[1] Nonetheless, the race was won by Anquetil, who was able to stay close to his main rival Federico Bahamontes in the mountains, one time even by faking a mechanical problem in order to get a bicycle that was more suited for the terrain.

Anquetil had shown good form before the Tour, as he won Paris–Nice, the Dauphiné Libéré, the Critérium National and the 1963 Vuelta a España.

[3] Anquetil had chosen to ride races with tough climbs, to prepare for the 1963 Tour de France.

[4] The major competitor was thought to be Raymond Poulidor, who had shown his capabilities in the 1962 Tour de France.

[3] The 1963 Tour de France started on 23 June in Paris, and had one rest day, in Aurillac.

[5] The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,770 m (9,090 ft) at the summit of the Col de l'Iseran mountain pass on stage 16.

Seamus Elliott won the stage, and became the new leader in the race; it was the first time that an Irish cyclist led the Tour de France.

[3] In the other two stages in the Pyrenees, Anquetil was able to stay in the first group, lost little time on his competitors, and kept getting closer to Desmet, who was still leading the general classification.

In the sixteenth stage, Fernando Manzaneque won, eight minutes ahead of Bahamontes and Anquetil who stayed together.

[11] Anquetil could thus use a light bicycle with lower gears, especially suited for a climb, which gave him an advantage on his competitors.

[14] The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage.

[19] At the conclusion of the Tour, Rik Van Looy won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists.