Philippe Thys, who had won the 1913 Tour de France, returned for the

1914 Tour de France The 1914 Tour de France was the 12th edition of the Tour de France, taking place in 15 stages from 28 June to 26 July. The total distance was and the average speed of the riders was . It was won by the Belgian cyclist Philippe Thys. The day the ...

and was considered as the favourite, together with his teammate

Henri Pélissier Henri Pélissier (; 22 January 1889 – 1 May 1935) was a French racing cyclist from Paris and champion of the 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feud with Tour founder Henri Desgrange ...

. Apart from him six other previous Tour de France winners started the race:

Louis Trousselier Louis Trousselier (; 1881 – 24 April 1939) was a French racing cyclist who won the 1905 Tour de France. His other major wins were Paris–Roubaix, also in 1905, and the 1908 Bordeaux–Paris. He came third in the 1906 Tour de France and won 1 ...

Lucien Petit-Breton Lucien Georges Mazan (18 October 1882 – 20 December 1917) was a French racing cyclist (pseudonym: Lucien Petit-Breton, ), known as the first two-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique, a part of Brittan ...

Octave Lapize Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist. Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres, ...

François Faber François Faber (; 26 January 1887 – 9 May 1915) was a Luxembourgian racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands. He died in ...

Odile Defraye Odile Defraye (; nl, Odiel Defraeye; 14 July 1888 – 21 August 1965) was a Belgian road racing cyclist who won three stages and the overall title of the 1912 Tour de France, which was the last tour decided by a points system instead of overall ...

and

Gustave Garrigou Cyprien Gustave Garrigou (; 24 September 1884 – 23 January 1963) was one of the best professional racing cyclists of his era. He rode the Tour de France eight times and won once. Of 117 stages, he won eight, came in the top ten 96 times and ...

. Four more cyclists started the race that would later win a Tour de France:

Firmin Lambot Firmin Lambot (; 14 March 1886 – 19 January 1964) was a Belgian bicycle racer who twice won the Tour de France. Born in the small town of Florennes,The Bicycle, UK, 26 March 1952, p6 Lambot worked as a saddler. He worked 12 hours a day, star ...

Léon Scieur Léon Scieur (; 19 March 1888 – 7 October 1969) was a Belgian cyclist who won the 1921 Tour de France, along with stages 3 and 10. His first great victory was the 1920 Liège–Bastogne–Liège; he won a stage and finished fourth in the 1 ...

and

Lucien Buysse Lucien Buysse (; 11 September 1892 – 3 January 1980) was a Belgian cyclist and a champion of the Tour de France. Career Born in Wontergem, Buysse began racing professionally in 1914, when he entered the Tour de France but did not finish. He ...

. This number of 11 former or future Tour de France winners on the start line is a record. In addition, Italian champion

Costante Girardengo Costante Girardengo (; 18 March 1893 – 9 February 1978) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a "Campionissimo" or "c ...

, started the race, but Girardengo was not yet the champion from 1919 on, and was not the team leader. In 1914, the first cyclists from Australia started the Tour de France,

Don Kirkham Don Kirkham (February 11, 1908 – March 7, 1998) was an American soil scientist regarded as the founder of mathematical soil physics. His special interest was the flow of water through soils and drainage of agricultural land. He was awarded the ...

and

Iddo Munro Iddo "Snowy" Munro (26 March 1888 – 27 October 1980) was an Australian racing cyclist. The highlights of his career were winning the Australasian long distance road championship in 1909 and competing in the 1914 Tour de France. Munro won ...

. They also finished the race, in 17th place and 20th place.

Cyclists

By starting number

References

{{Grand Tour (cycling) squads 1914 Tour de France

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...