It was won by Georges Bouton, in a car he had constructed with Albert, the Comte de Dion, but as he was the only competitor to show up it is rather pointless to call it a race.

On July 22 1894, the first real contest was organized by Paris magazine Le Petit Journal, as a reliability test. The Comte de Dion was first to arrive in Rouen on his steam car, but a Panhard et Levassor was judged to be the winner.