The winner of the previous two editions, Lucien Mazan "Petit-Breton", did not compete in the 1909 Tour de France. Petit-Breton expected his former teammate François Faber, who had become second in 1908, to win the race. Faber had transferred from the Peugeot team, that had dominated the 1908 edition, to the Alcyon team.

A new record of 150 cyclists started the race. The previous Tours had been successful, and similar races were initiated in other countries (most notably the Tour of Belgium, which started in 1908 and the Giro d'Italia, which started in 1909). The Tour de France was still the major race where the best cyclists came, and it was the first large-scale invasion of foreign stars. In total, 19 Italians, 5 Belgians, 4 Swiss, 1 German and 1 Luxembourgian started the race. Because cyclists could enter the race as sponsored cyclists, there were two classes of cyclists: cyclists with sponsors and cyclists without sponsors. There were seven different sponsors in the race (Nil-Supra, Alcyon, Biguet-Dunlop, Le Globe, Atala, Legnano and Felsina), with three to six cyclists. The majority of the cyclists, 112 in total, were not sponsored but were in the Isolé class, the class for cyclists without a sponsor.

Cyclists

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 Team Pos. 1 Édouard Wattelier Nil-Supra DNF 2 Henri Cornet Nil-Supra DNF 32 Augustin Ringeval Nil-Supra DNF 33 Jules Deloffre Nil-Supra 16 34 René Derche Nil-Supra DNF 35 Ernest Ricaux Nil-Supra DNF 3 Cyrille van Hauwaert Alcyon-Dunlop 5 4 Louis Trousselier Alcyon-Dunlop 8 5 François Faber Alcyon-Dunlop 1 6 Gustave Garrigou Alcyon-Dunlop 2 7 Paul Duboc Alcyon-Dunlop 4 8 Jean Alavoine Alcyon-Dunlop 3 9 Octave Lapize Biguet-Dunlop DNF 10 Frédéric Saillot Biguet-Dunlop DNF 11 Charles Cruchon Biguet-Dunlop DNF 36 Odile Defraye Biguet-Dunlop DNF 37 François Leclerc Biguet-Dunlop DNF 13 Georges Fleury Le Globe 12 14 Julien Maitron Le Globe 11 15 Constant Ménager Le Globe 7 16 Julien Gabory Le Globe DNF 30 Lucien Pothier Le Globe DNF 31 Léon Lannoy Le Globe DNF 17 Luigi Ganna Atala DNF 18 Luigi Chiodi Atala DNF 27 Cesare Brambilla Atala DNF 20 Carlo Galetti Legnano DNF 21 Giovanni Rossignoli Legnano DNF 22 Clemente Canepari Legnano DNF 23 Mario Gajoni Legnano 14 24 Giovanni Marchese Legnano DNF 25 Attilio Zavatti Legnano 15 28 Augusto Pasquali Felsina DNF 29 Romano Puglioli Felsina DNF 38 Ezio Corlaita Felsina DNF 39 Ildebrando Gamberini Felsina 18 40 Angelo Magagnoli Felsina 27 41 Mario Neri Felsina DNF 102 Alfred Le Bars Lone rider 19 103 Albert Lagarnier Lone rider 38 104 Alcide Riviere Lone rider 41 105 Joanny Michel Lone rider DNF 108 Eugène Leroy Lone rider 46 109 Georges Bronchard Lone rider DNF 111 Ernest Garnier Lone rider DNF 112 Alcide Mornon Lone rider DNF 113 Charles Delarbre Lone rider DNF 116 Louis Delhumeau Lone rider DNF 117 Georges Woiron Lone rider DNF 118 Georges Devilly Lone rider 55 120 Frédéric Jardin Lone rider DNF 121 Frédéric Rigaux Lone rider DNF 122 René Chaude Lone rider 33 123 Henri Evesque Lone rider DNF 124 Antoine Gregory Lone rider DNF 126 Ferdinand Payan Lone rider DNF 127 Léon Rabot Lone rider 22 128 Paul Boillat Lone rider 31 129 Jean Meziere Lone rider DNF 130 André Herbelin Lone rider 44 131 Robert Charpentier Lone rider DNF 132 Paul Pietrois Lone rider 49 133 Noël Combelles Lone rider DNF 134 François Lafourcade Lone rider DNF 135 Lucien Barroy Lone rider DNF 137 Antoine Fauré Lone rider 37 138 Maurice Pardon Lone rider DNF 139 Edmond Tavenet Lone rider DNF 143 Léon Roullin Lone rider DNF 144 Eugène Christophe Lone rider 9 146 Lucien Leman Lone rider 21 148 Eugène Ventresque Lone rider DNF 150 Camille Mathieu Lone rider 47 152 Louis Constant Lone rider DNF 153 Auguste Joos Lone rider DNF 154 Joseph Habierre Lone rider 17 155 Alfred Vaidis Lone rider 29 156 Henri Ory Lone rider 52 157 Ernest Gilioli Lone rider DNF 158 Rodolphe Meili Lone rider 39 159 Jean Perruca Lone rider 45 160 Charles Ponson Lone rider 48 161 Ernest Paul Lone rider 6 162 Lucien Grejaud Lone rider DNF 164 Louis Gardent Lone rider 40 166 Joseph Beaugendre Lone rider DNF 167 Hippolyte Veyssier Lone rider DNF 168 Robert Lecointe Lone rider 24 169 René Fleury Lone rider DNF 170 Léopold Dussuchet Lone rider DNF 172 Eugène Merville Lone rider DNF 173 Charles Lajus Lone rider DNF 174 Octave Doury Lone rider DNF 175 Lucien Colin Lone rider 43 176 Louis Ondet Lone rider DNF 177 Louis Grasset Lone rider DNF 178 Louis Chretiennot Lone rider DNF 179 Raymond Lacot Lone rider DNF 182 Louis Di Maria Lone rider 50 183 Auguste Denizot Lone rider 35 184 Emile Moulin Lone rider DNF 185 Amédée Dutiron Lone rider 25 186 Aldo Bettini Lone rider 10 187 Pierre Desvages Lone rider DNF 188 Edmond Laborde Lone rider DNF 189 Joseph Troller Lone rider DNF 190 Etienne Lempereur Lone rider DNF 191 Alfred Faure Lone rider 13 192 Albert Guillot Lone rider DNF 196 Auguste Dufour Lone rider 36 197 Armand Champeaux Lone rider DNF 198 Alfred Guidez Lone rider 54 199 Paul Tixide Lone rider DNF 202 Anton Jaeck Lone rider DNF 203 Eloi Guichard Lone rider DNF 204 Lucien Roquebert Lone rider DNF 205 Louis Lavalette Lone rider DNF 208 Amleto Belloni Lone rider 32 212 Henri Alavoine Lone rider 30 214 Maurice Petit Lone rider DNF 216 Emile Lachaise Lone rider 20 219 Jules Fremont Lone rider DNF 222 Pierre Langlade Lone rider 26 223 Fernand Lallement Lone rider DNF 224 Henri Ganne Lone rider DNF 225 Alexandre Gilles Lone rider DNF 227 André Blaise Lone rider DNF 228 Christophe Laurent Lone rider DNF 229 André Gerard Lone rider DNF 230 Eugène Moura Lone rider DNF 231 Ernest Fraisse Lone rider DNF 232 Ernest Goujon Lone rider 53 233 Henri Anthoine Lone rider 51 234 Charles Ponscarme Lone rider DNF 235 François Roche Lone rider 42 236 Alvise Pisoni Lone rider DNF 237 Albert Chartier Lone rider DNF 238 Joseph Leblanc Lone rider 34 239 M. Parel Lone rider DNF 240 Marcel Hugot Lone rider DNF 242 Augusto Rho Lone rider DNF 244 Gabriel Magnant Lone rider DNF 247 Georges Oudin Lone rider 23 249 Louis Faudon Lone rider DNF 250 Georges Nemo Lone rider DNF 251 Albert Dupont Lone rider DNF 252 Pierre Proy Lone rider DNF 253 Philippe Cordier Lone rider DNF 254 Paul Chauvet Lone rider DNF 256 Antoine Wattelier Lone rider 28

References