



1 / 15 Chevron Chevron The first Tour de France was organized in 1903 to promote the sports paper L’Auto. Of the sixty starting riders, only twenty-one finished. The winner was Maurice Garin, a.k.a. the Little Chimney-Sweep, seen center right at the finish of the first Tour. Nationaal Archief/Spaarnestad.

This Saturday, a hundred and ninety-eight cyclists are expected to start the ninety-ninth edition of the Tour de France. The three-week race will cover twenty-one hundred and seventy-three miles from the initial start in Liege, Beligum, to the final finish along the Champs-Élysées, in Paris.

To celebrate this year’s Grand Départ, I’ve compiled a selection of vintage Tour de France photos and facts for your cycling enjoyment.