Tour de France

The Tour de France is a cycling competition held mainly in France every year, with occasional crossings into neighboring countries.

And about every other year, a stage is dedicated to our giant of Provence: Mont Ventoux. A difficult stage, because our mountain gives cyclists a hard time!

The Tour has grown in popularity over the years, its duration has increased and it is now known the world over. Cyclists come from all over the world, with up to 40 nationalities taking part.

The Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour of Spain are the three grand tours, the most prestigious events in road cycling.

The Tour de France is the oldest and generally considered the most prestigious of the three. Traditionally, the race takes place mainly in July. Although the route changes each year, the race format remains the same, with at least one time trial, passage through the mountain ranges of the Pyrenees and Alps and the finish on the Champs Elysée in Paris. Modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 stages spread over a period of 23 days, covering almost 3,500 kilometers.

The Tour is one of the UCI World Tour events, and the number of teams varies between 20 and 22, each consisting of nine riders. After each stage, the riders’ times are added to their previous times. The rider with the best overall time is the race leader and wears the coveted yellow jersey. Although the general classification is the most famous, other secondary classifications are organized during the Tour: the points classification for sprinters, the mountain classification for climbers, the youth classification for riders under 26, and the team classification for the fastest teams.

Visit the official Tour de France website