BBC News - Tour de France 100 25 June 2013 Last updated at 00:00 The cyclists taking part in the centennial staging of the world's greatest bike race will cover nearly 3,500 km in 21 stages - as they seek to emulate Sir Bradley Wiggins' 2012 victory. But how does the corporate, science-based Tour of the 21st Century compare to the early days of the competition, when riders lacked gears and were very much on their own? Take a nostalgic look back over the decades - with Graeme Fife, author of Tour de France, the History, the Legend, the Riders - and Brian Robinson who became, in 1955, the first British man to complete the race. Archive photographs courtesy Getty Images, TopFoto.co.uk and Press Association. Music by Kraftwerk and KPM Music. Publication date 25 June 2013. BBC Sport - Cycling Tour de France 2013 How the men from the ministry saved England's heritage Colours of space - Visions of the Universe