maurice garin
At the start of the first Tour De France one of the favoured to win the first race was Maurice Garin who finished the first stage of the race in just over 17 hours after they started at 3:16pm on July 1st. Following this he continued to develop a lead throughout the course of the six stages of the race and eventually finished at 9:00pm on July 18th.
Maurice was an Italian-born French road bicycle racer who won the inaugural Tour De France born on March 3, 1871, and died on February 19, 1957. In his teenage years he worked as a chimney sweeper. He later opened a bicycle shop with his brothers François and César in the lower end of the boulevard de Paris in Roubaix, 1895. Two of his brothers: César and Ambroise were professional cyclists. Maurice bought his first bicycle for 405 francs (which inflates to ~ € 1,400 at 2008 values). He was not interested in racing when he bought it, but rode his bike every day
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
Maurice was an Italian-born French road bicycle racer who won the inaugural Tour De France born on March 3, 1871, and died on February 19, 1957. In his teenage years he worked as a chimney sweeper. He later opened a bicycle shop with his brothers François and César in the lower end of the boulevard de Paris in Roubaix, 1895. Two of his brothers: César and Ambroise were professional cyclists. Maurice bought his first bicycle for 405 francs (which inflates to ~ € 1,400 at 2008 values). He was not interested in racing when he bought it, but rode his bike every day
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
In 1892 he took French nationality and began to race in the same year. He came in 5th in his first race which was 200km long. He had his first win in 1893 in the Namur-Dinant-Givet, in Belgium this time he used his new bike that was ligher weighing in at 16kg and had pneumatic tires, where he finished the race after 102km. He only became professional after racing in a race that was for professionals only where he was not able to participate but he left after them and passed all of the cyclists and won, thus starting his career as a professional cyclist. Following this his first official professional win was in a 24h race in Paris held on the Champ de Mars, site of the Eiffel Tower where he rode 701 km in the 24hrs beating the only other ride to finish by 49km. It was said that he survived on: strong red wine, 19 litres of hot chocolate, seven litres of tea, eight cooked eggs, a mix of coffee and champagne, 45 cutlets, five litres of tapioca, two kilos of rice, and oysters. These were at the time considered to be performance enhancers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
Following these victories and becoming a professional cyclist, Maurice went on to win another 24h race in Liege, Belgium, coming third in the first Paris-Roubaix in 1896, winning the Paris-Roubaix in 1897, again winning the Paris-Roubaix in 1898, winning second edition of Paris-Brest-Paris in 1901, and the Bordeaux-Paris in 1902 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
Then his career in the Tour De France began in the first ever race in 1903. Where he raced over 2,428km over six stages, where 60 participants entered and only he and 20 other races finished the first 471km stage. He finished the race in 94h 33m 14s, and earned a total of 6,125 francs (€ 21,500 inflated to 2008 values) from finishing first and winning multiple other stages. He beat Lucien Pothier who came in second by 2h 59m 21s, and Fernand Augereau who came in third place
(http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/02/tour-de-france-in-numbers-cycling-statistics) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
The next year since the Tour De France was so successful in its first, Garin participated in the 1904 Tour De France. This time he won, but only beat Pothier by a much smaller margin. Following the race Garin was stripped of the title because of cheating, and the title was then awarded to Henri Cornet. During the race Garin was assaulted by supporters of another racer, Antoine Faure, where he escaped with only a broken finger. This accident along with many other assaults on riders was a common problem with the race that needed to be fixed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Fauré) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
Some common problems of the Tour De France were: misbehaviour and misconduct of cyclists, cheating (e.g. riding in cars, taking shortcuts, taking food when not permitted, placing tacks on the road, poisoning other riders, drafting behind cars, holding onto motor vehicles to gain speed, and even carrying weapons. Most of theses problems would be solved throughout the years that the Tour De France evolved (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
The Tour De France has gone on every year since its introduction despite worries of its founder thinking that its second year would be the last, excluding the years during the two world wars. Because of this the race has steadily gained more and more popularity and still continues to grow today at its apex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France).
Following these victories and becoming a professional cyclist, Maurice went on to win another 24h race in Liege, Belgium, coming third in the first Paris-Roubaix in 1896, winning the Paris-Roubaix in 1897, again winning the Paris-Roubaix in 1898, winning second edition of Paris-Brest-Paris in 1901, and the Bordeaux-Paris in 1902 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
Then his career in the Tour De France began in the first ever race in 1903. Where he raced over 2,428km over six stages, where 60 participants entered and only he and 20 other races finished the first 471km stage. He finished the race in 94h 33m 14s, and earned a total of 6,125 francs (€ 21,500 inflated to 2008 values) from finishing first and winning multiple other stages. He beat Lucien Pothier who came in second by 2h 59m 21s, and Fernand Augereau who came in third place
(http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/02/tour-de-france-in-numbers-cycling-statistics) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
The next year since the Tour De France was so successful in its first, Garin participated in the 1904 Tour De France. This time he won, but only beat Pothier by a much smaller margin. Following the race Garin was stripped of the title because of cheating, and the title was then awarded to Henri Cornet. During the race Garin was assaulted by supporters of another racer, Antoine Faure, where he escaped with only a broken finger. This accident along with many other assaults on riders was a common problem with the race that needed to be fixed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Fauré) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
Some common problems of the Tour De France were: misbehaviour and misconduct of cyclists, cheating (e.g. riding in cars, taking shortcuts, taking food when not permitted, placing tacks on the road, poisoning other riders, drafting behind cars, holding onto motor vehicles to gain speed, and even carrying weapons. Most of theses problems would be solved throughout the years that the Tour De France evolved (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Garin).
The Tour De France has gone on every year since its introduction despite worries of its founder thinking that its second year would be the last, excluding the years during the two world wars. Because of this the race has steadily gained more and more popularity and still continues to grow today at its apex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France).