But this proved too daunting and the costs too great for most[23] and only 15 competitors had entered. Desgrange had never been wholly convinced and he came close to dropping the idea.[24] Instead, he cut the length to 19 days, changed the dates to 1 to 19 July, and offered a daily allowance to those who averaged at least 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) on all the stages,[25] equivalent to what a rider would have expected to earn each day had he worked in a factory.[26] He also cut the entry fee from 20 to 10 francs and set the first prize at 12,000 francs and the prize for each day's winner at 3,000 francs.