How it unfolded
On the afternoon of 1 July 1903, 60 riders set off from outside the Cafe au Reveil Matin in Montgeron, south of Paris. The race was created by sports newspaper L'Auto's editor Henri Desgrange, who adopted young journalist Geo Lefevre's proposal to outdo a rival paper. It ran 2,428 km over six stages, the first alone covering 467 km from Paris to Lyon overnight. With no team cars or mechanics, riders had to fix their own punctures roadside, and rampant cheating, hopping trains or grabbing tow ropes from cars, was common enough that the following year's race produced a wave of disqualifications. Maurice Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman and former chimney sweep, won three stages including the first and took the overall title in 94 hours 33 minutes 14 seconds, roughly three hours ahead of runner-up Lucien Pothier. Only 21 of the 60 starters finished, and the winner's prize amounted to several years of a labourer's wages. Sales of L'Auto more than doubled over the course of the race.
Why it still matters
These 19 days created both the business model and the format of professional cycling at once. A newspaper organising a race to sell copies, that race becoming a national event, and riders carrying sponsor brands on their backs, all began here. Italy copied the formula with the Giro six years later, and Spain with the Vuelta 32 years after that. Today's Grand Tours are, in structure, replicas of this race.