A moment in time Maurice Garin wins the first Tour

In the early evening of 18th July 1903, the remaining 21 riders of the inaugural Tour de France peloton left the Café Babonneau in Nantes. They were bound for the finish line of the ‘grandest cycle race organised to date’, which lay 462km away in Ville-d’Avray, a western suburb of Paris.

‘It will definitely seem funny next week not to give more starts to the Tour de France,’ reported Georges Abran, who was responsible for sending the riders on their way. ‘Farewell the Tour de France,’ he concluded. ‘The final start is given. It is 8 o’clock sharp.’

That start time was one hour