Belgian victory foreshadows problems to come

The peloton of the Tour de France races through northern France. A fashion note: bar bags and flat caps seem de rigeur!

The victory of Belgian Odile Defraye looks far more crushing than in reality it was. With the race decided on points, the Belgian riders - whatever their team affiliations - were suspected of banding together to ensure victory for one of their own. The stiffest challenge came from Eugène Christophe but he was no sprinter, and the Belgian hegemony held. Only when Christophe could drop the pack did he finish ahead of Defraye. That he was successful in this feat as often as he was (including the Tour's longest ever successful solo break, of 315 kilometres to Grenoble) speaks volumes for Christophe's strength. Alas, however, it was not enough, and Defraye won easily enough on points. Had the race been decided on time, the result would have been much closer; indeed Christophe would have lead the race until the final stage, when he sat up in disgust and allowed a group to ride up the road for the stage placings.

Two things changed as a result of this Tour. Firstly, for the 1913 Tour, the classification reverted to one based on time. The issue of the domination of the race by teams against a better, but weakly supported, rider, taxed Desgrange for many years, but it wasn't until 1930 that he did something about it, and then, perhaps, not with the results he had intended. But that is another story...

Stage winners

	Stage	Winner	Overall Leader
Stage 1	Paris - Dunkerque, 351km	Charles Crupelandt	Charles Crupelandt
Stage 2	Dunkerque - Longwy, 388km	Odile Defraye	Vicenzo Borgarello
Stage 3	Longwy - Belfort, 331km	Eugène Christophe	Odile Defraye
Stage 4	Belfort - Chamonix, 344km	Eugène Christophe	Odile Defraye
Stage 5	Chamonix - Grenoble, 366km	Eugène Christophe	Odile Defraye and Eugène Christophe, tied
Stage 6	Grenoble - Nice, 323km	Octave Lapize	Odile Defraye and Octave Lapize, tied
Stage 7	Nice - Marseille, 334km	Odile Defraye	Odile Defraye
Stage 8	Marseille - Perpignan, 335km	Vicenzo Borgarello	Odile Defraye
Stage 9	Perpignan - Luchon, 289km	Odile Defraye	Odile Defraye
Stage 10	Luchon - Bayonne, 326km	Louis Mottiat	Odile Defraye
Stage 11	Bayonne - La Rochelle, 379km	Jean Alavoine	Odile Defraye
Stage 12	La Rochelle - Brest, 470km	Louis Heusghem	Odile Defraye
Stage 13	Brest - Cherbourg, 405km	Jean Alavoine	Odile Defraye
Stage 14	Cherboyrg - Le Havre, 361km	Vicenzo Borgarello	Odile Defraye
Stage 15	Le Havre - Paris, 317km	Jean Alavoine	Odile Defraye

In a nutshell

The longest ever solo break - Eugène Christophe is away for 315 kilometres before winning in Grenoble. His winning margin is just 2' 37" over Octave Lapize.
First Tour for Henri Pélissier, who finally gets to win the Tour in 1923. Amongst others making debuts are future triple winner Philippe Thys and triple holder of the World Hour Record, Oscar Egg.

Results

Overall

1st: Odile Defraye, (Belgium), Alcyon, 5344km at 27.894km/h, 49 points
2nd: Eugène Christophe, (France), Armor, 108
3rd: Gustave Garrigou, (France), Alcyon, 140
4th: Marcel Buysse, (Belgium), Peugeot, 147
5th: Jean Alavoine, (France), Armor, 148
6th: Philippe Thys, (Belgium), Peugeot, 148
7th: Hector Tiberghien, (Belgium), Griffon, 149
8th: Henri Devroye, (Belgium), Le Globe, 163
9th: Félicien Salmon, (Belgium), Peugeot, 166
10th: Alfons Spiessens, (Belgium), J.B. Louvet, 157

(41st: Maurice Dartigue, (France), "Isole", 612)

<< 1911 || 1913 >>