1906 Tour de France
Map of France with the route of the 1906 Tour de France on it, showing that the race started in Paris, went clockwise through France and ended in Paris after thirteen stages.
Route of the 1906 Tour de France followed clockwise, starting in Paris
Race details
Dates4–29 July 1906
Stages13
Distance4,637 km (2,881 mi)
Winning time31 points
Results
  Winner  René Pottier (FRA)
  Second  Georges Passerieu (FRA)
  Third  Louis Trousselier (FRA)

The 1906 Tour de France was the fourth edition of the Tour de France, and the second to use the points system. Taking place from 4 to 29 July, the total race distance was 4,637 kilometres (2,881 mi) run over 13 stages, with the winner averaging 24.463 kilometres per hour (15.201 mph).[1] New to this year's edition were the mountain climbs in the Massif Central. However, like its predecessors, cheating and sabotage still took place. Four competitors were disqualified for taking trains as a shortcut and spectators threw nails on the road. However, this did not stop René Pottier from taking a big lead in the first stages. Free of the tendinitis that had plagued his 1905 chances, he dominated the entire race.[2]

Innovations and changes

Tour organiser Henri Desgrange had been happy with the increased length of the 1905 Tour de France, and decided to put even more stages in the 1906 version.[3]

The introduction of mountain stages had also been successful, so this edition included not only the Vosges, but also the Massif Central.[4]

The increased length made it possible to follow the borders of France, and in 1906 the perimeter was closely followed.[5]

A structure above a road, with a red triangle in the middle, with a car passing under the structure.
The flamme rouge, indicating the final kilometre of the stage, was introduced in the 1906 Tour de France.

The points system in the 1905 Tour de France had been successful enough in reducing cheating, so the Tour organisers used it again in the 1906 Tour de France, with a few changes: whereas in 1905, time differences still had some effect on the points distribution, in 1906 time differences were unimportant, and points were only given for the order in which the cyclists finished. The winner of the stage received one point, the second rider two points, et cetera. After the eighth stage, only 16 cyclists were remaining, and the results from the first eight stages were recalculated, with only the remaining cyclists, and the points were redistributed among the remaining riders in accordance with their positions in those stages.[6]

The first stage ended in Lille and the second stage started in Douai; this was the first time that a stage did not start where the previous stage ended.[6] And, for the first time, the Tour also went outside France. The second stage crossed the border into Germany (Metz in Alsace-Lorraine, then part of Germany),[2] and several days later riders visited Italy (Ventimiglia) and Spain (Irun).[6][7]

The 1906 Tour also saw the introduction of the flamme rouge (red flame), a red flag that indicates that the cyclists only have one kilometre to go.[2]

Participants

There were 100 cyclists signed up for the race, but only 76 of them came to the start. One of the absentees was Henri Cornet, winner of the 1904 Tour de France. Four cyclists were Belgian, one was Luxembourgian (later winner François Faber), two were German, and the rest were French.[6][8] Louis Trousselier, winner of the 1905 Tour de France, was present. The riders were not grouped in teams, but some cyclists had the same sponsor, even though they were not allowed to work together.[9] Before the race started, most was expected from Cadolle, Aucouturier, Georget, Pottier, Trousselier, Dortignac and Petit-Breton.[10]

As in 1905, the cyclists were divided in two categories, the coureurs de vitesse and the coureurs sur machines poinçonnées, where the riders in the first category were allowed to change bicycles, which could be an advantage in the mountains, where they could use a bicycle with lower gears. In 1905, sponsors had not been so enthusiastic about entering their cyclists in this category, but in 1906 they had learned that it had a commercial advantage to have cyclists starting in the poinçonnées category, because the average French citizen could identify more with them. In 1906, more than half of the cyclists started in the poinçonnées category, including Lucien Petit-Breton, one of the pre-favourites.[11]

Race overview

A man working on the front tire of a bicycle; three men are watching.
Hippolyte Aucouturier fixing a flat tire

As in previous years, the spectators tried to assist their preferred riders by trying to impede their opponents.[12] On the first stage, nails had been thrown on the road, and all cyclists except Lucien Petit-Breton punctured.[6] This stage was won by Emile Georget in a sprint.

In the second stage, René Pottier, who had shown his climbing abilities in the previous edition, aimed for the victory.[5] He was stopped after 175 kilometres (109 mi) with mechanical failure, and he lost 58 minutes. The other main contenders worked together to stay away from Pottier, but Pottier chased them for 200 kilometres (120 mi), caught them 25 kilometres (16 mi) before the finish, and even left them behind, winning the stage with a margin of 1'30" on Petit-Breton and more than 9 minutes on the rest.[3]

In the third stage, four cyclists (Julien Gabory, Henri Gauban, Gaston Tuvache and Maurice Carrere) were disqualified for taking the train.[6] The Ballon d'Alsace, which had been the first real mountain in the Tour de France the previous year, was featured again. Just as the year before, it was mounted first by Pottier.[3] The stage was also won by Pottier, more than 45 minutes ahead of the rest.[13]

A square with two lines of crowd diagonally, with cyclist between them going to the lower right, and horses outside them.
The 1906 Tour passing through a town

Pottier also won the fourth stage. In the fifth stage, he was leading by one hour at the halfway point. A cycling legend says that he decided to stop, entered a bar and ordered a bottle of wine, and drank it almost completely. When he saw the first other cyclists passing by, Pottier mounted his bicycle again, went after them, and won the stage.[3] By this point, Pottier was leading the overall classification firmly. The winner of the 1905 Tour de France, Louis Trousselier, had had a bad first half of the Tour, and was many points behind. Trousselier rediscovered his form in the second half of the race, won the 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th stages, and was challenging the second place of Georges Passerieu. Passerieu defended his position by winning the 12th stage.[3] In the last stage, Pottier showed his strength by winning the stage,[3] after finishing together in Paris with Passerieu.[6]

Results

A black-and-white photograph of a man with three-colored sweater and shorts with a moustache sitting on a bicycle.
Louis Trousselier, winner of four stages in the 1906 Tour de France.

Stage results

Stage characteristics and winners[6][14][15]
Stage Date Course Distance Type[lower-alpha 1] Winner Race leader
1 4 JulyParis to Lille 275 km (171 mi)Plain stage Emile Georget (FRA) Emile Georget (FRA)
2 6 JulyDouai to Nancy 400 km (250 mi)Plain stage René Pottier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
3 8 JulyNancy to Dijon 416 km (258 mi)Stage with mountain(s) René Pottier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
4 10 JulyDijon to Grenoble 311 km (193 mi)Plain stage René Pottier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
5 12 JulyGrenoble to Nice 345 km (214 mi)Stage with mountain(s) René Pottier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
6 14 JulyNice to Marseille 292 km (181 mi)Plain stage Georges Passerieu (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
7 16 JulyMarseille to Toulouse 480 km (300 mi)Plain stage Louis Trousselier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
8 18 JulyToulouse to Bayonne 300 km (190 mi)Plain stage Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
9 20 JulyBayonne to Bordeaux 338 km (210 mi)Plain stage Louis Trousselier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
10 22 JulyBordeaux to Nantes 391 km (243 mi)Plain stage Louis Trousselier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
11 24 JulyNantes to Brest 321 km (199 mi)Plain stage Louis Trousselier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
12 26 JulyBrest to Caen 415 km (258 mi)Plain stage Georges Passerieu (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
13 29 JulyCaen to Paris 259 km (161 mi)Plain stage René Pottier (FRA) René Pottier (FRA)
Total 4,637 km (2,881 mi)[1]

After the 13th stage, the race was followed by two timed exhibition laps on the Velodrome in Paris, the result of which was not counted for the overall classification. The winner was Emile Georget, who finished the 1,332 metres (4,370 ft) in 2:07.20.[4][16]

General classification

Two men with flowers in their hands, sitting on bicycles being held by other men, with the Eiffel tower seen in the background.
Georges Passerieu (left) and René Pottier (right), preparing for their honorary lap after the Tour ended.

One hundred cyclists had entered for the 1906 Tour de France; only 82 of them showed up at the start. Only 49 cyclists finished the first stage, and the number of active cyclists quickly fell to 37 in stage two, 29 in stage three, until 16 after stage eight. At that point, the points given in the first eight stages were redistributed among the remaining riders in accordance with their positions in those stages. At the end of the Tour de France, only 14 cyclists finished.[6] The cyclists were not grouped in teams; some cyclists had the same sponsor, but they were not allowed to work together.[9]

Final general classification (1–10)[17]
Rank Rider Sponsor Points
1  René Pottier (FRA)Peugeot31
2  Georges Passerieu (FRA)Peugeot39
3  Louis Trousselier (FRA)Peugeot61
4  Lucien Petit-Breton (FRA)Peugeot65
5  Emile Georget (FRA)Alcyon–Dunlop80
6  Aloïs Catteau (BEL)Alcyon–Dunlop129
7  Édouard Wattelier (FRA)Labor137
8  Léon Georget (FRA)Alcyon–Dunlop152
9  Eugène Christophe (FRA)Labor156
10  Anthony Wattelier (FRA)Alcyon–Dunlop168

Other classifications

Lucien Petit-Breton was the winner of the "machines poinçonnées" category.[18]

The organising newspaper l'Auto named René Pottier the meilleur grimpeur. This unofficial title is the precursor to the mountains classification.[19]

Aftermath

The Tour organisers did not make many changes the rules or route for the next race, because they had worked in the 1906 Tour de France. The revised points system would be kept in this form until 1911, only to be changed a little bit in 1912 before being replaced by the time system in 1913. The flamme rouge that was introduced in 1906 to indicate the final kilometre of a stage was kept and is still in use.

René Pottier would not defend his title in the 1907 Tour de France, because he would commit suicide before, after discovering that his wife had had an affair while he was riding the Tour.[5] Petit-Breton and Georget would start again in the 1907 Tour and duel for the overall victory, which would be won by Petit-Breton.

To honor Pottier's achievements on the Ballon d'Alsace, a monument was placed for him on top of that mountain.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1906, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that only the third and fifth stage included mountains.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Augendre 2016, p. 108.
  2. 1 2 3 "1906 – 4th Tour de France". ASO. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Amels 1984, pp. 9–10.
  4. 1 2 James, Tom (14 August 2003). "1906: The first climbing star is born". VeloArchive. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 McGann & McGann 2006, pp. 16–19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "4ème Tour de France 1906" (in French). Mémoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Le Tour de France pour les Nuls by Jean-Paul Vespini, First-Gründ, 2013, Paris.
  8. ↑ "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1906Stage results – The starters". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  9. 1 2 Thompson 2006, p. 36.
  10. ↑ "El "Tour de France" 1906" (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 12 July 1906. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2019.
  11. ↑ "Gelode fietsen". Heersers van de Weg (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  12. ↑ Mace, Lorraine (2004). "Convicts of the road". Lorraine Mace.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  13. ↑ "4ème Tour de France 1906 – 3ème étappe" (in French). Mémoire du cyclisme. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  14. ↑ Augendre 2016, p. 8.
  15. ↑ "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1906 – The stage winners". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  16. ↑ "4ème Tour de France 1906 – 13ème étape" (in French). Mémoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  17. 1 2 "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1906 – Stage 13.02 Caen > Paris". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  18. ↑ "l'Historique du Tour – Année 1906" (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  19. ↑ Cleijne 2014, p. 156.
  20. ↑ Boyce, Barry (2004). "The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Life". Cyclingrevealed. Retrieved 19 July 2010.

Bibliography

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