2022 Tour de France

The race began in Copenhagen, Denmark for the first time, with three stages in Denmark. After finishing second in the opening time trial, behind Yves Lampaert of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team,[10] Wout van Aert of Jumbo–Visma took the yellow jersey in stage 2 by virtue of bonus seconds.[11] Danish rider Magnus Cort of EF Education–EasyPost took all King of the Mountains (KoM) points available in Denmark, collecting enough for him to wear the polka dot jersey until stage 9. During this run he claimed the record of most consecutive summits won, from former Tour champion and multi-time mountains classification winner Federico Bahamontes.[12] Sprinter Dylan Groenewegen of Team Jayco–AlUla won the final stage in Denmark, before a transfer day and return to France.[13]

On stage 4, van Aert extended his lead with a solo attack into Calais.[14] Stage 5 involved cobbles for the first time since 2018, with Pogačar gaining time in the general classification over every GC contender including Vingegaard, who had mechanical issues, and Roglič who crashed and dislocated his shoulder.[15] Stage 6 was the longest of the race, with van Aert taking part in the breakaway to extend his lead in the points classification, before eventually being caught and falling off the back losing the overall lead. In the final uphill sprint, Pogačar out sprinted everyone to win the stage and take the maillot jaune by virtue of the bonus seconds.[16]

Stage 7 was the first summit finish of the race at Super Planche des Belles Filles. A group of GC contenders made their way up the majority of the climb together, before Vingegaard attacked and only Pogačar could follow.[17] In a sprint on the final slope, Pogačar overtook Vingegaard to get the stage win and extend his lead to over 30 seconds. Other GC contenders lost between 20 seconds and over a minute to the leading two.[17] After stage 8, a hilly stage that finished in Lausanne, Switzerland where van Aert extended his points classification lead further,[18] and stage 9 in the Swiss Alps where Bob Jungels won the day and Simon Geschke gained enough KoM points to take the polka dot jersey, the first rest day took place in Morzine.[19]

Mikkel Bjerg, Wout van Aert (in green jersey), Jonas Vingegaard (in yellow jersey) and Tadej Pogačar behind (in white jersey)

During the second week, stages 10 and 18 were disrupted by Climate Change protesters, which forced stages to be halted for a short period.[20][21][22] Media discussed the legitimacy of the protest[23] and the effect that climate change was having on the Tour,[24][25] while other coverage expressed annoyance at the disruption to the race.[26][27] The second week of the race was affected by an intense heat wave, with several stages having temperatures of around 40 °C (104 °F).[25][28] Some riders suffered heat stroke including Alexis Vuillermoz on stage 9.[29]

No major attacks by GC contenders occurred on stage 10, the first in the French Alps, however Lennard Kämna who was in the breakaway that finished close to ten minutes ahead of the peloton, came within eleven seconds of taking the yellow jersey from Pogačar.[30] The stage was won by Magnus Cort, in a photo finish ahead of Nick Schultz.[31] Stage 11 was a summit finish at the Col du Granon – which was included in the Tour for the first time since 1986.[7] After constant attacks by Roglič and Vingegaard on the flat before the Col du Galibier, a gap opened up between Pogačar and Vingegaard on the final ascent to Col du Granon.[32] Vingegaard gained nearly three minutes on Pogačar, winning the stage and taking the yellow jersey.[33] At the end of the day only six riders were within five minutes of Vingegaard in the overall situation: Bardet, Pogačar, Thomas, Quintana, Yates and Gaudu.[34]

Stage 12 to Alpe d'Huez was the queen stage of the Tour, taking place on Bastille Day.[7] Neilson Powless of Team EF Education–EasyPost attacked at kilometre zero and stayed at the front of the race until near the very end. Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers and former Tour winner Chris Froome, attacked about halfway through the stage and bridged up to the leading breakaway riders. On the final ascent of Alpe d'Huez, Pidcock attacked from the group including Powless, Froome, Ciccone and Meintjes and rode on to a convincing solo victory.[35] In the GC race, Pogačar attacked Vingegaard twice, with both riders dropping the other contenders on the climb, however the Slovenian rider was unable to shake off the Dane.[35]

The transitional stage 13 out of the Alps was won by the sprinter Mads Pedersen of Lidl–Trek,[36] and stage 14 was won by Michael Matthews of Team Jayco–AlUla from the breakaway, who was just able to drop Alberto Bettiol prior to reaching the summit of the final intermediate climb. Behind Matthews, Pogačar and Vingegaard attacked the peloton on this same climb and extended their lead over the other GC contenders.[37] Stage 15, before the second rest day, took the Tour to Carcassonne where the final breakaway rider in Benjamin Thomas was caught in the final few hundred meters to set up a sprint finish, which was won by Jasper Philipsen.[38] Jumbo–Visma lost two riders on stage 15: team leader Roglič abandoned the race following his injuries on stage 5, and domestique Steven Kruijswijk left the race in an ambulance after dislocating his shoulder in a crash.[39]

Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey

After a rest day in Carcassonne, the race entered the Pyrenees.[7] Stage 16 was won by Hugo Houle of Israel–Premier Tech, after a solo attack from the breakaway with around 40 kilometres (25 mi) to go.[40] Rafał Majka, a "key lieutenant" of Pogačar did not start stage 17, due to an injury suffered after he threw his chain near the end of stage 16.[41] Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates pulled his teammate Pogačar and Vingegaard up to the final steep slopes of Peyragudes, increasing the gap to the rest of the peloton.[42][43] Inside the final 500m of steep climbing Pogačar attacked, but Vingegaard responded and followed with a counter attack of his own. Just before the line, Pogačar was able to come around him to win his third stage of the Tour and reduce Vingegaard's lead in the GC by four seconds thanks to bonus seconds, to 2 minutes 18 seconds.[43]

On stage 18 – the final day in the Pyrenees – Pogačar attacked Vingegaard multiple times on the Col de Spandelles, with Vingegaard able to keep up every time.[44] On the descent, both riders pushed hard: Vingegaard almost crashed, while Pogačar did crash after slipping on gravel. Pogačar was able to continue with minor cuts to his leg; in a moment of sportsmanship, Vingegaard slowed down and waited for Pogačar.[45][44]

Before the ascent of the Hautacam, both riders were caught by a larger group including Thomas and two of Vingegaard's teammates (Sepp Kuss and Tiesj Benoot). On the final climb, a furious pace was set by Kuss, leaving all other contenders behind. Meeting up with van Aert ahead (who had been in a breakaway), the high tempo continued, until van Aert and Vingegaard attacked Pogačar with around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to go to the top.[44] Pogačar was unable to keep up, so Vingegaard extended his GC lead to almost three and a half minutes.[44] By taking maximum KoM points at the top of Hautacam, Vingegaard gained an unassailable lead of that classification, taking the jersey from Simon Geschke of Team Cofidis, who had set a record for most days by a German rider leading the mountains classification.[46]

After the transitional stage 19 was won by Christophe Laporte of Jumbo-Visma,[47] the final time trial to Rocamadour was won by van Aert, followed by Vingegaard, Pogačar and Thomas.[48] The traditional final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris completed the Tour, with sprinter Jasper Philipsen winning his second stage of the Tour.[49]

In the general classification, Vingegaard became the first Dane to win the Tour since 1996, with Pogačar in second 2 minutes 43 seconds behind. Thomas was third, over seven minutes behind. The points classification was won by Wout van Aert with 480 points, breaking Peter Sagan's modern record.[50] Vingegaard also won the mountains classification, marking the first time since the Faema team of Eddy Merckx in 1969, that riders from the same team won the yellow and green jerseys as well as the mountains classification. The young rider classification was won by runner-up Pogačar, who led the classification from start to finish and tied Jan Ullrich and Andy Schleck with his third win of this classification. The team of third place Thomas, Ineos Grenadiers, won the team classification. Van Aert was chosen as the most combative rider.[49] Caleb Ewan was the Lanterne rouge - normally competitive with the elite sprinters, his top 10 result on stage 21 was his highest stage finish of the Tour.[51][52]

The race had the fewest finishers since 2000, with just 135 of the 176 starters reaching the finish line in Paris.[53] The teams of the first two podium finishers were severely depleted by the end of the race, with Team UAE Emirates losing half its start list due to injury and illness,[41] and Team Jumbo-Visma losing several key members along the route.[39][18] Several riders were forced to leave the race due to contracting Covid, including stage winners Magnus Cort and Simon Clarke,[54] and former Tour winner Chris Froome of Israel–Premier Tech.[55]

In August 2022, Colombian rider Nairo Quintana of Arkéa–Samsic was disqualified from 6th place overall, after blood samples tested positive for tramadol, a painkiller.[56]