In which town did the 1903 Tour de France start?

The 1903 Tour de France started in Montgeron, a town southeast of Paris.

On 1 July 1903, the riders gathered at the Café Au Réveil-Matin in Montgeron before setting off on the inaugural Tour. The event was organised by the newspaper L’Auto and was created partly to increase the paper’s circulation. Its first stage headed from the Paris area to Lyon, a huge journey by modern standards.

There is a small geographical detail behind the answer. The riders signed in and assembled at Montgeron, but the official racing start was moved a short distance to nearby Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. Paris police had prohibited bicycle races within the capital, so Montgeron provided a practical starting point just outside the city. Quiz references conventionally identify Montgeron as the start town.

The 1903 race had six stages and covered roughly 2,428 kilometres. Maurice Garin won the first stage and the overall event, finishing nearly three hours ahead of Lucien Pothier. The race was so successful that L’Auto repeated it the following year, establishing the Tour as an annual competition.