Race Details
As in previous years, the spectators tried to assist their preferred riders by trying to impede their opponents. On the first stage, nails had been thrown on the road, and all cyclists except Lucien Petit-Breton punctured. This stage was won by Emile Georget in a sprint. In the second stage, René Pottier, who had shown his climbing abilities in the previous edition, aimed for the victory. He was stopped after 175 kilometres (109 mi) with mechanical failure, and he lost 58 minutes. The other main contenders worked together to stay away from Pottier, but Pottier chased them for 200 kilometres (120 mi), caught them 25 kilometres (16 mi) before the finish, and even left them behind, winning the stage with a margin of 1'30" on Petit-Breton and more than 9 minutes on the rest. In the third stage, four cyclists (Julien Gabory, Henri Gauban, Gaston Tuvache and Maurice Carrere) were disqualified for taking the train. The Ballon d'Alsace, which had been the first real mountain in the Tour de France the previous year, was featured again. Just as the year before, it was mounted first by Pottier. The stage was also won by Pottier, more than 45 minutes ahead of the rest.
Pottier also won the fourth stage. In the fifth stage, he was leading by one hour at the halfway point. A cycling legend says that he decided to stop, entered a bar and ordered a bottle of wine, and drank it almost completely. When he saw the first other cyclists passing by, Pottier mounted his bicycle again, went after them, and won the stage.
By this point, Pottier was leading the overall classification firmly. The winner of the 1905 Tour de France, Louis Trousselier, had had a bad first half of the Tour, and was many points behind. Trousselier rediscovered his form in the second half of the race, won the 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th stages, and was challenging the second place of Georges Passerieu. Passerieu defended his position by winning the 12th stage. In the last stage, Pottier showed his strength by winning the stage, after finishing together in Paris with Passerieu.
Read more about this topic: 1906 Tour De France
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