1912 Tour | 1914 Tour | Tour de France Database | 1913 Tour Quick Facts | 1913 Tour de France Final GC | Stage results with running GC | Photos from the 1913 Tour de France
Map of the 1913 Tour de France
Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories is available as an audiobook here.
5,388 km raced at an average speed of 27.625 km/hr
140 starters who were divided into two classes, "Groupes" or members of sponsored teams and "isoles" or independent riders. There were 25 classified finishers.
Between 1905 and 1912, as a result of the 1904 cheating scandal, the Tour had been a points race. In 1913 and from then on, the Tour used elapsed time to calculate the standings.
One of the Tour's most famous stories: Eugène Christophe broke his forks on the Tourmalet and hiked down the mountain to perform the repair himself in a blacksmith shop in stage six.
Marcel Buysse won six stages but a set of broken handlebars cost him too much time.
Philippe Thys won the first of his three Tours de France.
1913 Tour de France Complete Final General Classification:
1913 Tour stage results with running GC:
Stage 1: Sunday, June 29, Paris - Le Havre, 388 km
Stage 2: Tuesday, July 1, Le Havre - Cherbourg, 364 km
GC after Stage 2:
4-way tie for 1st place: Jules Masselis. Odile Defraye, Marcel Buysse & Alfons Lauwers: 26hr 29min 53sec
Stage 3: Tuesday, July 1, Cherbourg - Brest, 405 km
GC after Stage 3:
Stage 4: Saturday, July 5, Brest - La Rochelle, 470 km
GC after Stage 4:
Stage 5: Monday, July 7, La Rochelle - Bayonne, 379 km
GC after Stage 5:
Stage 6: Wednesday, July 9, Bayonne - Luchon, 326 km
Major ascents: Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde
This is the famous stage where Eugène Christophe repaired his broken fork in a blacksmith shop.
29. Eugène Christophe @ 3hr 50min 14sec
GC after Stage 6:
Stage 7: Friday, July 11, Luchon - Perpignan, 323 km
Major ascents: Portet d'Aspet, Port, Puymorens
L'Auto's profile of stage seven
GC after Stage 7:
Stage 8: Tuesday, July 15, Perpignan - Aix en Provence, 325 km
GC after Stage 8:
Stage 9: Tuesday, July 15, Aix en Provence - Nice, 356 km
Major ascents: Braus, Castillon
25. Marcel Buysse @ 3hr 27min 6sec
GC after Stage 9:
Stage 10: Thursday, July 17, Nice - Grenoble, 333 km
Major ascents: Allos, Bayard
L'Auto's stage 10 profile
GC after Stage 10:
Stage 11: Saturday, July 19, Grenoble - Geneva, 325 km
Major ascents: Lautaret, Galibier, Télégaphe, Aravis
GC after Stage 11:
Stage 12: Monday, July 21, Geneva - Belfort, 335 km
Major ascents: Faucille, Ballon d'Alsace
L'Auto's stage 12 profile
GC after Stage 12:
Stage 13: Wednesday, July 23, Belfort - Longwy, 325 km
Major ascent: Grosse-Pierre
GC after Stage 13:
Stage 14: Friday, July 25, Longwy - Dunkerque, 393 km
Lucien Petit-Breton abandoned
GC after Stage 14:
Stage 15 (final stage): Sunday, July 27, Dunkerque - Paris, 340 km
Photos from the 1913 Tour de France
Pictures of Tour boss Henri Desgrange are hard to come by because at the time no one thought pictures of the Tour's organizer to be interesting or newsworthy. Here he is pictured in the 1913 Tour smoking and watching a suffering rider.
The finish of stage 4 in La Rochelle, won by Marcel Buysse
In a cloud of dust, the riders end stage 5 in Bayonne. The next day's stage will be one of the most famous in cycling history.
Firmin Lambot, winner of the 1919 and 1922 Tours, crests the Aubisque.
Christophe entered the Tour 8 times, starting in 1906. His best placing was second in 1912.
Christophe in an undated photo. But with the front caliper brake, it should be no earlier than 1913.
Thys, Christophe, Buysse and Garrigou suffer the appalling roads of the time, here pictured in a Pyreneen stage.
Stage 7, François Faber muscles his bike over the Portet d'Aspet
And Petit-Breton, winner of the 1907 and 1908 Tours climbs the Puymorens, the last major climb of stage 7.
Stage 11. Marcel Buysse is first over the Galibier and goes on to win the stage
Chasing Buysse on the Galibier are François Faber (left) and Gustave Garrigou.
The first Yellow Jersey? A tired-looking Philippe Thys savors his 1913 Tour victory.
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