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1903 Tour de France, La Fraicaise Diamant Poster, Featuring Race Winner - Maurice Garin
1903 Tour de France, La Fraicaise Diamant Poster, Featuring Race Winner - Maurice Garin - Image 2
1903 Tour de France, La Fraicaise Diamant Poster, Featuring Race Winner - Maurice Garin - Image 3
1903 Tour de France, La Fraicaise Diamant Poster, Featuring Race Winner - Maurice Garin - Image 4
1903 Tour de France, La Fraicaise Diamant Poster, Featuring Race Winner - Maurice Garin - Image 5

1903 Tour de France, La Fraicaise Diamant Poster, Featuring Race Winner – Maurice Garin

$980.00

La Française Diamant 1903 Tour de France Poster
Featuring the First Tour Winner: Maurice Garin

Historic French advertising poster celebrating Cycles Société La Française, marque Diamant, and the very first Tour de France in 1903. Across the top, bold blue-and-white lettering announces the company name, framing a large map of France that dominates the composition. The original 1903 Tour route is traced in red across the country, with the key stage towns carefully marked, and a La Française head badge radiating like a medal from the center of the map.

Around this map, the poster presents a true roll of honor for the race. At the bottom center stands Maurice Garin in full length, holding his bicycle. Along the red band beneath him, the text proclaims “1er Garin 2500 kil. en 94 heures, Le Tour de France,” celebrating his overall victory. In the inaugural Tour de France, Garin covered approximately 2,428 kilometers in just over 94 hours, becoming the first Tour de France champion and etching his name into cycling legend.

In oval laureled medallions around the map, the other top finishers are shown. On the left are Lucien Pothier, marked second, and Rodolfo Muller, marked fourth. On the right are Fernand Augereau, third, and Jean Fischer, fifth. All five rode for La Française, making this poster both a celebration of the race and a powerful advertisement for the team and its machines.

Along the lower edge of the sheet, finely drawn images present a La Française road racing bicycle on one side and a La Française motorcycle on the other, with Garin between them. Together with the large map and medal-like portraits, they reinforce the message that La Française supplied both the victorious riders and the cutting-edge technology of the day. Soft pastel background tones, careful line work, and ornate lettering give the poster the feel of an official commemorative document as much as a commercial piece.

For collectors, this is a beautiful poster tied directly to the 1903 Tour de France, capturing the very first edition of the race, the complete top five, and the dominance of La Française Diamant at the dawn of grand tour history.

 

This poster has been archivally and professionally linen-backed.

Virtually all original vintage posters of this era were viewed as temporary advertising and were printed on very thin paper. While expensive, linen backing is a conservation method used to mount, stabilize, preserve, and protect vintage posters so they can be displayed or framed without compromising value.

This poster is an original first printing, not a reproduction.

Year: 1903
Artist: N/A
Imp: N/A

Size: 44 x 59 cm (17 ¼  x 23 ¼  inches) – Linen Backed Archival Mounting

Posters are sold unframed. Framed images are display ideas only.

This is a one-of-a-kind item; please review the photos carefully to determine the condition.

This item is listed on multiple platforms, and availability is subject to prior sale elsewhere.

Out of stock

SKU: PT-200079 D8-R Category: Tags: , ,

Description

Maurice Garin

Maurice Garin was an Italian-born French road cyclist who became the first winner of the Tour de France in 1903 and one of the defining figures of early road racing. He was born on March 3, 1871, in Arvier in the Aosta Valley, then part of the Kingdom of Italy, and emigrated with his family to northern France as a child, eventually becoming a naturalized French citizen in 1901.

Before the Tour was created, Garin had already built a formidable reputation in long-distance events. He won Paris–Roubaix in 1897 and 1898, Paris–Brest–Paris in 1901, and several other major French road races, establishing himself as one of the strongest endurance riders of his generation.

In 1903, Garin rode for the professional team La Française in the first Tour de France, organized by the newspaper L’Auto. The race covered six massive stages and a total of about 2,428 km. Garin dominated the event, winning three stages and finishing with a total time of 94 hours 33 minutes 14 seconds, more than two hours ahead of runner-up Lucien Pothier. This victory made him the first Tour de France champion and a national celebrity.

Garin initially appeared to defend his title by winning the 1904 Tour de France on the road, but that edition was later marred by widespread cheating and crowd interference. After an investigation, the French cycling federation annulled the results and disqualified several riders, including Garin, who was stripped of the win and suspended. The 1904 title was reassigned to Henri Cornet.

After his suspension, Garin effectively retired from top-level racing. He settled in Lens in northern France, where he ran a petrol station and remained a respected local figure and symbol of the Tour’s heroic early years. He died in Lens on 19 February 1957, aged 85.

Remembered for his toughness over brutal distances and for inaugurating the long list of Tour de France winners, Maurice Garin holds a permanent place in cycling history as the race’s first overall champion and one of the sport’s pioneering stars.

Additional information

Weight 3 lbs

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