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118-609: The Tour de France ( French pronunciation: [tuʁ də fʁɑ̃s] ) is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tours , which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España . The race was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper L'Auto (which was an ancestor of L'Équipe ). and has been held annually since, except when it

236-474: A collection of adventurers, including one competing as "Samson". 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. 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

354-468: 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 chief cycling journalist, a 26-year-old named Géo Lefèvre . Lefèvre suggested a six-day race of the sort popular on the track but all around France. Long-distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers, but nothing of the length that Lefèvre suggested had been attempted. The first Tour de France

472-404: A damaged bicycle for another was allowed only in 1923 . 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 ). By the end of the 1920s, Desgrange believed he could not beat what he believed were

590-513: A dirt course of jumps and banked and flat corners. Cycle speedway is bicycle racing on short outdoor dirt tracks, 70–90 m (230–300 ft) in length. Motor-paced racing and keirin use motorcycles for pacing, so cyclists achieve higher speeds. Gravel racing is one of the newest disciplines of bicycle racing, emerging in the 21st century. For example, one of the premiere gravel races, Unbound Gravel , started in 2006. Some precursors to gravel racing in its current form include road races like

708-505: A factory. 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. 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. The first Tour de France started almost outside

826-620: A few times that season despite the reluctance of Paris FC. Thereafter, Paris FC and Racing Paris also played at the Parc des Princes while they were in Ligue 1 (until 1990), but never reaching the numbers of attendance leaders PSG. Following its opening, the Parc des Princes finally became France's biggest stadium. This was where the national and international cup finals took place, including every single Coupe de France from 1972 to 1997, and three European club finals (the 1975 European Cup Final ,

944-467: A fixed gear bicycle with no brakes or freewheel. The ball is controlled by the bike and the head, except when defending the goal. Cycle Polo is a team sports sport that combines elements of traditional horse polo with bicycling and is played on grass. Cycle Polo's was included in the 1908 London Olympics as a demonstration sport. The game has become particularly popular in India. Hardcourt Bike Polo

1062-569: A friendly match in October 2013. Nonetheless, the stadium has still staged games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup , 2007 Rugby World Cup , UEFA Euro 2016 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup . In November 2013, PSG reached an agreement with the Paris City Council , owner of the Parc des Princes, to extend their stadium lease for a further 30 years until 2043, based on a fixed rent plus a variable share of their income. Subsequently, under

1180-477: A jersey, he wears the yellow one, since the general classification is the most important one in the race. 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. The leader in

1298-516: 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; instead, his great rival Luis Ocaña won. Merckx's winning streak 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 ,

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1416-492: A maker's name. 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. Desgrange died at home on the Mediterranean coast on 16 August 1940. The race was taken over by his deputy, Jacques Goddet . The Tour

1534-624: A mile in length and sometimes run for a set time (60 min, 90 min, etc.) rather than a specific distance. Criteriums are the most popular form of road racing in North America. In Belgium, kermesses are popular, single-day events of usually over 120 km (70 mi). As well as road races in which all riders start simultaneously, individual time trial and team time trial events are also held on road-based courses. Track cycling has been around since as early as 1870. The riders competed on wooden indoor tracks that closely resembled

1652-433: 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 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

1770-568: A record seven times. Cycle sport Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport . Bicycle races are popular all over the world, especially in Europe. The countries most devoted to bicycle racing include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Other countries with international standing include Australia, Luxembourg, Slovenia, United Kingdom, United States and Colombia. The first bicycle race

1888-468: A relaxed pace until close to the line, only then disputing the final placings that would give them points. 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. That reduced

2006-512: 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

2124-495: 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

2242-507: 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. 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

2360-474: 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. 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. In the same year, Émilion Amaury, owner of le Parisien Libéré , became financially involved in

2478-493: A sport for road racers during the off season, to vary their training during the cold months. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or World Cup season is September–January) and consist of many laps of a 2–3 km (1–2 mi) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills, and obstacles requiring the rider to dismount, carry the bike and remount in one motion. Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long,

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2596-400: 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. The 2012 Tour de France was won by

2714-422: A thorough reconstruction of the Parc des Princes and expanded it so that the sports arena had seats for 45,000 visitors, including 26,000 covered. The new stadium opened on 19 April 1932. Its capacity, however, was quickly reduced to 38,000 seats to improve comfort. The Parc des Princes hosted the opening match of the 1938 FIFA World Cup between Switzerland and Germany as well as the victory of Hungary in

2832-493: Is a more popular, fast-paced, and physically demanding variation of Cycle Polo played on hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete. In teams of three, players maneuver their bicycles while using mallets to strike a ball into the opposing team's goal. Originating in Seattle in the late 1990s, hardcourt bike polo has since gained a sharp spike in popularity worldwide, with organized leagues and tournaments held in urban centers across

2950-451: Is popularly held to have been a 1,200 m (3,900 ft) race on the 31 May 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud , Paris , France. It was won by expatriate Englishman James Moore who rode a wooden bicycle with solid rubber tires . The machine is now on display at the museum in Ely , Cambridgeshire , England. The Union Cycliste Internationale was founded on 14 April 1900 by Belgium,

3068-491: Is similar to motorcycle trials . Points are awarded for bike handling skills. The first UCI Trials World Championships took place in 1986. Freestyle BMX is an extreme sport of stunt riding BMX bikes . Artistic cycling is a discipline where athletes perform tricks (called exercises) in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. Cycle ball , also known as "radball" (from German), is a sport similar to association football played on bicycles. The two people on each team ride

3186-423: Is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as Tribune Borelli, Tribune Auteuil, Tribune Paris, and Tribune Boulogne. Conceived by architect Roger Taillibert and Siavash Teimouri , the current version of the Parc des Princes officially opened on 25 May 1972, at a cost of 80–150 million francs . The stadium is the third to have been built on the site, the first opening its doors in 1897 and

3304-517: The 16th arrondissement , near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros . The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47,929 spectators, has been the home of football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) since 1974. Before the opening of the Stade de France in 1998, it was the home stadium of France's national football team and national rugby union team . The Parc des Princes pitch

3422-465: The 1960 European Nations' Cup final , which saw the Soviet Union claim the first edition of the tournament after beating Yugoslavia . Conceived by French architect Roger Taillibert and Iranian artist Siavash Teimouri , the third and current Parc des Princes is one of the continent's most emblematic and historic venues. It is a landmark and legally protected icon of French architecture. It

3540-516: The 1972 Rugby League World Cup . That same year, Paris Saint-Germain – a fusion between Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain – went through a bitter divorce. Paris FC remained in Ligue 1, while PSG kept their name but were administratively demoted to Division 3 . PSG played their first game at the Parc des Princes against Ligue 2 promotion rivals Red Star on 10 November 1973, as a curtain-raiser for that season's league season between Paris FC and Sochaux . PSG won 3–1 as Othniel Dossevi scored

3658-536: The 1978 European Cup Winners' Cup Final , and the 1981 European Cup Final ), and the 1991 Rugby World Cup . Most importantly, the Parc des Princes saw France defeat Spain in the UEFA Euro 1984 Final to claim its first-ever title. In 1992, France was named to host the 1998 World Cup. It was the country's first since 1938 and construction of a new arena began in May 1995, at the same time that Parc des Princes hosted

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3776-512: The 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final . Inaugurated in January 1998, the Stade de France was the stadium of the future, while the Parc des Princes hosted its last international final that same year: the 1998 UEFA Cup Final . France have only played twice at the Parc des Princes since 1998: against Scotland during the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers in September 2007, and versus Australia in

3894-578: The New Zealand national rugby union team . Other tenants included the Racing Club de France . The stadium capacity was increased to 20,000 by the start of the 1924 Summer Olympics , held in Paris. However, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir , which had been expanded to 60,000 seats, hosted the event. In the 1930s, L'Auto founder Henri Desgrange and his business partner Victor Goddet carried out

4012-544: The Tour de France , Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España to multi-day stage races such as the Tour de Suisse and Tour of California , to single day "Classics" such as the Tour of Flanders and Milan–San Remo . The longest one-day road race sanctioned by USA Cycling is LOTOJA which covers the 206 mi (332 km) from Logan, Utah , to Jackson, Wyoming . Criteriums are races based on circuits typically less than

4130-703: The Tour of the Battenkill and Boulder–Roubaix (named after Paris–Roubaix ) which are road races with gravel sections. The distinguishing features of gravel racing include long distances, often 100 to 200 mi (160 to 320 km), and mass starts that include all categories of racers, similar to Gran Fondo rides. The bicycles and courses in gravel racing vary widely, from road bicycles with wide tires used on smooth gravel roads to bicycles that are similar to mountain bike used on courses that include technical trails. Speeds achieved on indoor tracks are usually greater than those on roads. Other factors affecting speed are

4248-464: The first Tour de France was awarded a green armband. 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. 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

4366-439: The 120 km (70 mi) Cootamundra Annual Classic it is 11.8 metres per second (42 km/h; 26 mph). In the 259 km (200 mi) 2010 Paris–Roubaix , Fabian Cancellara set a speed of 10.9 metres per second (39 km/h; 24 mph), while over the 818 km (500 mi) Furnace Creek 508 , the speed drops dramatically to 8.3 metres per second (30 km/h; 19 mph). For an extreme road distance such as

4484-527: The 4,800 km (3,000 mi) Race Across America , the average speed of the record holder is 5.7 metres per second (21 km/h; 13 mph), while the 2,350 km (1,000 mi) Freedom Trail over mountainous terrain in South Africa is at a record speed of 1.9 metres per second (6.8 km/h; 4.3 mph). Mountain bike trials is a sport where riders navigate natural and human-made obstacles without putting down their foot, or "dabbing". It

4602-576: 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. Among the competitors were the eventual winner, Maurice Garin , his well-built rival Hippolyte Aucouturier , the German favourite Josef Fischer , and

4720-505: The Darracq company. De Dion believed Le Vélo gave Darracq too much attention and him too little. De Dion was rich and could afford to indulge his whims. 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 . L'Auto sales were lower than the rival it was intended to surpass, leading to

4838-475: 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. 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

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4956-619: The Parc des Princes ahead of the Euro 2016. There have also been rumours that QSI are interested in buying the Parc des Princes for a fee believed to be around €150m. Since its musical debut in June 1988, when Michael Jackson took the stage, the Parc des Princes has often hosted major concerts. Jackson played there again in 1997. The stadium was also used as a venue by other major artists, including The Rolling Stones and Prince in 1990, Johnny Hallyday in 1993, and David Bowie in 1997, as part of

5074-482: The Parc des Princes. Subsequently, the stadium welcomed further prestigious friendly games, but also four USFSA French Championship finals, as well as the 1919 Coupe de France Final between CASG Paris and Olympique de Paris in front of 10,000 spectators. PSG's home also boasts a long history as an international rugby venue. In 1906, the France national rugby union team played their debut international, against

5192-406: 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

5310-505: The Parc des Princes. Still equipped with a cycling track of 454 metres, the Tour de France was not the only major sporting event hosted at this stadium. The Parc des Princes also hosted the 1954 Rugby League World Cup final , which saw Great Britain defeat hosts France in the inaugural staging of the Rugby League World Cup ; Real Madrid's win over Stade de Reims in the first ever European Cup final in 1956 ; and

5428-728: The Rock Festival in Paris. Following a show from U2 in 1997, the venue had a six-year musical hiatus. Johnny Hallyday 's second stint in June 2003, with four concerts to celebrate his 60th anniversary, reactivated the music scene at the Parc des Princes. He remains the singer who performed the most live concerts, seven in total. It subsequently welcomed the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers (2004), Metallica (2004), Moby (2005), Iron Maiden (2005), Robbie Williams (2006), Muse (2007), Genesis (2007), Bruce Springsteen (2008), and Coldplay (2009). In June 2010, French hip hop group Suprême NTM and American rock band Green Day marked

5546-513: 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. 1988 onward was arguably the beginning of what can be referred to as

5664-450: 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 became the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964 . He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the yellow jersey on day one and wear it all through

5782-472: The Tour de France using banned substances, and he was no longer considered the winner by the Tour's organizers. In July 2008, the Tour reconfirmed his victory but with an asterisk label to indicate his doping offences. In 2013 Jan Ullrich , the first German rider to win the Tour (in 1997 ), admitted to blood doping. During the 1998 Tour de France , a doping scandal known as the Festina Affair shook

5900-426: The Tour de France, and cycling in general. 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

6018-512: The Tour was not held in July. 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. Pogačar repeated this triple in 2021 . On stage 13 of this Tour, sprinter Mark Cavendish tied

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6136-463: 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, 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

6254-464: 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. The Tour de France was meant for professional cyclists, but in 1961 the organisation started the Tour de l'Avenir , the amateur version. Twice, in 1949 and 1952 , Italian rider Fausto Coppi won the Giro d'Italia and

6372-489: 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, while Sports and Miroir Sprint had La Ronde de France. Both were five stages, the longest the government would allow because of shortages. L'Équipe 's race was better organised and appealed more to the public because it featured national teams that had been successful before

6490-684: The United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland to replace the International Cycling Association , which had been formed in 1892, over a row with Great Britain as well as because of other issues. Since the rise of the Olympic Movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics , cycling has been a contestant event in every Summer Olympic Games . Road bicycle racing involve both team and individual competition, and races are contested in various ways. They range from

6608-414: The aforementioned classifications wears a distinctive jersey, with riders leading multiple classifications wearing the jersey of the most prestigious that he leads. In addition to these four classifications, there are several minor and discontinued classifications that are competed for during the race. The oldest and most sought-after classification in the Tour de France is the general classification. All of

6726-474: The all-time stage wins record in the Tour. The oldest and main competition in the Tour de France is known as the "general classification", for which the yellow jersey is awarded; the winner of this is said to have won the race. A few riders from each team aim to win overall, but there are three further competitions to draw riders of all specialties: points, mountains, and a classification for young riders with general classification aspirations. The leader of each of

6844-418: The capacity of their home to 60,000 in the coming years. From the start of their ownership at the club, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) made it clear that a larger stadium is necessary to establish PSG as one of leading European clubs. Originally, there were two options under consideration: move to the Stade de France or expand the Parc des Princes. The former was discarded following the redevelopments made to

6962-507: 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. Over the next few years, a new star in Alberto Contador came onto the scene; however, during the 2007 edition, a veteran Danish rider, Michael Rasmussen ,

7080-413: 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

7198-460: The climbers (polka dot jersey), young rider classification for riders under the age of 26 (white jersey), and the team classification , based on the first three finishers from each team on each stage. Achieving a stage win also provides prestige, often accomplished by a team's sprint specialist or a rider taking part in a breakaway. A similar race for women was held under various names between 1984 and 2009. Following criticism by campaigners and

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7316-541: The club's first goal at the stadium. PSG returned to Ligue 1 in 1974, ironically the same year that Paris FC were relegated. They immediately moved into the Parc des Princes, which up until that point had been the home stadium of Paris FC. Before that, PSG had been playing at several grounds including the Stade Georges Lefèvre , the Stade Jean-Bouin , the Stade Bauer , and even the Parc des Princes

7434-419: The costs too great for most and only 15 competitors had entered. Desgrange had never been wholly convinced and he came close to dropping the idea. 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, equivalent to what a rider would have expected to earn each day had he worked in

7552-461: The daily and overall distance, but the emphasis remained on endurance. 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. Desgrange initially preferred to see the Tour as

7670-494: The decision. McGann says the UVF waited so long "...well aware of the passions aroused by the race." Desgrange's opinion of the fighting and cheating showed in the headline of his reaction in L'Auto : THE END. By the following spring, Desgrange was planning a longer Tour, with 11 stages rather than 6—and this time all in daylight to make any cheating more obvious. Stages in 1905 began between 3 am and 7:30 am. The race captured

7788-536: The distance varying depending on the conditions. The sport is strongest in traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (Flanders in particular) and France. Mountain bike races are held off-road and involve moderate to high degree of technical riding. There are several varieties; the main categories are cross-country , enduro and downhill but also 4X or four-cross racing. BMX takes place off-road. BMX races are sprints on purpose-built off-road single-lap tracks, typically on single-gear bicycles. Riders navigate

7906-450: The doping era. A new drug, erythropoietin (EPO), began to be used; it could not be detected by drug tests of the time. 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

8024-466: 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

8142-634: 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 held the record for the most stage victories (34) until overtaken by Mark Cavendish in 2024. Merckx's dominating style earned him the nickname "The Cannibal". In 1969 , he already had a commanding lead when he launched

8260-413: 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

8378-477: The finish of the Tour from its first edition in 1903 until 1967. The 1900 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held at the Parc des Princes. In 1903, an English side easily defeated a team composed by the best Parisian players (11–0) in front of 984 paying spectators, in what was the first international football played at the Parc des Princes. In 1905, the France national football team contested its first ever home match against Switzerland , winning 1–0 at

8496-497: 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. 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. As

8614-504: 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. The leading riders, including the winner Maurice Garin, were disqualified, though it took the Union Vélocipèdique de France until 30 November to make

8732-454: The globe. Parc des Princes 48°50′29.22″N 2°15′10.98″E  /  48.8414500°N 2.2530500°E  / 48.8414500; 2.2530500 The Parc des Princes ( French pronunciation: [paʁk de pʁɛ̃s] , lit.   ' Park of Princes ' ) is an all-seater football stadium in Paris , France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside

8850-643: The guidance of American architect Tom Sheehan, PSG completed a three-year €75 million upgrade of the Parc des Princes (2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016) ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 in France. Two additional rows of seats were added, allowing the ground to remain at its current capacity, despite now boasting larger and more comfortable seats. Hospitality capacity went from 1,200 to 4,500, and new substitutes' benches and spacious, modern changing rooms that include warm-up and treatment rooms were installed. Carrying out this renovation work saw PSG's stadium revenue swell from €20m to €100m. PSG are also looking to increase

8968-427: The imagination. The Tour returned after its suspension during World War I and continued to grow. Desgrange and his Tour invented bicycle stage racing . Desgrange experimented with different ways of judging the winner. Initially he used total accumulated time (as used in the modern Tour de France) but from 1906 to 1912 by points for placings each day. Desgrange saw problems in judging both by time and by points. By time,

9086-538: The leader. This is colloquially referred to in English as the "polka dot" jersey. The climbers' jersey is worn by the rider who, at the start of each stage, has the largest number of climbing points. 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

9204-471: The modern velodromes of today. Unlike road racing, which is dependent on environmental factors, indoor tracks ensure the sport can be competed all year round. It encompasses races that take place on banked tracks or velodromes . Events are quite diverse and can range from individual and team pursuits , two-man sprints, to various group and mass start races. Competitors use track bicycles which do not have brakes or freewheels. Cyclo-cross originated as

9322-403: 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

9440-536: The one-day road race, criterium , and time trial to multi-stage events like the Tour de France and its sister events which make up cycling's Grand Tours . The races typically take place from spring through to autumn. Many riders from the Northern Hemisphere spend the winter in countries such as Australia to compete or train. Professional races range from the three-week "Grand Tour" stage races such as

9558-481: 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 . De Dion, Clément and Michelin were particularly concerned with Le Vélo —which reported more than cycling—because its financial backer was one of their commercial rivals,

9676-420: The podium. Pogačar won six stages, including five of the last eight stages. With his win, he became only the eighth rider, and the first since Marco Pantani in 1998 , to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same calendar year. On stage 5 of the race, sprinter Mark Cavendish won his 35th overall Tour stage win, breaking the tie between him and Eddy Merckx , who held the record for 49 years, for

9794-452: The polka-dot jersey was introduced for the winner of the Mountains Classification . 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,

9912-414: The professional women's peloton, a one/two day race ( La Course by Le Tour de France ) was held between 2014 and 2021. The first Tour de France Femmes was held in 2022 . 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, on

10030-728: The race is held in July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same, and includes time trials, passage through the mountain's chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps , and (except in 2024 due to preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics ) a finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long stages over a 23 or 24 day period and cover approximately 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi) total. The race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits. Twenty to twenty-two teams of eight riders usually compete. All of

10148-408: The record for most wins with Jacques Anquetil , Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx . 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

10266-444: The record of Eddy Merckx for all time stage wins with 34. 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. In 2024 , Pogačar took back the Tour title, winning by more than six minutes over Vingegaard while Tour debutant, Remco Evenepoel , rounded out

10384-558: The route profile (flats and hills), wind conditions, temperatures and elevation. At a 2013 event in Mexico, François Pervis achieved an average of 21.40 metres per second (77.0 km/h; 47.9 mph) with a flying start over 200 m (660 ft). The top average speed over the men's 1 km (0.6 mi) time trial at the 2004 Summer Olympics was 16.4 metres per second (59 km/h; 37 mph) recorded by Chris Hoy . Average speeds clearly drop with increasing distance, so that over

10502-574: The running of the race. Lévitan launched the Tour of America as a precursor to his plans to take the Tour de France to the US. The Tour of America lost much money, and it appeared to have been cross-financed by the Tour de France. 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

10620-521: The second in 1932. PSG registered its record home attendance in 1983, when 49,575 spectators witnessed the club's 2–0 win over Waterschei in the European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals. However, the France national rugby union team holds the stadium's absolute attendance record. They defeated Wales , 31–12, in the 1989 Five Nations Championship in front of 50,370 spectators. Originally called Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes,

10738-687: The semi-final against Sweden . But Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir continued to be more important, hosting the 1938 FIFA World Cup final in which Italy beat the Hungarians 4–2 to claim its second consecutive world title. Following the Liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the end of World War II in September 1945, the French football championship returned, with big Parisian clubs Stade français-Red Star and Racing Paris regularly playing at

10856-409: 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

10974-527: 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 . The teams were of different sizes. Some nations had more than one team, and some were mixed in with others to make up

11092-542: The stadium was inaugurated on 18 July 1897. Situated in the 16th arrondissement of Paris , the area was a forested parkland used by the royal family before the French Revolution . This gave the Parc des Princes its name. With more than 3,000 seats, the velodrome had a 728-yard track. The director of the stadium, Henri Desgrange , was a former racing cyclist and founder of the cycling magazine L'Auto (predecessor of L'Équipe ). The Parc des Princes marked

11210-409: The stages are timed to the finish and the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest cumulative time is the leader of the race and wears the yellow jersey. While the general classification attracts the most attention, there are other contests held within the Tour: the points classification for the sprinters (green jersey), the mountains classification for

11328-409: The stages are timed to the finish. The riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times; so the rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race. 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

11446-440: 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

11564-432: The street to raise the price of a hotel. Until 1925, Desgrange forbade team members from pacing each other. 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. Until 1930 , Desgrange demanded that riders mend their bicycles without help and that they use the same bicycle from start to end. Exchanging

11682-429: 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 . The mountains classification is the second-oldest jersey awarding classification in the Tour de France. The mountains classification

11800-431: The time trial 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

11918-425: The tour, a tall order with two previous winners in the field— Charly Gaul and Federico Bahamontes —but he did it. 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

12036-464: The underhand tactics of bike factories. When in 1929 the Alcyon team contrived to get Maurice De Waele to win even though he was sick, he said, "My race has been won by a corpse". 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

12154-496: The war, when French cycling was at a high. L'Équipe was given the right to organise the 1947 Tour de France . 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. Amaury was a newspaper magnate whose sole condition was that his sports editor, Félix Lévitan , should join Goddet for the Tour. The two worked together—with Goddet running

12272-414: Was added to the Tour de France in the 1933 edition and was first won by Vicente Trueba . Prizes for the classification were first awarded in 1934 . 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

12390-471: Was again disrupted by War after 1939, and did not return until 1947 . 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. 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

12508-444: Was also the first stadium with lighting systems integrated onto its elliptical roof, and to this day is praised for its unique acoustics and its distinctive concrete ribs or razors. The inauguration of the Parc des Princes took place on 25 May 1972 on the occasion of the football match between France and USSR . The new stadium also hosted the 1972 Coupe de France Final between Olympique de Marseille and Bastia on 4 June 1972, and

12626-557: Was fired. The organisation of the 1987 Tour de France was taken over by Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet. He was not successful in acquiring more funds, and was fired within one year. Months before the start of the 1988 Tour, director Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet was replaced by Xavier Louy. 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

12744-399: 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

12862-573: 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

12980-402: Was in the maillot jaune late in the Tour, in position to win, when his own team sacked him for a possible doping infraction; 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. It was during this Tour that a UCI official

13098-545: Was influential in facilitating the participation in the 1983 Tour by amateur riders from the Eastern Bloc and Colombia. In 1984, for the first time, the Société du Tour de France organized the Tour de France Féminin , a version for women. It was run in the same weeks as the men's version, and it was won by Marianne Martin . While the global awareness and popularity of the Tour grew during this time, its finances became stretched. Goddet and Lévitan continued to clash over

13216-475: Was no alternate winner named. 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. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Tour started in late August, the first time since the end of World War II that

13334-399: Was not held from 1915 to 1918 and 1940 to 1946 due to the two World Wars . As the Tour gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened and gained more international participation. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams , with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite. Traditionally, the bulk of

13452-483: Was quoted as saying, "These guys are crazy, and the sooner they start learning, the better." 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

13570-530: 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

13688-405: 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

13806-533: Was the only Tour to have a winner with a clear biological passport. 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

13924-428: 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 as "an experiment". The Tour returned to trade teams in 1969 with a suggestion that national teams could come back every few years, but this has not happened since. In

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