| Route of the 1913 Tour de France Followed counterclockwise, starting in Paris |
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| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 29 June–27 July 1913 | ||
| Stages | 15 | ||
| Distance | 5,388 km (3,348 mi) | ||
| Winning time | 197h 54' 00" (26.715 km/h or 16.600 mph) | ||
| Palmarès | |||
| Winner | (Peugeot) | ||
| Second | (Peugeot) | ||
| Third | (Peugeot) | ||
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The 1913 Tour de France was the 11th Tour de France, taking place June 29 to July 27, 1913. The total distance was 5,388 kilometres (3,348 mi) and the average speed of the riders was 26.715 kilometres per hour (16.600 mph).[1] The competition was won by the Belgian Philippe Thys, after in the crucial sixth stage Eugène Christophe broke his bicycle and lost several hours because he had to do the repairs by himself. In the last stage, Thys also had mechanical problems, but he got help during the repairs, and only got a penalty of ten minutes. Between 1904 and 1912, the overall classification had been calculated by points, but in 1913 the classification was reverted to the original format from 1903, where the overall classification was calculated by adding up the times of the individual stages. The general classification has been calculated in the time format ever since.
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In 1905, the format of the Tour de France had been changed from the time system to the points system, to reduce the cheating that had caused the first four cyclists of the 1904 Tour de France to be disqualified. In the 1912 Tour de France, this system had been working against Eugène Christophe's chances, who would have been leading the time classification up until the final stage where he allowed a group to ride away.[2] The system had been working against a French cyclist and in favor of a Belgian cyclist (Odiel Defraye, who won the Tour de France in 1912), and the French organisation changed the system back again to the time system: the finishing times of all stages were added per cyclist, and the cyclist with the least total time was the winner.
For the first time, the route of the race was in the opposite direction. Prior to the 1913 race, the Tour the France always had been in the clockwise direction through France, and in 1913 it was counterclockwise.[3]
The first African cyclist took part in the Tour de France in 1913: Ali Neffati from Tunisia. Neffati had been discovered by Tour organizer Henri Desgrange, and would later become a driver at l'Auto, the newspaper that organised the Tour de France.[4]
The 1913 Tour de France started with six former Tour de France winners (Louis Trousselier, Lucien Petit-Breton, François Faber, Octave Lapize, Gustave Garrigou and Odile Defraye), the most ever.[5] In the first stages, not much happened in the overall classification, as most cyclists were saving their energy for the Pyrénées.[6] The most important event occurred in the third stage, when former winner Lapize stopped the race because he considered his earning insufficient.[4]
The crucial stage proved to be the sixth. At the start of the sixth stage, last year's winner Defraye lead the general classification, some 5 minutes ahead of Eugène Christophe. In that sixth stage, the first mountains were climbed. Defraye was dropped quickly, and Christophe lead the race.[5] Christophe came up first on the Aubisque, and in second place behind Philippe Thys on the Tourmalet. On the way down from the Tourmalet, Christophe collided with a car. His bicycle was broken in two and completely unusable, and the rules said that he had to repair it himself. He walked 14 km down to the next village, and found a place where he could repair his bicycle. He worked on it for four hours, being watched by race officials who made sure that he was not helped by anyone. When Christophe asked a small boy to work the bellows, he was fined with ten minutes.[5] After his bicycle was fixed, he rode away and finished the stage, 3 hours and 50 minutes later than the stage winner Thys. Christophe's chances to win the 1913 Tour de France were over.[7]
After that sixth stage, Marcel Buysse was in the lead. In the ninth stage, Buysse had mechanical failure with a broken handlebar, and finished almost three and a half hours after stage winner Lambot. This was the end of the chances for Buysse for the victory.[4] Buysse did not give up, and won four of the remaining five stages.[6]
The lead had transferred to Thys now. In the last stages, the race focussed on the duel between Petit-Breton and Thys. In the 14th stage, Petit-Breton fell down and stopped the race. In the same stage, Thys also fell down and remained unconscious for a while. When he was conscious again, he was helped to repair his bicycle. All help was illegal in 1913, but the jury only gave him a 10 minute penalty.[3] Thys finished the stage, and kept 8'37" in front of Gustave Garrigou in the general classification. In the final stage, Thys stayed with Garrigou, and so won the 1913 Tour de France.
| Stage | Date | Route | Terrain[Notes 1] | Length | Winner | Race leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 June | Paris – Le Havre | 388 km (241 mi) | |||
| 2 | 1 July | Le Havre – Cherbourg | 364 km (226 mi) | |||
| 3 | 3 July | Cherbourg – Brest | 405 km (252 mi) | |||
| 4 | 5 July | Brest – La Rochelle | 470 km (290 mi) | |||
| 5 | 7 July | La Rochelle – Bayonne | 379 km (235 mi) | |||
| 6 | 9 July | Bayonne – Luchon | 326 km (203 mi) | |||
| 7 | 11 July | Luchon – Perpignan | 324 km (201 mi) | |||
| 8 | 13 July | Perpignan – Aix-en-Provence | 325 km (202 mi) | |||
| 9 | 15 July | Aix-en-Provence – Nice | 356 km (221 mi) | |||
| 10 | 17 July | Nice – Grenoble | 333 km (207 mi) | |||
| 11 | 19 July | Grenoble – Geneva | 325 km (202 mi) | |||
| 12 | 21 July | Geneva – Belfort | 335 km (208 mi) | |||
| 13 | 23 July | Belfort – Longwy | 325 km (202 mi) | |||
| 14 | 25 July | Longwy – Dunkerque | 393 km (244 mi) | |||
| 15 | 27 July | Dunkerque – Paris | 340 km (210 mi) |
For each cyclist, the times they had needed in each stage was added up for the general classification. The cyclist with the least accumulated time after the last stage was the winner. Of the 140 starting cyclists, 25 finished.
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peugeot | 197h 54' 00" | |
| 2 | Peugeot | +8' 37" | |
| 3 | Peugeot | +3h 30' 55" | |
| 4 | Griffon | +4h 12' 45" | |
| 5 | Peugeot | +6h 26' 04" | |
| 6 | J.B. Louvet | +7h 57' 52" | |
| 7 | Peugeot | +14h 06' 35" | |
| 8 | — | +16h 21' 38" | |
| 9 | J.B. Louvet | +16h 39' 53" | |
| 10 | Peugeot | +16h 52' 34" |
Camillo Bertarelli, ranked 8 in the general classification, became the winner of the "isolés" category.[9] The "isolés" classification was calculated in the same way as the general classification, but only the isolated cyclists (not part of a team) were eligible.
The organising newspaper l'Auto named Philippe Thys the meilleur grimpeur. This unofficial title is the precursor to the mountains classification.[10]
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