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<headline>100 years of Le Tour de France</headline>

<order0>1 of 18</order0>
<picture0>Garin twice won the Paris-Roubaix race before winning the first Tour de France</picture0>
<caption0><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1903</b></span><br /><br /><i>Henri Desgrange</i>, editor of L’Auto magazine, is credited as organising the first Tour de France, based on a suggestion by journalist <i>Geo Lefevre</i> to boost the sports paper’s ailing circulation.<br /><br /> The inaugural race saw 60 riders travelling 2,500km over 19 days, and was won by <i>Maurice Garin</i>, who collected prize money of 6,075 francs]]></caption0>

<order1>2 of 18</order1>
<picture1><i>The Col du Tourmalet, in the Pyrenees, is one of the most famous climbs of the Tour de France</i></picture1>
<caption1><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1910</b></span><br /><br />After tackling the Ballon d’Alsace in 1905, the first high mountains were introduced, with the peloton heading over the summits of the Pyrenees. <br /><br />The riders faced the Alps for the first time the following year]]></caption1>

<order2>3 of 18</order2>
<picture2>Current Tour director Christian Prudhomme (left) poses with the yellow jersey for the 100th edition in 2013</picture2>
<caption2><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1919</b></span><br /><br />The race returned after a four-year absence due to the First World War. <br /><br /> The Yellow Jersey was introduced to help spectators identify the race leader – the colour was chosen because L’Auto magazine was printed on yellow paper]]></caption2>

<order3>4 of 18</order3>
<picture3>French cyclist René Faure climbs the mountain pass of Tourmalet, July 1930</picture3>
<caption3><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1930</b></span><br /><br />After almost three decades, Tour director Desgrange announced radical changes; bicycle manufacturers’ teams were replaced by national squads, with everyone riding identical bikes. <br /><br />The publicity caravan, now an integral part of the event, was introduced to make up the cash shortfall caused by the absence of the cycle-makers]]></caption3>

<order4>5 of 18</order4>
<picture4>Cyclists during the 3rd stage of the 1937 Tour, from Charleville to Metz</picture4>
<caption4><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1937</b></span><br /><br />Popular new Derailleur systems were introduced. <br>This design, which survives to this day, allowed riders to change gears without removing their wheels. <br /><br />Until then competitors had to dismount and turn their wheel around every time the road switched from uphill to downhill]]></caption4>

<order5>6 of 18</order5>
<picture5>Frenchman René Vietto tackles the cobblestones on stage 2 between Lille and Brussels, June 26, 1947</picture5>
<caption5><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1947</b></span><br /><br />The race returned after seven years lost to World War 2, with France in the throes of reconstruction. <br /><br />A French victory, helped by a government decision to allow Le Tour to break rationing rules, improved national morale]]></caption5>

<order6>7 of 18</order6>
<picture6>Coppi rides up the Col du Galibier on July 6, 1952</picture6>
<caption6><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px;line-height:115%"><b>1952</b></span><br /><br />Le Tour included its first mountain-top finishes, at Alpe d’Huez, Sestrières, and Puy-de-Dôme. <br /><br />Italy’s <i>Fausto Coppi</i> crossed all three finish lines ahead of everyone else to claim his second Tour de France crown, in the same year that the race was first televised]]></caption6>

<order7>8 of 18</order7>
<picture7>Anquetil (right), after winning his record fifth Tour, with runner-up Raymond Poulidor</picture7>
<caption7><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1964</b></span><br /><br />French rider <i>Jacques Anquetil</i> became the first man to win five Tours, breaking the record of three held jointly by Belgium’s <i>Philippe Thys</i> and Frenchman <i>Louison Bobet</i>.<br /><br /> In 1962 Le Tour had embraced commercial reality and welcomed back sponsored teams]]></caption7>

<order8>9 of 18</order8>
<picture8>Attempts to revive Simpson after his collapse on Mont Ventoux were unsuccessful</picture8>
<caption8><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1967</b></span><br /><br />British rider <i>Tom Simpson</i> collapsed and died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux. <br>A post-mortem revealed he had taken amphetamines. <br /><br />Simpson’s death led to the Tour's first drug tests and a ban on the use of any performance-enhancing drugs in the sport]]></caption8>

<order9>10 of 18</order9>
<picture9>Merckx raises his arms in victory on July 21, 1974, after winning Le Tour for the fifth time</picture9>
<caption9><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1974</b></span><br /><br />Belgian cyclist <i>Eddy Merckx</i> – known as “The Cannibal” for his aggressive attacking style – matched Anquetil as a five-time winner of the event. <br /><br />Merckx still holds the records for most stage wins (34) and number of days in the Yellow Jersey (96). <br>He is also the only rider to have won each separate classification of Le Tour]]></caption9>

<order10>11 of 18</order10>
<picture10>Lucien Van Impe wearing the Polka Dot Jersey</picture10>
<caption10><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1975</b></span><br /><br />The first ever winner of the red and white Polka Dot Jersey for the best climber was Belgian <i>Lucien Van Impe</i>, who also finished third overall. <br /><br />For the first time Le Tour finished on the famous Champs-Élysées, where the race has ended every year since]]></caption10>

<order11>12 of 18</order11>
<picture11>Hinault displays his four yellow jerseys won in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982, on his way to his fifth victory</picture11>
<caption11><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1985</b></span><br /><br />Bernard Hinault</i> joined the exclusive club of five-time winners of Le Tour. <br /><br />Hinault, an exciting all-rounder with an infamously short-temper, remains the last Frenchman to win the event]]></caption11>

<order12>13 of 18</order12>
<picture12>Lemond (right) and Fignon on the podium two days before Lemond snatched his dramatic victory</picture12>
<caption12><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1989</b></span><br /><br />A new aerodynamic bike allowed the American <i>Greg LeMond</i> – Le Tour’s first non-European winner in 1986 – to overhaul the 50-second lead of French cyclist <i>Laurent Fignon</i> on the final stage to win by eight seconds, the narrowest winning margin in Tour history]]></caption12>

<order13>14 of 18</order13>
<picture13>Indurain in action during stage 2 of Le Tour on July 1, 1995</picture13>
<caption13><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1995</b></span><br /><br />Spaniard <i>Miguel Indurain’s</i> unique physique – with a resting heartbeat of 29 beats per minute and lungs able to scoop in eight litres of air – enabled him to become the first man to win Le Tour five times in a row]]></caption13>

<order14>15 of 18</order14>
<picture14>Police apprehend Festina officials in Roscoff when teams arrive in France after two stages in Ireland</picture14>
<caption14><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>1998</b></span><br /><br />A systematic doping network was unveiled after a large haul of perfomance-enhancing drugs was found in a Festina team car before the race. <br /><br />Police and cycling officials conducted night-time raids on other teams, sparking mass protests by riders who complained they were being treated like criminals. Six teams withdrew from the race]]></caption14>

<order15>16 of 18</order15>
<picture15>Armstrong undergoes a medical check-up before the 1995 Tour</picture15>
<caption15><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px;line-height:115%"><b>2005</b></span><br /><br />American cyclist and cancer survivor <i>Lance Armstrong</i> won the Tour a record seven times from 1999 to 2005. <br /><br /> He was stripped of all seven titles and banned for life in 2012 after U.S. authorities claimed he had orchestrated the most sophisticated doping programme ever seen. After years of denial, Armstrong finally admitted doping]]></caption15>

<order16>17 of 18</order16>
<picture16>Cavendish (right) rides alongside Wiggins in Paris</picture16>
<caption16><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>2012</b></span><br /><br />Britain’s <i>Mark Cavendish,</i> now the most successful sprinter in Tour history with 23 stage wins, became the first rider to win the final stage on the Champs-Elysees four years in a row, on his way to helping teammate <i>Bradley Wiggins</i> become the first ever British winner of the race]]></caption16>

<order17>18 of 18</order17>
<picture17>The peloton tackling the Col du Galibier between Embrun and L’Alpe d'Huez</picture17>
<caption17><![CDATA[<span style="font-size:18px"><b>2013</b></span><br /><br />Le Tour celebrates its 100th edition with a series of challenges designed to maintain suspense until the final weekend. <br /><br />The combination in the final week of a gruelling time trial, followed by a twin climb of Alpe d’Huez, and a summit finish at Mont Semnoz on the penultimate day, makes a strong claim to be the hardest finish of any Tour de France]]></caption17>



<sources><![CDATA[<b>Source: LOCOG</b>]]></sources>
<pictures><![CDATA[<b>Pictures: Associated Press / Getty Images</b>]]></pictures>







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