Henri Cornet won the 1904 Tour de France in December, four months after the finish, by which time he had already turned twenty. In Paris, at the end of July, he had finished fifth. Ahead of him were Maurice Garin, who had won the first Tour the year before, Lucien Pothier, César Garin and Hippolyte Aucouturier. The French cycling union, the Union Vélocipédique de France, disqualified all four.
In that classification Cornet was 2h59′01 down. His time, 96h05′55″, did not change: the times ahead of his did. In July Garin had beaten Pothier by 3′28″ or 6′28″, depending on the source; in December Cornet found himself first, 2h16′14″ ahead of Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq.
Fans on the Col de la République
The second Tour left Montgeron on 2 July with 88 riders, on the same route as in 1903: six stages. On the very first, towards Lyon, Garin and Pothier were attacked by four masked men in a car. On the second, on the Col de la République near Saint-Étienne, between one and two hundred fans tried to stop the bunch so that Alfred Faure, a local rider, could get away. Garin was hit; the Italian Giovanni Gerbi was beaten, knocked unconscious and abandoned with broken fingers. The crowd only dispersed after pistol shots were fired.
At Nîmes, on the third stage, stones were thrown after Ferdinand Payan was disqualified. On several stages someone scattered nails and glass on the road. On the last stage Cornet rode between 35 and 40 km with one or two flat tyres, because outside help was forbidden. Some riders were thrown out during the race, among other things for taking lifts in cars or trains.
The verdict
The union ruled on 30 November, and the classification was ratified on 2 December. Along with the top four, every stage winner was disqualified: Garin had won the first stage, Pothier the fourth, Aucouturier the other four. 6 of 602 stages changed winner. How many riders were punished in all is unclear: sources give anything from eight to twenty-nine. Garin was suspended for two years, Pothier banned for life, a sentence later reduced. Cornet too received a warning. The precise reasons were never made public, and the papers of the inquiry were lost in 1940.
| Stage | Route | km | Winner in July | Winner in December |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montgeron-Lyon | 467 | Maurice Garin | Michel Frédérick |
| 2 | Lyon-Marseille | 374 | Hippolyte Aucouturier | Alfred Faure |
| 3 | Marseille-Toulouse | 423-424 | Hippolyte Aucouturier | Henri Cornet |
| 4 | Toulouse-Bordeaux | 268 | Lucien Pothier | François Beaugendre |
| 5 | Bordeaux-Nantes | 425 | Hippolyte Aucouturier | Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq |
| 6 | Nantes-Paris | 461-471 | Hippolyte Aucouturier | Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq |
Of the 88 starters, 27 had reached Paris; the final classification kept 15 of 8803. Henri Desgrange, the organiser, wrote in his newspaper, L’Auto, that he feared this had been the last Tour. Then he changed his mind, and changed the rules: in 1905 the classification was decided on points, to discourage cheating.
Nineteen years and eleven months
Cornet was born on 4 August 1884 in Desvres. He was registered as Henri David, his mother’s surname; later he took his stepfather’s, Jardry. When he reached Paris he was 19 years and 11 months old, and he is still the youngest winner of the Tour. He rode seven more Tours, never again as a leading man.
In 2026 Tadej Pogačar won the Tour by 6′26″ over Remco Evenepoel, and 158 of the 184 starters finished. In 1904 Garin’s victory lasted four months.
Sources
- Wikipedia (en), 1904 Tour de France: Garin the 1903 winner, the same route as in 1903, the masked men, the fans on the Col de la République, Gerbi, nails and glass, the riders thrown out during the race, twelve disqualified and twenty-nine punished, Cornet’s warning, the stage winners before and after, the 27 finishers, the papers lost in 1940.
- Wikipedia (fr), Tour de France 1904: 27 finishers and 15 classified, Garin’s and Cornet’s times, Pothier at 6′28″, the dates of 30 November and 2 December, eight and twenty-nine disqualified, the sanctions, the archives lost in 1940, Nîmes, L’Auto, the 1905 points classification, Cornet’s seven later Tours.
- Wikipedia (it), Tour de France 1904: stages and distances, final classification, 88 starters, twelve disqualified.
- Wikipedia (it), Henri Cornet: the youngest winner, eight disqualified, his later Tours.
- Wikipedia (fr), Henri Cornet: born David, later Jardry; 19 years, 11 months and 20 days at the finish; Desgrange’s words in L’Auto.
- Wikipedia (it), Giovanni Gerbi: his retirement on the Col de la République.
- Tour de France historical guide 2016 (ASO): 88 starters and 27 finishers, the UVF decision of 30 November, the stage winners before and after, Cornet’s and Garin’s times, Cornet’s 35 km on a flat in the last stage, the longest stage at 467 km.
- letour.fr, 1904 Tour, stage 6: Pothier 3′ behind Garin on the last stage, the final classification of 15 riders.
- Commune of Prunay-le-Gillon, Henri Cornet: the birth certificate, the 35 km on a flat in the last stage, twenty-nine of 88 disqualified.
- bikeraceinfo, 1904 Tour de France: the July classification with Pothier at 3′28″, the stage gaps, 461 km for the last stage, 88 starters and 15 classified.
- VeloArchive, Tour de France 1904: Pothier at 6′28″, Gerbi’s broken fingers, Cornet’s warning, the decision of 30 November.
- Reuters, No centenary party for 1904 Tour of shame: the masked men, two hundred fans and the shots in the air, Nîmes, 40 km on two flat tyres on the last stage.
- Forez Info, Notre légende du Tour: about a hundred fans on the Col de la République, Alfred Faure, Gerbi knocked out, the pistol shots.
- Wikidata (CC0), Tour de France 1904: starters and finishers, Cornet’s and Dortignacq’s times, stage distances, in the fagIAnata archive.
- UCI, official results of the 2026 Tour de France, in the fagIAnata archive.
Written with the help of Mnemosyne.