The Tour de France (French for "Tour of France"), is often referred to as La Grande Boucle, Le Tour or The Tour. Whatever you call it, the Tour de France is the world's most high profile bicycle race. It is a very demanding event, held for three weeks every July and is comprised of approximately 20 professional teams of nine riders per team. The competitors race a total distance of approximately 3,600 km (2,235 miles) traveling through France and surrounding countries.
Sporting aspects
The route
Running from Saturday June 30th to Sunday July 22th 2012, the 99th Tour de France will be made up of 1 prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,497 kilometres.These stages have the following profiles:
- 9 flat stages
- 4 medium mountain stages - one with a summit finish
- 5 mountain stages - two with a summit finish
- 2 individual time-trial stages
- 1 prologue
- 2 rest days
Distinctive aspects of the race
The 2012 Tour de France will have 25 mountain level two, level one or highest level mountain passes or summit fi nishes.They will be divided up geographically in the following way:
- 1 in the Vosges
- 3 in the Jura
- 4 in the Swiss Jura
- 6 in the Alps
- 11 in the Pyrenees
9 new stage towns
Abbeville, Annonay Davézieux, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, La Planche des Belles Filles, Peyragudes, Porrentruy, Samatan, Tomblaine, Visé| The stages | |||||
| Stage | Type | Date | Start and Finish | Distance | Details |
| R | Wednesday 27 July | hors course |  | ||
| P | Prologue | Saturday 30 June | Liège > Liège | 6.4 km | |
| 1 | Plain | Sunday 1 July | Liège > Seraing | 198 km | |
| 2 | Plain | Monday 2 July | Visé > Tournai | 207.5 km | |
| 3 | Medium mountains | Tuesday 3 July | Orchies > Boulogne-sur-Mer | 197 km | |
| 4 | Plain | Wednesday 4 July | Abbeville > Rouen | 214.5 km | |
| 5 | Plain | Thursday 5 July | Rouen > Saint-Quentin | 196.5 km | |
| 6 | Plain | Friday 6 July | Épernay > Metz | 207.5 km | |
| 7 | Medium mountains | Saturday 7 July | Tomblaine > La Planche des Belles Filles | 199 km | |
| 8 | Medium mountains | Sunday 8 July | Belfort > Porrentruy | 157.5 km | |
| 9 | Individual time-trial | Monday 9 July | Arc-et-Senans > Besançon | 41.5 km | |
| R | Rest Day | Tuesday 10 July | Repos | | |
| 10 | High Mountains | Wednesday 11 July | Mâcon > Bellegarde-sur-Valserine | 194.5 km | |
| 11 | High Mountains | Thursday 12 July | Albertville > La Toussuire - Les Sybelles | 148 km | |
| 12 | Medium mountains | Friday 13 July | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Annonay Davézieux | 226 km | |
| 13 | Plain | Saturday 14 July | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Le Cap d’Agde | 217 km | |
| 14 | High Mountains | Sunday 15 July | Limoux > Foix | 191 km | |
| 15 | Plain | Monday 16 July | Samatan > Pau | 158.5 km | |
| R | Rest Day | Tuesday 17 July | Repos | | |
| 16 | High Mountains | Wednesday 18 July | Pau > Bagnères-de-Luchon | 197 km | |
| 17 | High Mountains | Thursday 19 July | Bagnères-de-Luchon > Peyragudes | 143.5 km | |
| 18 | Plain | Friday 20 July | Blagnac > Brive-la-Gaillarde | 222.5 km | |
| 19 | Individual time-trial | Saturday 21 July | Bonneval > Chartres | 53.5 km | |
| 20 | Plain | Sunday 22 July | Rambouillet > Paris Champs-Élysées | 120 km | |
Exclusive
Strikes, exclusions and disqualifications
In 1904 twelve riders, including winner Maurice Garin and all the stage winners, were disqualified for various reasons including illegal use of cars and trains.
In 1907 Emile Georget was placed last in the day's results after changing his bicycle outside a permitted area. Edmond Gentil, sponsor of the rival Alcyon team, withdrew all his riders in protest at what he considered too light a penalty. They included Louis Trousselier, the winner in 1905.
In 1912 and in 1913 Octave Lapize withdrew all his La Française team in protest at what he saw as the collusion of Belgian riders.
In 1913 as well, Odile Defraye pulled out of the race with painful legs and took the whole Alcyon team with him.
In 1920 half the field pulled out at Les Sables d'Olonne in protest at Desgrange's style of management.
In 1925 the threat of a strike ended Desgrange's plan that riders should all eat exactly the same amount of food each day.
In 1937 Sylvère Maes of Belgium withdrew all his national team after he considered his French rival, Roger Lapébie, had been punished too lightly for being towed uphill by car.
In 1950 the two Italian teams went home after the leader of the first team, Gino Bartali, thought a spectator had threatened him with a knife.
In 1950 much of the field got off their bikes and ran into the Mediterranean at Ste-Maxime. The summer had been unusually hot and some riders were said to have ridden into the sea without dismounting. All involved were penalised by the judges.
In 1966 riders went on strike near Bordeaux after drug tests the previous evening.
In 1968 journalists went on strike for a day after Félix Lévitan had accused them of watching "with tired eyes", his response to the writers' complaint that the race was dull.
In 1978 they rode slowly all day and then walked across the line at Valence d'Agen in protest at having to get up early to ride more than one stage in a day.
In 1982 striking steel workers halted the team time trial.
In 1987 photographers went on strike, saying cars carrying the Tour's guests were getting in their way.
In 1988 the race went on strike in a protest concerning a drugs test on Pedro Delgado.
In 1990 the organisers learned of a blockade by farmers in the Limoges area and diverted the race before it got there.
In 1991 riders refused to race for 40 minutes because a rider, Urs Zimmerman, was penalised for driving from one stage finish to the start of the next instead of flying.
In 1991 the PDM team went home after its riders fell ill one by one within 48 hours.
In 1992 activists of the Basque separatist movement bombed followers' cars overnight.
In 1997 Belgian sprinter Tom Steels was expelled from the race for throwing his drinking bottle at another rider in a bunch sprint at Marennes.
In 1998:
- The Festina team was disqualified after revelations of organised doping within the team.
- After this discovery, the race stopped in protest at what the riders saw as heavy-handed investigation of this and other doping allegations.
In 1999 demonstrating firemen stopped the race and pelted it with stink bombs.
In 2006 Floyd Landis was stripped of his title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone.
In 2007:
- Team Astana abandoned the race after Alexander Vinokourov was caught doping, and the Cofidis team withdrew the next day following Cristian Moreni failing a drug test
- Michael Rasmussen was removed by his team, Rabobank, while wearing the yellow jersey for lying about his whereabouts during a team training session in Mexico. This was an issue as by claiming to be in Mexico he was unavailable for random drugs tests in Europe where he was actually residing.
In 2008 Riccardo Ricco was kicked out of the race after testing positive for CERA
In 2008 Moisés Dueñas Nevado was kicked out of the race after testing positive for Erythropoietin
In 2008 Manuel Beltrán was kicked out of the race after testing positive for EPO
In 2010 Alberto Contador failed a doping test. After a series of events, the CAS finally in February 2012 declared Andy Schleck the new winner. Also in 2010 lead out man Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia) was disqualified after headbutting another rider, Julian Dean, as well as his blocking of Garmin-Transitions rider Tyler Farrar.
In 2011 Alexandr Kolobnev left the race after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide
Deaths
Cyclists who have died during the Tour de France:
- 1910: French racer Adolphe Helière drowned at the French Riviera during a rest day.
- 1935: Spanish racer Francisco Cepeda plunged down a ravine on the Col du Galibier.
- 1967: 13 July, Stage 13: Tom Simpson died of heart failure during the ascent of Mont Ventoux. Amphetamines were found in Simpson's jersey and blood.
- 1995: 18 July, Stage 15: Fabio Casartelli crashed at 88 km/h (55 mph) while descending the Col de Portet d'Aspet.
Another seven fatal accidents have occurred:
- 1934: A motorcyclist giving a demonstration in the velodrome of La Roche Sur Yon, to entertain the crowd before the cyclists arrived, died after he crashed at high speed.
- 1957: 14 July: Motorcycle rider Rene Wagter and passenger Alex Virot, a journalist for Radio Luxembourg, went off a mountain road near Ax-les-Thermes.
- 1958: An official, Constant Wouters, died after an accident with sprinter André Darrigade at the Parc des Princes.
- 1964: Twenty people died when a supply van hit a bridge in the Dordogne region, resulting in the highest tour-related death toll.
- 2000: A 12-year-old from Ginasservis, known as Phillippe, was hit by a car in the Tour de France publicity caravan.
- 2002: A seven-year-old boy, Melvin Pompele, died near Retjons after running in front of the caravan.
- 2009: 18 July, Stage 14: A spectator in her 60s was struck and killed by a police motorcycle while crossing a road along the route near Wittelsheim.
Statistics
n the early years of the Tour, cyclists rode individually, and were sometimes forbidden to ride together. This led to large gaps between the winner and the number two. Since the cyclists now tend to stay together in a peloton, the margins of the winner have become smaller, as the difference usually originates from time trials, breakaways or on mountain top finishes, or from being left behind the peloton. In the table below, the ten smallest margins between the winner and the second placed cyclists at the end of the Tour are given. The largest margin, by comparison, remains that of the first Tour in 1903: 2h 49m 45s between Maurice Garin and Lucien Pothier. The nine smallest margins between first and second placed riders are as follows: | Winning margin | Year | Opponents |
| 8" | Greg LeMond – Laurent Fignon | |
| 23" | Alberto Contador – Cadel Evans | |
| 32" | Óscar Pereiro – Andreas Klöden | |
| 38" | Jan Janssen – Herman Van Springel | |
| 40" | Stephen Roche – Pedro Delgado | |
| 48" | Bernard Thévenet – Hennie Kuiper | |
| 55" | Jacques Anquetil – Raymond Poulidor | |
| 58" | Carlos Sastre – Cadel Evans |
Stage wins
32 riders have won 10 or more stages: (including half-stages, excluding Team Time Trials). Riders who are still active are indicated in bold.| Rank | Name | Country | Wins |
| 1 | 34 | ||
| 2 | 28 | ||
| 3 | 25 | ||
| 4 | 22 | ||
| 22 | |||
| 6 | 20 | ||
| 20 | |||
| 8 | 19 | ||
| 9 | 17 | ||
| 10 | 16 | ||
| 16 | |||
| 16 | |||
| 13 | 15 | ||
| 14 | 13 | ||
| 13 | |||
| 16 | 12 | ||
| 12 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 21 | 11 | ||
| 11 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 24 | 10 | ||
| 10 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 10 |
Charles Pélissier (FRA) (1930, in addition to seven 2nd places)
Eddy Merckx (BEL) (1970, 1974)- Freddy Maertens (BEL) (1976, in addition to four 2nd and two 3rd places
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