France is not only the pinnacle of cycling but also one of the largest and longest-running annual sporting events in the world. Every July, the world’s top riders gather in France to tackle a route of more than 3,500 kilometers over three weeks, conquering the treacherous climbs of the Alps and the Pyrenees, before finishing with a spectacular sprint on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The Birth: A Product of a Newspaper War (1903)

The Tour de France was born out of commercial rivalry. In 1902, two major French sports newspapers—L’Auto and Le Vélo—were locked in a fierce circulation battle. Henri Desgrange, a young journalist at L’Auto, proposed a bold idea: to stage a cycling race that would loop around the entire country of France to attract readers.

On 1 July 1903, the inaugural Tour de France set off from the Café au Réveil Matin in the Paris suburbs. Sixty riders faced a grueling journey of 6 stages totaling 2,428 kilometers. The rules were brutally simple—each stage exceeded 400 kilometers, and riders had to ride day and night without rest. In the end, Maurice Garin, a former chimney sweep, claimed the first title with a total time of 94 hours, 33 minutes and 14 seconds.

The race caused an immediate sensation. L’Auto’s circulation skyrocketed from 25,000 copies per day before the race to 65,000. The Tour de France had proven its commercial value and set the stage for a legendary saga.

The Heroic Era: Mud and Grit (1903-1939)

The early Tours were full of drama and controversy. In the second edition in 1904, the top four riders were all disqualified for cheating—some had taken trains, some had scattered nails, and some had mobilized mobs to block their rivals. Desgrange even lamented: “The Tour is dead.”

But the race stubbornly survived. In 1910, the Pyrenees were added to the route for the first time, including the Col du Tourmalet at 2,115 meters above sea level. Riders pushed their heavy steel bikes without gears up the gravel roads. Octave Lapize, upon reaching the summit, screamed at the race organizers: “You are murderers!” (Assassins!) That phrase became one of the most famous quotes in Tour history.

In 1919, the first Tour after World War I introduced the yellow jersey (Maillot Jaune). Legend has it that because L’Auto was printed on yellow paper, the yellow jersey was chosen so spectators could easily identify the race leader. The yellow jersey has since become the Tour’s most iconic symbol.

The Harsh Conditions of the Early Tour

Post-War Revival and Superstars (1947-1975)

World War II interrupted the Tour for seven years (1940-1946), but the resumption in 1947 marked the beginning of a new era.

Fausto Coppi won the Tour twice, in 1949 and 1952. His elegant riding style and超凡 climbing ability earned him the title “Champion of Champions” (Il Campionissimo). His fierce rivalry with Gino Bartali remains the most legendary chapter in Italian sports history.

From the 1960s to the 1970s, Eddy Merckx dominated the Tour. The Belgian champion won five titles between 1969 and 1974, with his first victory in 1969 widely regarded as the greatest Tour performance ever—he simultaneously won the overall classification, the mountains classification, and the points classification, a feat that remains unmatched to this day. He was known as “The Cannibal” because he was never satisfied with merely winning; he had to crush every opponent completely.

Modernization and Globalization (1975-1998)

In 1975, the Tour moved its finish to the Champs-Élysées in Paris for the first time, creating the iconic finish scene we know today. That same year, French rider Bernard Hinault began his rise. With his fierce temperament and all-around ability, he won five titles (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985), making him France’s last five-time champion.

In 1986, American rider Greg LeMond became the first non-European to win the Tour, marking the sport’s globalization. In 1989, LeMond defeated Frenchman Laurent Fignon by a margin of just 8 seconds in the final-stage individual time trial, setting the record for the smallest winning margin in Tour history. That final time trial is still hailed as the greatest single stage in Tour de France history.

In the 1990s, Miguel Indurain won five consecutive Tours (1991-1995) with his overwhelming time trial ability, achieving an unprecedented five-peat. His quiet, steady style stood in stark contrast to the aggressive champions before him, heralding the arrival of a new era.

The Doping Shadow and Redemption (1998-2012)

The 1998 “Festina Affair” (Affaire Festina) exposed the systematic use of doping in professional cycling. The entire Festina team was expelled from the race, several riders were arrested, and the Tour’s reputation suffered a severe blow.

However, an even bigger storm was brewing. Lance Armstrong, after overcoming testicular cancer, set a record of “seven consecutive wins” from 1999 to 2005. But in 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) published extensive evidence proving that Armstrong had systematically used performance-enhancing drugs over a long period. All seven of his Tour titles were stripped, making it one of the biggest scandals in sports history.

This dark period prompted the Tour and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to significantly strengthen anti-doping measures, including the biological passport system and year-round unannounced testing, laying the foundation for a cleaner racing environment in the years that followed.

A New Golden Era (2012 to Present)

Entering the 2010s, the Tour welcomed a new golden era. Britain’s Team Sky (later renamed Ineos Grenadiers) pioneered the philosophy of “marginal gains” through scientific training methods and data analysis. Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Chris Froome (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) successively dominated the Tour.

In the 2020s, Slovenia emerged as a new force in the cycling world. Tadej Pogačar staged a stunning comeback to win in 2020 via the final time trial at just 21 years old. In 2024, he won again with overwhelming dominance, showing the potential to become the greatest rider of all time. Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard defeated Pogačar twice, in 2022 and 2023, and their rivalry has been hailed as the most thrilling duel since Coppi and Bartali.

The Cultural Significance of the Tour de France

The Tour de France has long transcended sport itself. It is a part of French culture, a national celebration held every summer. The race route winds through France’s most beautiful countryside, châteaux, and mountain ranges, serving as a moving documentary of the French landscape. Every year, approximately 3.5 billion television viewers worldwide tune in to watch the Tour de France broadcast, while over 12 million spectators line the roads to cheer.

“The Tour is not just a race; it is an epic that tells of humanity’s pursuit of limits.” — Antoine Pereira, French sports journalist

From a race conceived in 1903 to sell newspapers, to today’s global sporting spectacle worth billions of euros, the Tour de France has spent over a century proving the timeless appeal of cycling. On the roads of France every July, new legends continue to be written.

Related Reading

• A Century of Tour de France History: A Glorious Journey from Its Founding to the Modern Era
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• The Origins of the Tour de France: A Century-Defining Race Born to Save Newspaper Sales
• The Complete Tour de France Guide: Race Format, the Four Jerseys, and a Viewing Strategy for Taiwanese Fans