If you had a time machine, which year of Tour De France would be your first?
 

If you could, what year of the Tour De France would you like to return to? I think my first choice would be the '49 Tour, with Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, battling things out for the yellow jersey (even though they were on the same team). I'd love to walk among the bikes of that vintage, and gawk at the whole spectacle of things. I could pick years where I would be more attuned to the bicycles, but I just would want to see these two legends so much, that the bicycles would take a back seat. How about you?

2903.

I'd like to know if it lasts a millenia.

Mid '70s ... where 531 ruled the road and rock ruled the radio.

Per the Associated Press of the future:
Carbon bearings cause 178 deaths and 784 injuries in bloodiest Tour ever

I'm with Kraftwerk, any year Eddy Merckx is in it. (Cue that beautiful TdF footage)

1987 just to see Stephen Roche bury himself up La Plagne. If you don't finish in the back of an ambulance with an oxygen mask, you haven't tried hard enough.

1903. I'd live to watch some of those epic early stages, then afterwards, bop over to Austria and kill teenage Hitler.

1986 lemond, hinault,

Just watched Bob Roll being interviewed on NBCSN so the mid to late 80's for me, I want to see the "American" invasion. Sounds like they had a real time winning the '88 Giro. Bob is quite a character!

I’d get the genetic engineering option on my time machine and go back to race it in 1957 without support vehicles. I want a good excuse to wear a tire over my shoulders.

Yeah, you could argue that seeing Merckx at his peek would be right up there with a Bartali/Coppi tour. Kraftwerk gets the musical nod, but John Tesh's stuff is really great too. Different, but great.

Like Coppi/Bartali,or Anquetil/Poulidor, it's hard to argue which face off in history represented the greatest Tour battle... I guess maybe your favorite bicycle era might help one decide.

1969 When Eddy won ALL the Jerseys and then probably 86 Slaying the Badger

1957, Jacques Anquetil.

I'd want to see a 50;s tour, too! My favorite era for bikes--familiar but different in important ways, and I'd be doing the most bike-snooping possible like who was really making the Peugeots, Stellas, Helmets, etc.

Youtube works pretty well for me as a time machine. 1954 TdF time trial:

1998.

I'd win after they kick out the cheats.

Yeah, there is some really great old time bicycle racing stuff on youtube. Stuff that I'd probably never get the chance to appreciate, if youtube wasn't a thing. I kinda dream of breathing in the atmosphere of the event, taking in a 360 panoramic view, so I could not only take in the race itself, but all the pre-race carnival atmosphere, and absorb the response of the crowd.

1988
 

Technically, if I can only go back once to a Tour de France, it'd be 1989. Fignon and Lemond dueling it out for 8 seconds time difference.

I would like to go back a year before that though and stay for two tours and in between see Andy Hampsten win the Giro d'Italia.

I was fortunate enough to be in my bicycling heyday when Lemond was in the Tour. If would be great to see this tour live though, instead of taking it in on the TV. Lemond's and Hampsten's successes were a big contributing factor to my interest in bicycling.

Mine too. 9-10 year old me. Fell in love with cycling forever those years.

Lemond's success was at least covered on TV. Hampsten's was like a tall tale passed around by cyclist's like a retelling of Paul Bunyan.

Best part of that 1954 video of time trial starts was lardbutt in the white linen suit shoving the cyclists to a start. I wonder how many cyclists were "accidentally" dumped with an errant shove before the tour switched to neutral starts from a short ramp with only balance assist.

I thought you'd pick 1988 - when Surfer Rosa came out! Come On Pilgrim!

I'd pick '88 anyway for Lemond/Fignon.

2019, that would give me a lot of money ;)

I'll second that ^ one.