Henri Desgrange – 31.01.1865 – 16.08.1940
- Hour Record – 1893
- Editor L’Auto newspaper – 1900 – 1940
- Creator of Le Tour de France – 1903
Desgrange is rightly seen as the father of the Tour. Latching onto an idea of one of his correspondents – Geo. Lefevre – to help boost circulation, he set his newspaper firmly behind the creation of what quickly became Le Grand Boucle. Famously harsh on the riders of the early years, he set the tone for the endeavour as one of grand ambition and epic suffering. His words make clear his thinking: “The ideal Tour would be a Tour in which only one rider survived the ordeal.”
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