These days, entire industries are devoted to what a professional athlete puts into their body. For example, “sports drinks,” as they’re called, are long on sugar, salt, and other nutrients that an athlete loses during exertion, according to Gatorade. Similarly, many athletes swear by their diets or whatever nutritional supplements they take.

Of course, just about any physician will tell you that the most important thing an athlete needs, nutrition-wise, when training or competing is something that is at once entirely mundane and eminently available — good, old-fashioned water. As Harvard Health Publishing reports, the importance of staying hydrated — with water, it should be specified — cannot be overstated, either for an athlete or just an average person living their daily life.

However, a century ago, the managers and competitors of the Tour de France, a grueling bicycle race that demands the best of the athletes competing in it, saw things differently, and eschewed water in favor of beverage choices that would make most modern athletes, as well as their coaches, trainers, and physicians (and the crowd), do a double-take.

Early tour de france competitors drank beer, wine, and hot chocolate

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