The first Tour de France was organised as a promotional tool to boost circulation of the French newspaper L’Auto. It was greeted by a disappointing number of entrants, which led to the race being delayed for a month from its original start date of 1 June. The entrance fee was subsequently reduced, the prize money was increased, and a promise was made to present a daily payment to every rider who completed the six stages at an average speed of 20km/h or more.

60 competitors began the race at Montgeron, south of Paris, of whom 39 were private entrants. A further 24 cyclists joined individual stages of the race, although this meant that they were not eligible for the full prize money.

When the race finished at the Paris Velodrome on 19 July, 21 competitors had successfully completed every stage and their times were totalled to give an overall result, known as the general classification. The winner, with the fastest total time over all six stages, was Frenchman Maurice Garin who finished almost three hours ahead of his nearest rival. He won the title again in 1904, but was later disqualified for unspecified reasons.

Each stage of the first Tour was more than double the length of today’s equivalents, although the majority of the 2,428km course was flat. Whereas today’s competition involves a series of aggressive mountain climbs throughout the race the 1903 course featured a significant ascent in just one of the six stages, although there were a number of smaller climbs.

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