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The Tour de France is among the biggest cycling competitions in the World, but it is also one of the most popular. But what is the secret of the Grande Boucle?
History of the Tour de France
The first edition of the Tour de France took place in 1903 under the impetus of Henri Desgrange and Géo Lefèvre in order to boost the sales of the newspaper L'Auto. The race takes place every year at the same time and has only had two periods of interruption, during the first and second world wars.
What is the Tour de France?
The Tour de France is a stage cycling competition that, as its name implies, passes through most of France. In some years, the race may also cross other border countries.
Along with the Giro in Italy and the Vuelta in Spain, the Tour de France is among the most prestigious stage races in the world.
The Tour brings the biggest international cycling teams to the start and lasts for three weeks. The race is very popular and this popularity extends far beyond France as it is broadcast in nearly 200 countries. It is the third most watched sports competition in the world after the Summer Olympics and the World Cup of soccer.
Who organizes the Tour de France?
The Tour de France has been organized by the company Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) since its founding in 1992. It is a subsidiary of the Amaury press group, which notably owns the newspaper L'Equipe.
In addition to the Tour de France, and other cycling races such as Paris-Nice or Paris-Roubaix, Amaury Sport Organisation organizes other sporting events such as the Dakar Rally or the Paris Marathon.
Since 2007, Christian Prudhomme has been the director of the Tour de France.
The classification and distinctive jerseys
The winner of the Tour de France is designated at the finish in Paris on the Champs Elysees after three weeks of racing. It is the rider who accumulates the least total time at the finish.
Throughout the race, the runners at the top of the various rankings are required to wear several distinctive jerseys:
- The yellow jersey is worn by the overall leader;
- The dot jersey is worn by the leader of the mountain classification;
- The green jersey is worn by the best sprinter;
- The white jersey is worn by the best placed young rider under 25 in the overall classification.
- Each day, the Combativity Award awarded by a jury rewards the most combative rider of the stage who will wear a red bib the following day. At the end of the tour, a super-combative is also elected.
In addition to the individual ranking, there is also a team ranking that takes into account the cumulative time of the top three riders from each team at the finish.
It is possible for a rider to be the leader of more than one classification, but then he or she can only wear one distinctive jersey during the race. During the stages, these jerseys are thus worn by proxy by the second rider in said classification.
The 2020 edition of the Tour de France
The 2020 edition of the Tour de France crowned rider Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) the winner of the event at the end of a suspenseful penultimate time trial stage during which he recovered the yellow jersey that Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) had been wearing for 11 stages. In doing so, he became the second youngest winner of the Tour de France.
Tadej Pogacar also won the best young rider and best climber classifications.
Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick Step), meanwhile, won the best sprinter classification and Movistar triumphed in the team classification.
It was Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), ranked 11th, who finished as the top French rider in this 107th Tour de France.
The main winners of the Tour de France
There are four riders to have won the Tour de France five times: they are Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
Christopher Froome, who is still active, is the closest to that record with four Tour de France wins to his credit.
Raymond Poulidor, meanwhile, has entered the hearts of the French for having finished eight times on the podium without ever managing to win any edition.
The Etape du Tour
In 1993, ASO made it possible for many cyclosportives and cycling enthusiasts to make their dreams come true by creating L'Etape du Tour, a race that allows non-professional cyclists from around the world to compete for the duration of a race on the route of a real Tour de France stage.
The Tour de France is among the biggest cycling competitions around the world, on par with the Olympic Games or the World Cycling Championships.
