Le Tour de France, the celebrated cycling race, started down its long and scenic route on June 29th from Italy, for the very first time, heading out of Florence with the familiar face of Swiss watchmaker Tissot punctuating the trail blazed by the best cyclists in the world. The race will not finish in Paris for the first time in its history but in Nice on July 21st because of preparations for the Summer Olympic Games. Tissot is the official timekeeper of the Tour, an essential position that requires ultimate trust and precision for cycling time trials and finish lines can come down to a few seconds or even milliseconds. With its 22 competing teams, 2,174 miles (3,498 kilometers), the Tour de France is the most prestigious cycling race in the world and millions of people around the world tune into the Tour and not just for the thrilling race, sprints and mountain climbs but also the spectacular scenery along the way. Tissot was the official time keeper for the Tour de France from 1988 until 1992 and now once again since 2016. In honor of the partnership between Tissot and the Tour de France the house creates each year a special limited edition Tour de France watch.

This year’s special edition for the Tour de France is a version of the house’s popular PR100. Dubbed the PR100 Tour de France, the timepiece is outfitted with a 40mm stainless steel case and a grainy grey dial evoking the asphalt beneath the wheels of the cyclists. The eye-catching second hand is a tiny yellow bicycle showcasing the emblematic yellow of the Tour de France while the needles of the chronographs are in yellow while the hour hands are in silver, thus distinguishing the elements for timing in yellow from habitual time telling with the hour hands in metal. The watch is powered with a Swiss-made quartz G10.212 chronograph movement while the case back is engraved with the Tour de France logo. The watch comes with interchangeable straps, one in stainless steel and the other in a black composite material that has the texture of a bicycle’s handle bars.

Yellow has been synonymous with the Tour de France from the very beginning, The famous yellow jersey, introduced after World War I, is still worn by the race leader so he is easily identifiable to the spectators and when the Tour de France was founded in 1903, the national sports paper was called l’Auto and it was printed on yellow paper. The Tour was put into place to increase the newspaper’s circulation by its editor Henri Desgrange and its rugby and cycling reporter Georges Lefèvre.

The 2024 Tissot PR100 Tour de France timepiece with its interchangeable straps. Photo courtesy Tissot. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

Tissot, which was founded in Switzerland in 1853, is also the official timekeeper for another great cycling race, Spain’s Vuelta for which it has brought out a PR100 Vuelta watch in red, that race’s traditional color. Tissot has also been the official timekeeper of the NBA since 2015 and is the official timekeeper for the Grand Prix motorcycling races.©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette.http://www.tissotwatches.com/en-gb/