The Role of L'Auto

L'Auto's coverage of the Tour revolutionized sports journalism. Desgrange assigned a team of reporters to follow the race, sending dispatches from the road. These weren't dry race reports but dramatic narratives that transformed cyclists into heroes and their struggles into epic battles.

Creating Mythology

Desgrange himself wrote florid front-page editorials, his purple prose setting the tone. He described riders as "giants of the road" and their bicycles as "steel steeds." Mountains became "terrible judges" and punctures were "assassins lurking in the shadows." This mythologizing served dual purposes—it sold newspapers and elevated the Tour above mere sport into the realm of legend.

The newspaper published detailed maps of each stage, profiles of riders, and technical articles about training and equipment. Circulation soared from 25,000 before the Tour to over 65,000 by its conclusion. The formula was proven: the Tour de France could capture public imagination like no other sporting event.