In the 1906 Tour de France, 100 cyclists signed up for the but only 76 of them showed up for the start. Among the absentees was Henri Cornet, the winner of the 1904 Tour de France. The starting cyclists included four Belgians, one was Luxembourger (future winner François Faber), two Germans, and the rest were French. Louis Trousselier, winner of the 1905 Tour de France, was present. While the riders were not organized into teams, some shared the same sponsor, although collaboration was not permitted. Before the race began, the top contenders were Cadolle, Aucouturier, Georget, Pottier, Trousselier, Dortignac and Petit-Breton.
Similar to 1905, the cyclists were divided in two categories: the coureurs de vitesse and the coureurs sur machines poinçonnées. Riders in the first category were allowed to change bicycles, which could be an advantage in the mountains, where they could use a bicycle with lower gears. In 1905, sponsors had not been so enthusiastic about entering their cyclists in this category, but in 1906 they had learned that it had a commercial advantage to have cyclists starting in the poinçonnées category, because the average French citizen could identify more with them. In 1906, more than half of the cyclists started in the poinçonnées category, including Lucien Petit-Breton, one of the pre-favourites.
By starting number + Legend No. Starting number worn by the rider during the Tour Pos. Position in the general classification DNF Denotes a rider who did not finish
No. Name Nationality Pos. 1 Édouard Wattelier 7 2 Georges Sérès DNF 4 François Beaugendre DNF 5 Augustin Ringeval DNF 6 Eugène Christophe 9 7 Arsène Tuale DNF 8 François Poiry DNF 9 Gaston Codam DNF 10 Prosper Rau DNF 11 Paul Trippier DNF 13 Emile Bertrand DNF 14 Pierre Desvages DNF 15 Henri Timmermann DNF 17 Marcel Cadolle DNF 18 Hippolyte Aucouturier DNF 19 Fernand Gaborias DNF 21 Aloïs Catteau 6 22 Victor Lascoutounax DNF 24 Julien Gabory DNF 25 Henri Gauban DNF 26 Émile Georget 5 28 Ferdinand Payan 12 30 Martin Soulie DNF 32 Georges Devilly DNF 35 Firmin Pauloin DNF 37 Charles Crupelandt DNF 38 Ernest Ricaux DNF 39 Antoine Wattelier 10 40 Fernand Lallement DNF 41 Frédéric Saillot DNF 42 Léon Winant 13 43 Jules Chabas DNF 45 Arthur Pottiez DNF 46 Georges Fleury 11 47 Pierre Schneider DNF 48 René Pottier 1 49 Louis Trousselier 3 50 Georges Passerieu 2 51 Maurice Decaup DNF 52 Albert Baudet DNF 53 Eugène Duffis DNF 55 Emile Haemmerlin DNF 56 Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq DNF 57 Emile Lamboeuf DNF 58 D. Gonjeaud DNF 59 Charles Perreard DNF 60 Georges Bronchard 14 61 David Dupont DNF 62 Léon Georget 8 63 Gaston Tuvache DNF 64 Henri Star DNF 66 Christophe Laurent DNF 68 Henri Marchand DNF 69 Giovanni Gerbi DNF 70 François Faber DNF 71 Julien Lootens DNF 72 Lucien Mazan 4 73 Pierre Privat DNF 74 Henri Menez DNF 76 D. Communal DNF 77 Edouard Chaumard DNF 79 Robert Dubois DNF 80 Robert Wancour DNF 81 Albert Chartier DNF 82 Gaston Heneau DNF 83 E. Vernimmen DNF 84 Alfred Belleville DNF 85 Charles Habert DNF 86 Albert Godefroy DNF 87 Maurice Carrere DNF 88 Alfred Pocarius DNF 89 Maxime Morel DNF 90 Louis Tanchou DNF 91 Heini Scholl DNF 93 François Lafourcade DNF 94 Jean Perreard DNF 95 Jean Giran DNF 96 Ludwig Barthelmann DNF
References