In previous years, the cyclists had been divided in two classes, the sponsored class and the unsponsored class. For the 1923 Tour de France, this system changed, and three categories were used: the "first category", of the top cyclist, the "second category", of lesser but still sponsored cyclists, and the touriste-routiers, the quasi-amateurs.
The sponsors, who had joined forces in the previous tours under the name La Sportive, were now financially stable enough to have their own teams. Automoto, sponsor of the team with the Pélissier brothers, had commercial interests in Italy, so wanted to have Italian cyclists in the team. Several Italian cyclists were hired, who were supposed to come to France. Only one Italian cyclist showed up, Ottavio Bottecchia, who had started as a professional the year before. The sponsor then decided that the marketing plan would not work with only one Italian cyclist, and wanted to send him back. At the last minute, Bottecchia was allowed to stay on the team.
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 Firmin Lambot DNF 2 Robert Jacquinot 25 4 Jean Alavoine DNF 5 Romain Bellenger 3 6 Hector Tiberghien 4 7 Gaston Degy 16 8 Léon Despontin 7 9 Robert Reboul DNF 10 Joseph Muller 11 11 Louis Mottiat 28 12 Félix Sellier DNF 14 Albert Dejonghe DNF 15 Philippe Thys DNF 16 Léon Scieur DNF 17 Jean Rossius DNF 18 Théophile Beeckman 14 19 Marcel Huot 10 20 Honoré Barthélémy DNF 21 Hector Heusghem DNF 22 Victor Leenaerts DNF 23 Henri Pélissier 1 24 Francis Pélissier 23 25 Lucien Buysse 8 26 Ottavio Bottecchia 2 27 Giuseppe Santhià DNF 29 Félix Goethals 13 30 Arsène Alancourt 5 31 Laurent Seret DNF 32 Paul Deman DNF 101 Eugène Dhers 9 102 Henri Collé 6 103 Marcel Godard DNF 104 Georges Cuvelier 20 105 Roger Lacolle DNF 106 Carlo Longoni 26 107 Lucien Rich 17 108 Benjamin Mortier 21 109 Fernand Moulet DNF 110 Robert Gerbaud DNF 111 Joseph Curtel DNF 112 Joseph Normand 15 113 Joseph Van Daele DNF 114 Alfons Standaert 22 116 Joseph Marchand DNF 117 Alfred Debusscher DNF 118 Achille Depauw DNF 119 Karel Govaert DNF 120 Léon Van Aken DNF 121 Camille Leroy DNF 123 André Desbordes DNF 124 Camille Nicou DNF 125 Roger Iriart DNF 126 Paul Duboc 18 201 Marcel Robin DNF 202 Lucien Lagouche DNF 203 Joseph Bercegeay DNF 204 Marcel Vernant DNF 205 Giuseppe Ercolani 41 206 Lucien Roquebert DNF 207 Charles Loew 36 208 Eugène Nicolle DNF 209 Georges Dauphin DNF 210 Henri Timmermann DNF 211 Alexandre Baud DNF 212 Jean Grousset DNF 214 Célestin Rouget DNF 215 Pierre Gilbert DNF 216 Marcel Simonet 46 217 Daniel Masson 48 218 André Andresse DNF 219 Emile Bonnefoi DNF 220 Camille Botte 19 221 Giovanni Bai DNF 224 François Chevalier DNF 225 Adrien Alpini DNF 226 Pietro Casati DNF 227 Maurice Langrenais DNF 228 Adrien-Robert Toussaint DNF 229 Paul Denis 37 230 Louis Verbraecken DNF 231 Felix Richard 38 232 Henri Catelan DNF 233 Emile Kass DNF 234 André Robustel DNF 235 Silvio Borsetti DNF 236 Albert Colbec DNF 237 Pierre Hudsyn 30 238 Georges Kamm 44 239 Charles Parel 27 240 Joseph Douard DNF 241 Jean Kienlen 40 242 Jules Brun DNF 245 Oscar Barselotti DNF 246 Charles Budts DNF 247 Clotaire Guillon DNF 248 Ernest Schiavo DNF 250 Antoine Rière 32 252 Maurice Arnoult 35 253 Vincenzo Bianco 43 254 Joseph Rayen DNF 255 Ange-Marie Aubry DNF 256 Henri Miege 39 257 Maurice Laine DNF 258 Maurive Protin 47 259 Fernand Durieux DNF 260 Louis Marty DNF 261 François Picolot DNF 263 Pietro Fasoli DNF 264 Jean Hautot DNF 265 Jules Deloffre DNF 266 Pierre Faillu DNF 267 Robert Fournier DNF 269 Edgard Roy 31 270 Jules Vertriest DNF 271 Louis Alais DNF 272 Maurice Guenot DNF 273 André Coutte DNF 274 Marcel Allain DNF 275 Alfred Hersard 42 277 Georges Tufeny DNF 278 Octave Hie DNF 280 Victoriano Otero DNF 281 Jean Pennaneach DNF 282 Vincenzo Mantelli DNF 283 Andrea Cornelio DNF 284 Louis Lemitere DNF 285 Julien Noth DNF 286 Jules Nempon DNF 288 Charles Hennuyer DNF 289 Charles Arnulf 45 290 Louis Budts DNF 291 Eugène Leveille DNF 292 Henri Touzard 24 293 Robert Asse DNF 294 Luigi Vertemati DNF 295 Charles Cento 34 297 Giuseppe Ruffoni 33 299 Ottavio Pratesi 12 301 Giovanni Rossignoli 29
References