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The Tour de France is also known as Le Tour or La Grande Boucle.
There have been four cyclists who have won the tour five times: Jacques Anquetil of France (1957 and 1961-1964) Eddy Merckx of Belgium (1969-1972 and 1974) Bernard Hinault of France (1978-1979, 1981-1982, and 1985) Miguel Indurain of Spain (1991-1995), the first competitor to win five consecutive races.
Lance Armstrong held the record for most Tour de France wins (seven) but he was stripped of those wins in 2012.
France has had more winners than any other country. (36)
Three Americans have won: Greg LeMond (1986, 1989, 1990), Lance Armstrong (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) and Floyd Landis (2006). Both Armstrong and Landis have had their titles stripped due to allegations of doping.
The winner of the race is the person with the overall shortest accumulated time.
There are two rest days.
Jerseys: YELLOW – Overall leader of the race. The yellow jersey was introduced into the race in 1919 as yellow was the color of paper the French newspaper (formerly L’Auto, now L’Equipe) that sponsored the race was printed on.
RED POLKA DOT – Worn by the cyclist with the best accumulated time in the mountain segments.
GREEN – Worn by the cyclist with the most sprinting points, awarded for intermediate and final sprints on flat terrain.
WHITE – Worn by the Tour’s best rider 25 and under.
Timeline: 1903 – Henri Desgrange, a reporter and cyclist, creates the Tour de France.
1903 – Maurice Garin of France is the first cyclist to win the race.
1910 – First time the race goes through the Pyrenees.
1989 – Greg Lemond defeats Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds, the smallest margin
of victory so far (as of 2013 race).
1999-2005 – Lance Armstrong wins seven times in a row.
2003 – 100th Anniversary, but not the 100th race (the race was cancelled 11 times during WWI and WWII).
July 24, 2005 – Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive Tour De France.
September 20, 2007 – Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, is stripped of his title when an arbitration panel rules in favor of the USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency). Landis, the first Tour de France winner stripped of the title, initially maintained his innocence but later admitted to doping and accused others, including Lance Armstrong, of doing the same.
October 22, 2012 – The International Cycling Union announces that Armstrong is being stripped of his Tour de France titles and is being banned from professional cycling for life.
October 26, 2012 – The International Cycling Union announces that no one will be declared the winner of the Tour de France from 1999-2005, after Lance Armstrong is stripped of his titles.
December 14, 2012 – The organizers of the Tour de France announce that the 2014 Tour de France will start in Leeds, England.
July 5-July 27, 2014 – The 101st Tour de France takes place. The winner is Vincenzo Nibali of Italy.
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