What is the Tour de France?

Join hosts Mira and Finn on History's Not Boring by Kidopoly as we pedal back in time to Paris in the year 1903! Did you know the biggest, most famous bicycle race on Earth started as a wild trick to sell more newspapers? It's true! A struggling French newspaper came up with a crazy idea: a massive bike race all the way around France to get people's attention!

Imagine setting off with 60 other cyclists on dusty dirt roads, riding through the pitch-black night. Now, imagine doing it with no helmets, bicycles that didn't even have gears, and only one single water bottle! Some of the race stages were over 400 kilometers long! You'll hear the jaw-dropping story of the very first winner, Maurice Garin, who pedaled for an incredible 94 hours to claim victory.

The crazy newspaper stunt worked, and the papers sold out everywhere! Fast forward 120 years, and it is now the most spectacular biking event in the world. Tune in to find out how this wild experiment turned into the ultimate race for the famous yellow jersey!

Transcript

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Welcome to Histories Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Before we jump in today, we have two amazing shout-outs. First, a massive hello to Arthur from Bedfordshire, England.

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Arthur is five years old and one of our very youngest listeners in the UK. Hi Arthur!

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And our second shout-out goes all the way across the ocean to six-year-old Connor from the Gallagher family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Didn't Connor actually request today's amazing story?

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He sure did. Thanks to Connor, we are travelling back in time to talk about the biggest, craziest, most exhausting bicycle race on Earth. Oh wow! How exhausting are we talking? Well, imagine riding a bicycle for 400 kilometres in a single day.

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400 kilometres? That is like driving from New York City all the way to Washington DC.

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Exactly! Now imagine doing it on bumpy dirt roads, riding through the pitch black night with no helmet, and a bicycle that only has one gear.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

One gear? My bike has seven, and going up hills is still super hard.

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Well, in the year 1903, 60 incredibly brave cyclists lined up to do exactly that. The winner ended up peddling for 94 hours. Wait, why would anyone want to ride a bike that far in the dark? Believe it or not, Finn, it was all because a struggling French newspaper needed a wild stunt to sell more copies. Get ready, because today we are exploring the invention of the Tour de France. Let's set the scene. It is the year 1903 in Paris, France. Bicycles are becoming super popular everywhere.

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Did the bikes back then look like our bikes today?

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Not exactly. They were made of thick, heavy steel. A typical racing bike weighed about£33.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

That is as heavy as a microwave oven. I would not want to pedal a microwave up a mountain.

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Me neither. Now, at this same time, there was a huge rivalry between two sports newspapers in France.

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A newspaper rivalry? Like they were fighting over who had the best news.

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Exactly. The biggest paper was called Le Vello, which means the bike. It was printed on bright green paper and sold 80,000 copies a day.

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Wow, that is a lot of papers.

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But their rival was a struggling new paper called Lotto, which was printed on yellow paper. Lotto was losing money fast.

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Uh-oh. So what did the yellow paper do to survive?

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The editor, a man named Henri Degrange, called an emergency meeting. He sat at a cafe in Paris with a 26-year-old journalist named Gio Lefebvre. And what was the big idea? Gio said, let's create a bicycle race that goes all the way around the entire country of France. A Tour de France!

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All the way around the country? That is thousands of miles.

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Yes, the planned route was 2,428 kilometres long. To get riders to sign up, Henri Desgranges offered a giant prize. How much was the prize? The winner would get 3,000 francs, which back then was equal to several years' worth of wages. So, on the afternoon of July 1st, 1903, 60 men gathered at a cafe just outside of Paris to start the crazy race.

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Were they all professional bike riders?

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Not at all. Some were professionals, but others were blacksmiths, carpenters, and even chimney sweeps. They just wanted that prize money.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

That is so cool! Regular guys just hopping on their microwave-heavy bikes.

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And those bikes were brutal. They didn't just have one gear, they had a fixed gear. Do you know what that means? Hmm. Does it mean the pedals never stop moving? Exactly! If the back wheel is turning, the pedals are turning. You cannot coast.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Wait, so if you are zooming downhill at 40 miles an hour.

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Your feet are spinning around like a blender. Or you have to take your feet off the pedals and just hold on for dear life. That sounds terrifying. How long were they riding each day? The race was split into six stages, but because they had to cover over 2,000 kilometres, each stage was massive. The very first stage was from Paris to Lyon. How far is that? 467 kilometres! It took the winner almost 18 hours to finish, and others took much longer. 17 hours? But the sun goes down. Did they ride in the dark? They sure did. They rode straight through the pitch black night on dirt roads full of holes, with only tiny oil lanterns clipped to their bikes.

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I bet those little lanterns barely showed anything. What if they got a flat tyre?

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That was the hardest rule of all. No mechanics were allowed. If your bike broke, you had to fix it yourself, in the dark, on the side of a dirt road. As the race went on, it turned into an unbelievable survival test. Riders were chased by farm dogs, they got lost in the dark, and they were completely covered in mud and dust. Did they at least have lots of water with them? Nope. They only had one water bottle attached to their handlebars. When they ran out, they had to stop at village fountains or local cafes to beg for water.

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That is wild. Who was winning this crazy race?

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A 32-year-old man named Maurice Garren. His nickname was the Little Chimney Sweep because that used to be his job. Go, little chimney sweep! Maurice was unstoppable. He rode wearing a bright white jacket so people could see him in the dark. He powered through exhaustion, bad weather, and terrible roads. Did he win the whole thing? He did! On July 19th, after 19 days of racing, Maurice Garin crossed the finish line back in Paris. A crowd of 20,000 people was waiting and cheering for him.

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20,000 people? How many hours did he spend actually peddling?

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His total riding time was 94 hours, 33 minutes, and 14 seconds. He beat the second place rider by almost three whole hours.

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Wait, what about the other 59 guys who started?

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It was so difficult that only 21 riders made it to the finish line. The rest had to give up. And what about the newspaper?

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Did Lorto sell more copies?

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It was a massive success! Circulation went from 25,000 to over 65,000 copies. The Tour de France completely saved the newspaper.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

That is an awesome story. But wait, when I see the Tour de France on TV today, the leader always wears a yellow shirt. Did Maurice wear a yellow shirt?

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Great question! The famous yellow jersey, or Mailleau Jaune in French, wasn't invented until 1919. But do you know why they picked the colour yellow?

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Wait! Was it because the newspaper Le Auto was printed on yellow paper?

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Exactly! It was literally a giant moving billboard for their yellow newspaper.

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That is so clever! How big is the race today compared to 1903?

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Today, the Tour de France is the biggest annual sporting event on the planet. Instead of 60 riders, there are 176, and they cover about 3,500 kilometres over 21 days.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Haha, and I bet their bikes weigh a lot less than£33 now.

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Yes, modern racing bikes weigh only about£15, and they have up to 24 gears. But those early years had some really wild and weird facts. Ooh, like what? Well, in the early days, cheating and sabotage were huge problems. Fans of certain riders would actually throw nails and broken glass onto the dirt roads to give the other riders flat tyres.

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No way! That is so mean!

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It gets crazier. Some riders got caught tying a thin, invisible wire to cars so they could be pulled along. And others literally hopped on a train during the night stages to skip a few towns.

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Taking a train during a bike race? That is definitely cheating.

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Alright, Finn, time for the quiz. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this.

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Okay, first question. What year did the very first Tour de France take place? Next one, this is tricky. What was the name of the yellow newspaper that invented the rake? Question three. Who was the first ever winner of the Tour de France? Alright, here's number four. How many stages were in that huge first race? Last question. What colour jersey does the leader of the race wear today? Great job! Let's go through the answers. I hope I got them right. The answer to question one is it happened in the year 1903. For question two, the yellow newspaper was called Le Auto. Number three, the answer is the winner was Maurice Garrin, the little chimney sweep. Question four. There were exactly six massive stages in the first race. And the final answer is the leader wears the famous yellow jersey.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

I will never look at my bicycle the same way again. I cannot imagine pedaling for 94 hours.

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Right? Next time you complain about a hill, just remember the 33 pound fixed gear bikes from 1903.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

I think I'll stick to my seven gears, thanks.

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Hey everyone listening! If you learned something new today, or if you just can't imagine riding a bicycle for 94 hours, please scroll down right now and give us a five-star review. Just tap those five stars. It really helps the show.

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Oh, and don't forget to head over to our site kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and activities there to explore.

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And if you want a shout out on the show like Arthur and Connor, or just want to say hi, send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com. Thanks for exploring with us. See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye.