1912 Tour de France

The 1912 Tour de France was the tenth edition, run from 30 June to 28 July over fifteen stages and 5,289 km at 27.763 km/h. The Alcyon team had hired Odile Defraye, after his four stage wins in the Tour of Belgium, to help Gustave Garrigou repeat his 1911 victory; as the race went on Defraye proved the stronger and was made leader, winning the Tour while Garrigou finished third. The 1911 points system remained, with classification clean-ups after stages 8 and 14 and a new rule splitting points among riders finishing together. Joanny Panel experimented with a derailleur, which Henri Desgrange promptly banned until 1937. The race started with 131 riders in ten teams of five.