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Tour Xtra |
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List of Tour winners 1903-2007
The Polka Dot Jersey explained
(including list of winners 1975-2007)
Combativity Classification & Intermediate Sprints Classification (including lists of winners)
Other Classifications & Awards (including lists of winners)
Time trials in the Tour de France
Most Tour de France starts per rider Most podium finishes in the Tour de France Most stage wins per rider in the Tour de France Longest solo rides in the Tour de France Fastest stages in the Tour de France
Longest, shortest & fastest Tours Longest stages in the Tour de France Cities that hosted most stage finishes in the Tour de France Giro & Tour & Vuelta in one year
Tour de France victims Strikes in the Tour de France Foreign Tour starts Tour de France Directors |
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About the Tour de France |
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The Tour de France is the biggest annual sport event in the world. It is organised every year since 1903, with some exceptions during the two World Wars. France has a couple of things to be proud of: the Eiffel Tower, the TGV, the Notre Dame, Napoleon, the Venus of Milo, the Arc de Triomphe, the Bastille, the Mont Saint Michel, the Eurotunnel to Great Britain and: the Tour de France.
In 1903, plans were made by Henri Desgrange, director and chief editor of the L’Auto newspaper, to organise a cycling Tour through France. The plans found their origin in the battle between French sport newspapers around the beginning of the twentieth century. Not less than thirteen of the sort competed with eachother to be the biggest. The biggest was Le Vélo, which benefited of the sudden rise in popularity of the cycling sport. On October 16, 1900, Desgrange founded a new paper: L’Auto-Vélo. Le Vélo reacted by taking Desgrange to court, where they demanded him to reduce the name to L’Auto.
Le Vélo succeeded, but its director lost his sympathy amongst the public due to his political attitudes in the Alfred Dreyfus-case (Dreyfus had been found guilty of high-treason in 1894, but was later exonerated of the crime). Meanwhile, Desgrange tried to give Le Vélo the definitive knock-out and made plans to organise the first Tour de France - an immense task for the riders those days. The plans were worked out by Géo Lefèvre and the first Tour was announced in a small article on the front page of L’Auto, on January 19, 1903. The reactions were mostly enthusiastic: sponsors offered prizes immediately and the Tour became a success. The number of copies of L’Auto (now L’Equipe) increased from 30,000 to 65,000 per day...
Nowadays, the Tour de France is part of the organisation called Société du Tour de France, which has 42 fulltime employees and is part of the Amaury Sport Organisation. During the actual Tour, another 200 people are hired. The Société organises other road races too: Tour of Qatar, Paris–Nice, Critérium International, Paris–Roubaix (for elite and espoirs), Flèche Wallonne (for men and women), Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Tour de Picardie, Tour de l‘Avenir, Paris–Tours (for elite and espoirs) and Tour du Faso.
For Desgrange’s successors as Tour director, see Other Tour de France trivia. |
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Xtra Index |