although aucouturier had abandoned in the first stage, and so was not eligible for the general classification, he could still start the rest of the stages. in the second stage, aucouturier was able to win the sprint. in the third stage, the cyclists who were competing for the general classification started one hour earlier than the other cyclists, including aucouturier. at the end of that stage, a group of four cyclists had broken away, and eugène brange won the sprint. aucouturier finished 27 minutes later, but this meant that he had run the course 33 minutes faster, so he was declared the winner of the stage. garin retained the lead, helped by a crash of second-placed pagie in the second stage, which eliminated him from the race.