Tour de France

The Tour de France was created in 1903. The roots of the Tour de France trace back to the emergence of two rival sports newspapers in the country. On one hand was Le Vélo, the first and the largest daily sports newspaper in France,[11] which sold 80,000 copies a day;[12] on the other was L'Auto, which had been set up by journalists and businesspeople including Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, Adolphe Clément, and Édouard Michelin in 1899. The rival paper emerged following disagreements over the Dreyfus Affair, a cause célèbre (in which the 'anti-Dreyfusard' de Dion was implicated) that divided France at the end of the 19th century over the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, a French army officer convicted—though later exonerated—of selling military secrets to the Germans.[n 1] The new newspaper appointed Henri Desgrange as the editor. He was a prominent cyclist and owner with Victor Goddet of the velodrome at the Parc des Princes.[13] De Dion knew him through his cycling reputation, through the books and cycling articles that he had written, and through press articles he had written for the Clément tyre company.

L'Auto was not the success its backers wanted. Stagnating sales lower than the rival it was intended to surpass led to a crisis meeting on 20 November 1902 on the middle floor of L'Auto's office at 10 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Paris. The last to speak was the most junior there, the chief cycling journalist, a 26-year-old named Géo Lefèvre.[14] Desgrange had poached him from Giffard's paper.[15] Lefèvre suggested a six-day race of the sort popular on the track but all around France.[15] Long-distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers, but nothing of the length that Lefèvre suggested had been attempted.[n 2] If it succeeded, it would help L'Auto match its rival and perhaps put it out of business.[16] It could, as Desgrange said, "nail Giffard's beak shut."[17][18] Desgrange and Lefèvre discussed it after lunch. Desgrange was doubtful, but the paper's financial director, Victor Goddet, was enthusiastic. He handed Desgrange the keys to the company safe and said: "Take whatever you need."[19] L'Auto announced the race on 19 January 1903.

Maurice Garin, winner of the first Tour de France standing on the right. The man on the left is possibly Leon Georget (1903).[20]

The first Tour de France was staged in 1903. The plan was a five-stage race from 31 May to 5 July, starting in Paris and stopping in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Nantes before returning to Paris. Toulouse was added later to break the long haul across southern France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Stages would go through the night and finish next afternoon, with rest days before riders set off again. But this proved too daunting and the costs too great for most[21] and only 15 competitors had entered. Desgrange had never been wholly convinced and he came close to dropping the idea.[22] Instead, he cut the length to 19 days, changed the dates to 1 to 19 July, and offered a daily allowance to those who averaged at least 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) on all the stages,[23] equivalent to what a rider would have expected to earn each day had he worked in a factory.[24] He also cut the entry fee from 20 to 10 francs and set the first prize at 12,000 francs and the prize for each day's winner at 3,000 francs. The winner would thereby win six times what most workers earned in a year.[24] That attracted between 60 and 80 entrants – the higher number may have included serious inquiries and some who dropped out – among them not just professionals but amateurs, some unemployed, and some simply adventurous.[14]

Desgrange seems not to have forgotten the Dreyfus Affair that launched his race and raised the passions of his backers. He announced his new race on 1 July 1903 by citing the writer Émile Zola, whose open letter J'Accuse…! led to Dreyfus's acquittal, establishing the florid style he used henceforth.[25][26][27]

The first Tour de France started almost outside the Café Reveil-Matin at the junction of the Melun and Corbeil roads in the village of Montgeron. It was waved away by the starter, Georges Abran, at 3:16 p.m. on 1 July 1903. L'Auto hadn't featured the race on its front page that morning.[n 3][28][29]

Among the competitors were the eventual winner, Maurice Garin, his well-built rival Hippolyte Aucouturier, the German favourite Josef Fischer, and a collection of adventurers, including one competing as "Samson".[n 4]

Many riders dropped out of the race after completing the initial stages, as the physical effort the tour required was just too much. Only a mere 24 entrants remained at the end of the fourth stage.[30] The race finished on the edge of Paris at Ville d'Avray, outside the Restaurant du Père Auto, before a ceremonial ride into Paris and several laps of the Parc des Princes. Garin dominated the race, winning the first and last two stages, at 25.68 kilometres per hour (15.96 mph). The last rider, Arsène Millocheau, finished 64h 47m 22s behind him.

L'Auto's mission was accomplished, as circulation of the publication doubled throughout the race, making the race something much larger than Desgrange had ever hoped for.

Such was the passion that the first Tour created in spectators and riders that Desgrange said the 1904 Tour de France would be the last. Cheating was rife, and riders were beaten up by rival fans as they neared the top of the col de la République, sometimes called the col du Grand Bois, outside St-Étienne.[31] The leading riders, including the winner Maurice Garin, were disqualified, though it took the Union Vélocipèdique de France until 30 November to make the decision.[32] McGann says the UVF waited so long "...well aware of the passions aroused by the race."[33] Desgrange's opinion of the fighting and cheating showed in the headline of his reaction in L'Auto: THE END.[34] Desgrange's despair did not last. By the following spring, he was planning another Tour—longer, at 11 stages rather than 6—and this time all in daylight to make any cheating more obvious.[35] Stages in 1905 began between 3 am and 7:30 am.[36] The race captured the imagination. L'Auto's circulation swelled from 25,000 to 65,000;[14] by 1908, it was a quarter of a million. The Tour returned after its suspension during World War I and continued to grow, with circulation of L'Auto reaching 500,000 by 1923. The record claimed by Desgrange was 854,000 during the 1933 Tour.[37] Le Vélo, meanwhile, went out of business in 1904.

Desgrange and his Tour invented bicycle stage racing.[38] Desgrange experimented with different ways of judging the winner. Initially he used total accumulated time (as used in the modern Tour de France)[26] but from 1906 to 1912 by points for placings each day.[36][n 5] Desgrange saw problems in judging both by time and by points. By time, a rider coping with a mechanical problem—which the rules insisted he repair alone—could lose so much time that it cost him the race. Equally, riders could finish so separated that time gained or lost on one or two days could decide the whole race. Judging the race by points removed over-influential time differences but discouraged competitors from riding hard. It made no difference whether they finished fast or slow or separated by seconds or hours, so they were inclined to ride together at a relaxed pace until close to the line, only then disputing the final placings that would give them points.[36]

1936 Tour de France

The format changed over time. The Tour originally ran around the perimeter of France. Cycling was an endurance sport, and the organisers realised the sales they would achieve by creating supermen of the competitors. Night riding was dropped after the second Tour in 1904, when there had been persistent cheating when judges could not see riders.[39] That reduced the daily and overall distance, but the emphasis remained on endurance. Desgrange said his ideal race would be so hard that only one rider would make it to Paris.[40] The first mountain stages (in the Pyrenees) appeared in 1910. Early tours had long multi-day stages, with the format settling on 15 stages from 1910 until 1924. After this, stages were gradually shortened, such that by 1936 there were as many as three stages in a single day.[41] Desgrange initially preferred to see the Tour as a race of individuals. The first Tours were open to whoever wanted to compete. Most riders were in teams that looked after them. The private entrants were called touriste-routiers—tourists of the road—from 1923[42] and were allowed to take part provided they make no demands on the organisers. Some of the Tour's most colourful characters have been touriste-routiers. One finished each day's race and then performed acrobatic tricks in the street to raise the price of a hotel. Until 1925, Desgrange forbade team members from pacing each other.[43] The 1927 and 1928 Tours, however, consisted mainly of team time-trials, an unsuccessful experiment which sought to avoid a proliferation of sprint finishes on flat stages. [44] Desgrange was a traditionalist with equipment. Until 1930, he demanded that riders mend their bicycles without help and that they use the same bicycle from start to end. Exchanging a damaged bicycle for another was allowed only in 1923.[42] Desgrange stood against the use of multiple gears, and for many years insisted riders use wooden rims, fearing the heat of braking while coming down mountains would melt the glue that held the tires on metal rims (however, they were finally allowed in 1937).[45]

By the end of the 1920s, Desgrange believed he could not beat what he believed were the underhand tactics of bike factories.[46][47] When in 1929 the Alcyon team contrived to get Maurice De Waele to win even though he was sick,[48] he said, "My race has been won by a corpse".[48][49] In 1930, Desgrange again attempted to take control of the Tour from teams, insisting competitors enter in national teams rather than trade teams and that competitors ride plain yellow bicycles that he would provide, without a maker's name.[48] There was no place for individuals in the post-1930s teams, and so Desgrange created regional teams, generally from France, to take in riders who would not otherwise have qualified. The original touriste-routiers mostly disappeared, but some were absorbed into regional teams. In 1936, Desgrange had a prostate operation. At the time, two operations were needed; the Tour de France was due to fall between them. Desgrange persuaded his surgeon to let him follow the race.[50] The second day proved too much, and, in a fever at Charleville, he retired to his château at Beauvallon. Desgrange died at home on the Mediterranean coast on 16 August 1940.[50] The race was taken over by his deputy, Jacques Goddet.[51] The Tour was again disrupted by War after 1939, and did not return until 1947.

Jacques Goddet memorial at the top of the Col du Tourmalet

In 1944, L'Auto was closed—its doors nailed shut—and its belongings, including the Tour, sequestrated by the state for publishing articles too close to the Germans.[52] Rights to the Tour were therefore owned by the government. Jacques Goddet was allowed to publish another daily sports paper, L'Équipe, but there was a rival candidate to run the Tour: a consortium of Sports and Miroir Sprint. Each organised a candidate race. L'Équipe and Le Parisien Libéré had La Course du Tour de France,[53] while Sports and Miroir Sprint had La Ronde de France. Both were five stages, the longest the government would allow because of shortages.[54] L'Équipe's race was better organised and appealed more to the public because it featured national teams that had been successful before the war, when French cycling was at a high. L'Équipe was given the right to organise the 1947 Tour de France.[50] However, L'Équipe's finances were never sound, and Goddet accepted an advance by Émilion Amaury, who had supported his bid to run the postwar Tour.[50] Amaury was a newspaper magnate whose sole condition was that his sports editor, Félix Lévitan, should join Goddet for the Tour.[50] The two worked together—with Goddet running the sporting side, and Lévitan the financial.

On the Tour's return, the format of the race settled on between 20 and 25 stages. Most stages would last one day, but the scheduling of 'split' stages continued well into the 1980s. 1953 saw the introduction of the Green Jersey 'Points' competition. National teams contested the Tour until 1961.[55] The teams were of different sizes. Some nations had more than one team, and some were mixed in with others to make up the number. National teams caught the public imagination but had a snag: that riders might normally have been in rival trade teams the rest of the season. The loyalty of riders was sometimes questionable, within and between teams. Sponsors were always unhappy about releasing their riders into anonymity for the biggest race of the year, as riders in national teams wore the colours of their country and a small cloth panel on their chest that named the team for which they normally rode. The situation became critical at the start of the 1960s. Sales of bicycles had fallen, and bicycle factories were closing.[56] There was a risk, the trade said, that the industry would die if factories were not allowed the publicity of the Tour de France. The Tour returned to trade teams in 1962.[55] In the same year, Émilion Amaury, owner of le Parisien Libéré, became financially involved in the Tour. He made Félix Lévitan co-organizer of the Tour, and it was decided that Levitan would focus on the financial issues, while Jacques Goddet was put in charge of sporting issues.[57] The Tour de France was meant for professional cyclists, but in 1961 the organisation started the Tour de l'Avenir, the amateur version.[58]

Twice, in 1949 and 1952, Italian rider Fausto Coppi won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year, the first rider to do so.

Louison Bobet was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour in three successive years, 1953, 1954 and 1955.

Jacques Anquetil (centre), Raymond Poulidor (left) and Federico Bahamontes (right), podium of the 1964 Tour de France

Jacques Anquetil became the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964.[59] He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the yellow jersey on day one and wear it all through the tour, a tall order with two previous winners in the field—Charly Gaul and Federico Bahamontes—but he did it.[lower-alpha 1] His victories in stage races such as the Tour were built on an exceptional ability to ride alone against the clock in individual time trial stages, which lent him the name "Monsieur Chrono". Anquetil enjoyed a rivalry with Raymond Poulidor, who was known as "The Eternal Second", because he never won the Tour, despite finishing in second place three times, and in third place five times (including his final Tour at the age of 40).

Doping had become a serious problem, culminating in the death of Tom Simpson in 1967, after which riders went on strike, [60][61] although the organisers suspected sponsors provoked them. The Union Cycliste Internationale introduced limits to daily and overall distances, imposed rest days, and tests were introduced for riders. It was then impossible to follow the frontiers, and the Tour increasingly zig-zagged across the country, sometimes with unconnected days' races linked by train, while still maintaining some sort of loop. The Tour returned to national teams for 1967 and 1968[62] as "an experiment".[63] The Tour returned to trade teams in 1969[64] with a suggestion that national teams could come back every few years, but this has not happened since.

Eddy Merckx at the 1970 Tour de France

In the early 1970s, the race was dominated by Eddy Merckx, who won the General Classification five times, the Mountains Classification twice, the Points Classification three times, and posted a record of 34 stage victories.[65] (This record was tied in 2021 by Mark Cavendish) Merckx's dominating style earned him the nickname "The Cannibal". In 1969, he already had a commanding lead when he launched a long-distance solo attack in the mountains which none of the other elite riders could answer, resulting in an eventual winning margin of nearly eighteen minutes. In 1973 he did not win because he did not enter the Tour, his great rival Luis Ocaña won, and his winning streak only truly came to an end when he finished 2nd to Bernard Thévenet in 1975.

During this era, race director Felix Lévitan began to recruit additional sponsors, sometimes accepting prizes in kind if he could not get cash. In 1975, the polka-dot jersey was introduced for the winner of the Mountains Classification.[66][67] This same year Levitan also introduced the finish of the Tour at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Since then, this stage has been largely ceremonial and is generally only contested as a prestigious sprinters' stage. (See 'Notable Stages' below for examples of non-ceremonial finishes to this stage.) Occasionally, a rider will be given the honor of leading the rest of the peloton onto the circuit finish in their final Tour, as was the case for Jens Voigt and Sylvain Chavanel, among others.

Bernard Hinault at the 1978 Tour de France

From the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, the Tour was dominated by Frenchman Bernard Hinault, who would become the third rider to win five times. Hinault was defeated by Joop Zoetemelk in 1980 when he withdrew, and only once in his Tour de France career was he soundly defeated, and this was by Laurent Fignon in 1984. In 1986, Hinault, who had won the year before with American rider Greg LeMond supporting him, publicly pledged to ride in support of LeMond. Several attacks during the race cast doubt on the sincerity of his promise, leading to a rift between the two riders and the entire La Vie Claire team, before LeMond prevailed. It was the first ever victory for a rider from outside of Europe. The 1986 Tour is widely considered to be one of the most memorable in the history of the sport due to the battle between LeMond and Hinault.

The 1987 edition was more uncertain than past editions, as previous winners Hinault and Zoetemelk had retired, LeMond was absent, and Fignon was suffering from a lingering injury. As such, the race was highly competitive, and the lead changed hands eight times before Stephen Roche won. When Roche won the World Championship Road Race later in the season, he became only the second rider (after Merckx) to win cycling's Triple Crown, which meant winning the Giro d'Italia, the Tour and the Road World Cycling Championship in one calendar year.

Lévitan helped drive an internationalization of the Tour de France, and cycling in general.[66] Roche was the first winner from Ireland; however, in the years leading up to his victory, cyclists from numerous other countries began joining the ranks of the peloton. In 1982, Sean Kelly of Ireland (points) and Phil Anderson of Australia (young rider) became the first winners of any Tour classifications from outside cycling's Continental Europe heartlands, while Lévitan was influential in facilitating the participation in the 1983 Tour by amateur riders from the Eastern Bloc and Colombia.[66] In 1984, for the first time, the Société du Tour de France organized the Tour de France Féminin, a version for women.[n 6] It was run in the same weeks as the men's version, and it was won by Marianne Martin.[68]

While the global awareness and popularity of the Tour grew during this time, its finances became stretched.[69] Goddet and Lévitan continued to clash over the running of the race.[69] Lévitan launched the Tour of America as a precursor to his plans to take the Tour de France to the US.[69] The Tour of America lost a lot of money, and it appeared to have been cross-financed by the Tour de France.[50] In the years before 1987, Lévitan's position had always been protected by Émilien Amaury, the then owner of ASO, but Émilien Amaury would soon retire and leave son Philippe Amaury responsible. When Lévitan arrived at his office on 17 March 1987, he found that his doors were locked and he was fired. The organisation of the 1987 Tour de France was taken over by Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet.[70] He was not successful in acquiring more funds, and was fired within one year.[71]

Months before the start of the 1988 Tour, director Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet was replaced by Xavier Louy.[72] In 1988, the Tour was organised by Jean-Pierre Courcol, the director of L'Équipe, then in 1989 by Jean-Pierre Carenso and then by Jean-Marie Leblanc, who in 1989 had been race director. The former television presenter Christian Prudhomme—he commentated on the Tour among other events—replaced Leblanc in 2007, having been assistant director for three years. In 1993 ownership of L'Équipe moved to the Amaury Group, which formed Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) to oversee its sports operations, although the Tour itself is operated by its subsidiary the Société du Tour de France.[73]

Miguel Induráin at the 1993 Tour de France

1988 onward was arguably the beginning of what can be referred to as the doping era, as a new drug which drug tests were not able to detect began being used known as erythropoietin (EPO). Pedro Delgado won the 1988 Tour de France by a considerable margin, and in 1989 and 1990 Lemond returned from injury and won back-to-back Tours, with the 1989 edition still standing as the closest two-way battle in TDF history, with Lemond claiming an 8-second victory on the final time trial to best Laurent Fignon.

The early 1990s was dominated by Spaniard Miguel Induráin, who won five Tours from 1991 to 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five-time winner to achieve those victories consecutively. He wore the race leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France for 60 days. He holds the record for the most consecutive Tour de France wins and shares the record for most wins with Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx.[74] Induráin was a strong time trialist, gaining on rivals and riding defensively in the climbing stages. Induráin won only two Tour stages that were not individual time trials: mountain stages to Cauterets (1989) and Luz Ardiden (1990) in the Pyrenees. These superior abilities in the discipline fit perfectly with the TT heavy Tours of the era, with many featuring between 150 and 200 km of time trialling vs the more common 50–80 km today.

The influx of more international riders continued through this period, as in 1996 the race was won for the first time by a rider from Denmark, Bjarne Riis, who ended Miguel Induráin's reign with an attack on Hautacam. On 25 May 2007, Bjarne Riis admitted that he placed first in the Tour de France using banned substances, and he was no longer considered the winner by the Tour's organizers.[75] In July 2008, the Tour reconfirmed his victory but with an asterisk label to indicate his doping offences.[76] In 1997, the first German rider to win, Jan Ullrich followed, who in 2013 admitted to blood doping.

During the 1998 Tour de France, a doping scandal known as the Festina Affair shook the sport to its core when it became apparent that there was systematic doping going on in the sport. Numerous riders and a handful of teams were either thrown out of the race, or left of their own free will, and in the end Marco Pantani survived to win his lone Tour in a decimated main field. The 1999 Tour de France was billed as the ‘Tour of Renewal’ as the sport tried to clean up its image following the doping fiasco of the previous year. Initially it seemed to be a Cinderella story when cancer survivor Lance Armstrong stole the show on Sestriere and kept on riding to the first of his astonishing seven consecutive Tour de France victories; however, in retrospect, 1999 was just the beginning of the doping problem getting much, much worse. Following Armstrong's retirement in 2005, the 2006 edition saw his former teammate Floyd Landis finally get the chance he worked so hard for with a stunning and improbable solo breakaway on Stage 17 in which he set himself up to win the Tour in the final time trial, which he then did. Not long after the Tour was over, however, Landis was accused of doping and had his Tour win revoked.[77]

Andy Schleck (left) and Alberto Contador (right) at the 2009 Tour de France

Over the next few years, a new star in Alberto Contador came onto the scene;[78] however, during the 2007 edition, a veteran Danish rider, Michael Rasmussen, was in the maillot jaune late in the Tour, in position to win, when his own team sacked him for a possible doping infraction;[79] this allowed the rising star Contador to ride mistake-free for the remaining stages to win his first. 2008 saw a Tour where so many riders were doping that, when it went ten days without a single doping incident, it became news.[80] It was during this Tour that a UCI official was quoted as saying, "These guys are crazy, and the sooner they start learning, the better."[80] Roger Legeay, a Directeur Sportif for one of the teams noted how riders were secretly and anonymously buying doping products on the internet. Like Greg LeMond at the beginning of the EPO era, 2008 winner Carlos Sastre was a rider who went his entire career without a single doping incident and between approximately 1994 and 2011 this was the only Tour to have a winner with a clear biological passport.[81] 2009 saw the return of Lance Armstrong and, strangely, after Contador was able to defeat his teammate, the Danish National Anthem was mistakenly played. No Danish rider was in contention in 2009, and Rasmussen, the only Danish rider capable of winning the Tour during this era, was not even in the race. Another rider absent was Floyd Landis, who had asked Armstrong to get him back on a team to ride the Tour once more, but Armstrong refused because Landis was a convicted doper. Landis joined OUCH, an American continental team, and not long after this initiated contact with USADA to discuss Armstrong.

In 2011, Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour after coming up just short several times in the previous few editions.[82] The 2012 Tour de France was won by the first British rider to ever win the Tour, Bradley Wiggins, while finishing on the podium just behind him was Chris Froome, who along with Contador became the next big stars to attempt to contest the giants of Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain and Armstrong.

Chris Froome at the 2016 Tour de France

Overshadowing the entire sport at this time, however, was the Lance Armstrong doping case, which finally revealed much of the truth about doping in cycling.[83] As a result, the UCI decided that each of Armstrong's seven wins would be revoked. This decision cleared the names of many people, including lesser-known riders, reporters, team medical staff, and even the wife of a rider who had their reputations tarnished or had been forced from the sport due to pressure from Armstrong and his support staff. Much of this only became possible after Floyd Landis came forward to USADA. Also around this time, an investigation by the French government into doping in cycling revealed that way back during the 1998 Tour, close to 90% of the riders who were tested, retroactively tested positive for EPO.[84] The result of these doping scandals being that in the case of Landis in 2006, and Contador in 2010, new winners were declared in Óscar Pereiro and Andy Schleck, respectively; however, in the case of the seven Tours revoked from Armstrong, there was no alternate winner named, as much of Armstrong's competition was just as guilty of doping as he was.

Team Sky dominated the event for several years, with wins for Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome (four times) and Geraint Thomas before Egan Bernal became the first Colombian winner in 2019. The streak was interrupted only by Vincenzo Nibali's 2014 win.

Tadej Pogačar (right) and Jonas Vingegaard (left) during the 2022 Tour de France

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Tour started in late August,[85] the first time since the end of World War II that the Tour was not held in July.[86] This saw the first of two successive victories for Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates, who was the first Slovenian winner, and the second youngest (at 21) after Henri Cornet in 1904. He also won the mountain and youth classifications, becoming the first rider since Eddy Merckx in 1972 to win three jerseys in a single Tour. [87] Pogačar repeated this triple in 2021. On stage 13 of this Tour, sprinter Mark Cavendish tied the record of Eddy Merckx for all time stage wins with 34.[88]

Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard, second in 2021, won in both 2022 and 2023, with Pogačar coming second both times. The 2022 race was followed by the Tour de France Femmes, the first official Tour de France for women since 1989.[89]

Fabian Cancellara pictured at the 2010 Tour de France. He is the rider who has worn the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification for the most days without having ever been the overall winner

The oldest and most sought-after classification in the Tour de France is the general classification.[90][91] All of the stages are timed to the finish.[91] The riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times; so the rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race.[90][91] The leader is determined after each stage's conclusion: he gains the privilege to wear the yellow jersey, presented on a podium in the stage's finishing town, for the next stage. If he is leading more than one classification that awards a jersey, he wears the yellow one, since the general classification is the most important one in the race.[9] Between 1905 and 1912 inclusive, in response to concerns about rider cheating in the 1904 race, the general classification was awarded according to a point-based system based on their placings in each stage, and the rider with the lowest total of points after the Tour's conclusion was the winner.[91]

The leader in the first Tour de France was awarded a green armband.[14] The yellow jersey (the color was chosen as the newspaper that created the Tour, L'Auto, was printed on yellow paper), was added to the race in the 1919 edition and it has since become a symbol of the Tour de France.[90] The first rider to wear the yellow jersey was Eugène Christophe. Riders usually try to make the extra effort to keep the jersey for as long as possible in order to get more publicity for the team and its sponsors. Eddy Merckx wore the yellow jersey for 96 stages, which is more than any other rider in the history of the Tour. Four riders have won the general classification five times in their career: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin.

Richard Virenque pictured at the 2003 Tour de France wearing the polka dot jersey. He won the mountains classification a record seven times.

The mountains classification is the second-oldest jersey awarding classification in the Tour de France. The mountains classification was added to the Tour de France in the 1933 edition and was first won by Vicente Trueba.[90][92] Prizes for the classification were first awarded in 1934.[92] During stages of the race containing climbs, points are awarded to the first riders to reach the top of each categorized climb, with points available for up to the first 10 riders, depending on the classification of the climb. Climbs are classified according to the steepness and length of that particular hill, with more points available for harder climbs. The classification was preceded by the meilleur grimpeur (English: best climber) which was awarded by the organising newspaper l'Auto to a cyclist who completed each race.

The classification awarded no jersey to the leader until the 1975 Tour de France, when the organizers decided to award a distinctive white jersey with red dots to the leader. This is colloquially referred to in English as the "polka dot" jersey.[90][92] The climbers' jersey is worn by the rider who, at the start of each stage, has the largest number of climbing points.[91] If the race leader is also leading the Mountains classification, the polka dot jersey will be worn by the next eligible rider in the Mountains standings. At the end of the Tour, the rider holding the most climbing points wins the classification. Some riders may race with the aim of winning this particular competition, while others who gain points early on may shift their focus to the classification during the race. The Tour has five categories for ranking the mountains the race covers. The scale ranges from category 4, the easiest, to hors catégorie, the hardest. During his career Richard Virenque won the mountains classification a record seven times.

The point distribution for the mountains in the 2019 event was:[93]

Type		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
	Hors catégorie	20	15	12	10	8	6	4	2
	First Category	10	8	6	4	2	1
	Second Category	5	3	2	1
	Third Category	2	1
	Fourth Category	1

• Points awarded are doubled for HC climbs over 2000m of altitude.

Peter Sagan in the green jersey at the 2018 Tour de France. Sagan won the points classification a record seven times, in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019

The points classification is the third oldest of the currently awarded jersey classifications.[90] It was introduced in the 1953 Tour de France and was first won by Fritz Schär. The classification was added to draw the participation of the sprinters as well as celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tour. Points are given to the first 15 riders to finish a stage, with an additional set of points given to the first 15 riders to cross a pre-determined 'sprint' point during the route of each stage. The point classification leader green jersey is worn by the rider who at the start of each stage, has the greatest number of points.[91]

In the first years, the cyclist received penalty points for not finishing with a high place, so the cyclist with the fewest points was awarded the green jersey. From 1959 on, the system was changed so the cyclists were awarded points for high place finishes (with first place getting the most points, and lower placings getting successively fewer points), so the cyclist with the most points was awarded the green jersey. The number of points awarded varies depending on the type of stage, with flat stages awarding the most points at the finish and time trials and high mountain stages awarding the fewest points at the finish.[91] This increases the likelihood of a sprinter winning the points classification, though other riders can be competitive for the classification if they have a sufficient number of high-place finishes.

The winner of the classification is the rider with the most points at the end of the Tour. In case of a tie, the leader is determined by the number of stage wins, then the number of intermediate sprint victories, and finally, the rider's standing in the general classification. The classification has been won a record seven times by Peter Sagan.[90][94]

The first year the points classification was used it was sponsored by La Belle Jardinière, a lawn mower producer, and the jersey was made green. In 1968 the jersey was changed to red to please the sponsor.[95] However, the color was changed back the following year. For almost 25 years the classification was sponsored by Pari Mutuel Urbain, a state betting company.[92][96] However they announced in November 2014 that they would not be continuing their sponsorship, and in March 2015 it was revealed that the green jersey would now be sponsored by German automaker Volkswagen AG's Škoda brand.[96]

As of 2015, the points awarded are:[97]

Type		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
	Flat stage finish	50	30	20	18	16	14	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
	Medium mountain stage finish	30	25	22	19	17	15	13	11	9
	High mountain stage finish	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
	Individual time trial
	Intermediate sprint

Tadej Pogačar wearing the White Jersey at the 2023 Tour de France. Pogačar is the only rider to win the Young Rider's Classification 4-times overall and has held the white jersey for a record 75 days in total.

The leader of the classification is determined the same way as the general classification, with the riders' times being added up after each stage and the eligible rider with lowest aggregate time is dubbed the leader. The Young rider classification is restricted to the riders that will stay under the age of 26 in the calendar year the race is held. Originally the classification was restricted to neo-professionals – riders that are in their first three years of professional racing – until 1983. In 1983, the organizers made it so that only first time riders were eligible for the classification. In 1987, the organizers changed the rules of the classification to what they are today.

This classification was added to the Tour de France in the 1975 edition, with Francesco Moser being the first to win the classification after placing seventh overall. The Tour de France awards a white jersey to the leader of the classification, although this was not done between 1989 and 2000.[90] Six riders have won both the young rider classification and the general classification in the same year: Laurent Fignon (1983), Jan Ullrich (1997), Alberto Contador (2007), Andy Schleck (2010), Egan Bernal (2019) and Tadej Pogačar (2020 and 2021). Three riders have won the young rider classification three times in their respective careers: Jan Ullrich, Andy Schleck and Tadej Pogačar.

As of 2015 Jersey sponsor is Optician company Krys,[98] replacing Škoda who moved to the Green Jersey.

Warren Barguil with the prix de la combativité award at the 2017 Tour de France

The prix de la combativité goes to the rider who most animates the day, usually by trying to break clear of the field. The most combative rider wears a number printed white-on-beige instead of black-on-white next day. An award goes to the most aggressive rider throughout the Tour. Already in 1908 a sort of combativity award was offered, when Sports Populaires and L'Education Physique created Le Prix du Courage, 100 francs and a silver gilt medal for "the rider having finished the course, even if unplaced, who is particularly distinguished for the energy he has used."[99][100] The modern competition started in 1958.[99][101] In 1959, a Super Combativity award for the most combative cyclist of the Tour was awarded. It was initially not awarded every year, but since 1981 it has been given annually. Eddy Merckx has the most wins (4) for the overall award.

The team classification is assessed by adding the time of each team's best three riders each day. The competition does not have its own jersey but since 2006 the leading team has worn numbers printed black-on-yellow. Until 1990, the leading team would wear yellow caps. As of 2012, the riders of the leading team wear yellow helmets.[102] During the era of national teams, France and Belgium won 10 times each.[92] From 1973 up to 1988, there was also a team classification based on points (stage classification); members of the leading team would wear green caps.

Combination classification jersey won by Greg LeMond at the 1985 Tour de France

There has been an intermediate sprints classification, which from 1984 awarded a red jersey[103] for points awarded to the first three to pass intermediate points during the stage. These sprints also scored points towards the points classification and bonuses towards the general classification. The intermediate sprints classification with its red jersey was abolished in 1989,[104] but the intermediate sprints have remained, offering points for the points classification and, until 2007, time bonuses for the general classification.

From 1968 there was a combination classification,[105] scored on a points system based on standings in the general, points and mountains classifications. The design was originally white, then a patchwork with areas resembling each individual jersey design. This was also abolished in 1989.[106]

The rider who has taken most time is called the lanterne rouge (red lantern, as in the red light at the back of a vehicle so it can be seen in the dark) and in past years sometimes carried a small red light beneath his saddle. Such was sympathy that he could command higher fees in the races that previously followed the Tour. In 1939 and 1948 the organisers excluded the last rider every day, to encourage more competitive racing.[n 7]

Prize money in 2013 Euros in the Tour de France

Prize money has always been awarded. From 20,000 francs the first year,[107] prize money has increased each year, although from 1976 to 1987 the first prize was an apartment offered by a race sponsor. The first prize in 1988 was a car, a studio-apartment, a work of art, and 500,000 francs in cash. Prizes only in cash returned in 1990.[108]

Prizes and bonuses are awarded for daily placings and final placings at the end of the race. In 2009, the winner received €450,000, while each of the 21 stage winners won €8,000 (€10,000 for the team time-trial stage). The winners of the points classification and mountains classification each win €25,000, the young rider competition and the combativity prize €20,000 ; the winner of the team classification (calculated by adding the cumulative times of the best three riders in each team) receives €50 000 .[109]

The Souvenir Henri Desgrange, in memory of the founder of the Tour, is awarded to the first rider over the Col du Galibier where his monument stands,[109] or to the first rider over the highest col in the Tour. A similar award, the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, is made at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet, at the memorial to Jacques Goddet, Desgrange's successor.

A collected peloton in the 2006 Tour de France

The Tour directors categorise mass-start stages into 'flat', 'hilly', or 'mountain'.[110] This affects the points awarded in the sprint classification, whether the 3 kilometer rule is operational, and the permitted disqualification time in which riders must finish (which is the winners' time plus a pre-determined percentage of that time).[111] Time bonuses of 10, 6, and 4 seconds are awarded to the first three finishers, though this was not done from 2008 to 2014.[112] Bonuses were previously also awarded to winners of intermediate sprints.

Bradley Wiggins riding the stage 9 individual time trial of the 2012 Tour de France

The first time trial in the Tour was between La Roche-sur-Yon and Nantes (80 km) in 1934.[113] The first stage in modern Tours is often a short trial, a prologue, to decide who wears yellow on the opening day. The first prologue was in 1967.[62] The 1988 event, at La Baule, was called "la préface".[114] There are usually two or three time trials. The final time trial has sometimes been the final stage, more recently often the penultimate stage.

In 2012 Mark Cavendish won the final stage of the Tour on the Champs-Élysées, for a record fourth successive year.

Since 1975 the race has finished with laps of the Champs-Élysées. As the peloton arrives in downtown Paris the French Air Force does a three-jet flyover with the three colors of the French flag in smoke behind them. This stage rarely challenges the leader because it is flat and the leader usually has too much time in hand to be denied. In modern times, there tends to be a gentlemen's agreement: while the points classification is still contended if possible, the overall classification is not fought over; because of this, it is not uncommon for the de facto winner of the overall classification to ride into Paris holding a glass of champagne. The only time the maillot jaune was attacked in a manner that lasted all the way through the end of this stage was during the 1979 Tour de France. In 1987, Pedro Delgado vowed to attack during the stage to challenge the 40-second lead held by Stephen Roche. He was unsuccessful and he and Roche finished in the peloton.[115] In 2005, controversy arose when Alexander Vinokourov attacked and won the stage, in the process taking fifth place overall from Levi Leipheimer.[116] This attack was not a threat to the overall lead, but was a long-shot at the Podium standings, as Vinokourov was about five minutes behind third place.

In 1989, the last stage was a time trial. Greg LeMond overtook Laurent Fignon to win by eight seconds, the closest margin in the Tour's history.[117] The final stage has not been held as a time trial again since then.

Panorama of the famous 21 bends towards Alpe d'Huez with outline

The climb of Alpe d'Huez has become one of the more noted mountain stages. During the 2004 Tour de France it was the scene of a 15.5 kilometres (9.6 mi) mountain time trial on the 16th stage. Riders complained of abusive spectators who threatened their progress up the climb.[118][119] On this stage it is not uncommon for a low end estimate of the spectators in attendance to number 300,000. During a famous head-to-head battle between Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor on Puy de Dôme it was estimated that at least a half a million people were on hand.[120] Mont Ventoux is often claimed to be the hardest in the Tour because of the harsh conditions. Another notable mountain stage frequently featured climbs the Col du Tourmalet, the most visited mountain in the history of the Tour. Col du Galibier is the most visited mountain in the Alps. The 2011 Tour de France stage to Galibier marked the 100th anniversary of the mountain in the Tour and also boasted the highest finish altitude ever: 2,645 metres (8,678 ft).[121] Some mountain stages have become memorable because of the weather. An example is a stage in 1996 Tour de France from Val-d'Isère to Sestriere. A snowstorm at the start area led to a shortening of the stage from 190 kilometres (120 mi) to just 46 kilometres (29 mi). During the 2019 Tour de France multiple landslides and hail storms forced two critical mountain stages to be considerably shortened. Authorities made every effort to plow the road and make the course safe, but the volume of hail, mud and debris proved too much.[122]

To host a stage start or finish brings prestige and business to a town. The prologue and first stage (Grand Départ) are particularly prestigious. The race may start with a prologue (too short to go between towns) in which case the start of the next day's racing, which would be considered stage 1, usually in the same town. In 2007 director Christian Prudhomme said that "in general, for a period of five years we have the Tour start outside France three times and within France twice."[123]

In the local towns and cities that the Tour visits for stage starts and finishes, it is a spectacle that usually shuts these towns down for the day, resulting in a very festive atmosphere, and these events usually require months of planning and preparation. ASO employs around 70 people full-time, in an office facing—but not connected to—L'Équipe in the Issy-les-Moulineaux area of outer western Paris. That number expands to about 220 during the race itself, not including the 500-odd contractors employed to move barriers, erect stages, signpost the route, and other work.[124] ASO now also operates several other major bike races throughout the year.

Prior to 2013, the Tour de France had visited every region of Metropolitan France except Corsica.[131] Jean-Marie Leblanc, when he was organiser, said the island had never asked for a stage start there. It would be difficult to find accommodation for 4,000 people, he said.[132] The spokesman of the Corsican nationalist party Party of the Corsican Nation, François Alfonsi, said: "The organisers must be afraid of terrorist attacks. If they are really thinking of a possible terrorist action, they are wrong. Our movement, which is nationalist and in favour of self-government, would be delighted if the Tour came to Corsica."[132] The opening three stages of the 2013 Tour de France were held on Corsica as part of the celebrations for the 100th edition of the race.

Start of the 2015 Tour de France in Utrecht

The following editions of the Tour started, or are planned to start, outside France:[136][137]

The Tour has inspired several popular songs in France, notably P'tit gars du Tour (1932), Les Tours de France (1936) and Faire le Tour de France (1950). German electronic group Kraftwerk composed "Tour de France" in 1983 – described as a minimalistic "melding of man and machine"[158] – and produced an album, Tour de France Soundtracks in 2003, the centenary of the Tour.

The Tour and its first Italian winner, Ottavio Bottecchia, are mentioned at the end of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.[159]

From 2011 to 2015, Lead Graffiti, an American letterpress studio, experimented with handset wood and metal type to print same-day posters documenting events of each stage of the Tour de France. The designers called the project "endurance letterpress." A 2013 article on the poster series appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sports in Media" issue.[160] In 2014 the British Library celebrated the Tour's fourth Grand Départ from the U.K. with an exhibition of Tour de Lead Graffiti posters.[161]

In films, the Tour was background for Five Red Tulips (1949) by Jean Stelli, in which five riders are murdered. A burlesque in 1967, Les Cracks by Alex Joffé, with Bourvil et Monique Tarbès, also featured it. Footage of the 1970 Tour de France is shown in Jorgen Leth's experimental short Eddy Merckx in the Vicinity of a Cup of Coffee. Patrick Le Gall made Chacun son Tour (1996). The comedy, Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert (2001), featured the Tour of 1974.

In 2005, three films chronicled a team. The German Höllentour, translated as Hell on Wheels, recorded 2003 from the perspective of Team Telekom. The film was directed by Pepe Danquart, who won an Academy Award for live-action short film in 1993 for Black Rider (Schwarzfahrer).[162] The Danish film Overcoming by Tómas Gislason recorded the 2004 Tour from the perspective of Team CSC.

Wired to Win chronicles Française des Jeux riders Baden Cooke and Jimmy Caspar in 2003. By following their quest for the points classification, won by Cooke, the film looks at the working of the brain. The film, made for IMAX theaters, appeared in December 2005. It was directed by Bayley Silleck, who was nominated for an Academy Award for documentary short subject in 1996 for Cosmic Voyage.[163]

A fan, Scott Coady, followed the 2000 Tour with a handheld video camera to make The Tour Baby![164] which raised $160,000 to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation,[165] and made a 2005 sequel, Tour Baby Deux![166]

Vive Le Tour by Louis Malle is an 18-minute short of 1962. The 1965 Tour was filmed by Claude Lelouch in Pour un Maillot Jaune. This 30-minute documentary has no narration and relies on sights and sounds of the Tour.

In fiction, the 2003 animated feature Les Triplettes de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville) ties into the Tour de France.

Netflix, partnered with the organizer Amaury Sport Organisation, has produced a documentary series about the eight major teams across the 2022 Tour de France named Tour de France: Unchained.[167] It was released in June 2023.[168]

After the Tour de France there are criteriums in the Netherlands and Belgium. These races are public spectacles where thousands of people can see their heroes from the Tour de France race. The budget of a criterium is over 100,000 Euro, with most of the money going to the riders. Jersey winners or big-name riders earn between 20 and 60 thousand euros per race in start money.[169]

Four riders have won five times: Jacques Anquetil (FRA), Eddy Merckx (BEL), Bernard Hinault (FRA), and Miguel Induráin (ESP). Indurain achieved the mark with a record five consecutive wins.

Wins	Rider	Editions
5	Jacques Anquetil (FRA)	1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974
	Bernard Hinault (FRA)	1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985
	Miguel Induráin (ESP)	1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
4	Chris Froome (GBR)	2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
3	Philippe Thys (BEL)	1913, 1914, 1920
	Louison Bobet (FRA)	1953, 1954, 1955
	Greg LeMond (USA)	1986, 1989, 1990