History UsefulNotes / TourDeFrance

* '''Mountains classification:''' Also called "king of the mountains" classification, this competition works like the points classification, except that this one is about coming over tops of mountains. A stage finish on the highest mountains, categorized 1 and HC (Hors Categorié - beyond category) , doubles the usual points for winning such a mountain sprint elsewhere on the stage - a change which was made to keep the top riders able to take this jersey, instead of an unknown breakaway rider who'd fizzle out late on a stage. The leading rider of this competition wears a white jersey with red dots, also called the polka-dot jersey. In case of a tie, the rider who has won the most HC-climbs wins. If that is tied too, the rider with most category 1 wins takes it. If that too is a tie, category two will be decisive, then three and finally four. If all of those are tied, general classification becomes the tiebreaker.

* '''Tours finished (16):''' %% Active rider with most Tour finishes is Pierre Rolland (12)

* '''Youth classification (3 times):''' %% Eligible riders with most wins: Pogacar eligible in 2023.

* Combativity Award: Van Aert

* ArtifactTitle: "Hors Categorie" (outside category) for the hardest climbs. It used to be that the hardest climbs were given separate points scales, not only from the other categories but from ''each other'' as well; hence, they really ''didn't'' fall into any category. Now, "Hors Categorie" [[LogicBomb is itself a category]], with all the "outside category" climbs given the same scale.
** One story behind categories in general is that the categories were given to climb to help the cars that follow the pack, to tell them which gear they had to set the car in to be able to get over a climb. "Hors Categorie" was given to climbs that cars were not expected to be able to climb.

*** This trope is so prevalent among sprinters that a sprinter who is just a bit more versatile than the others gets a big advantage. While he's able to keep up with--and even beat--the top sprinters of the world consistently, Peter Sagan won the points classification seven times from 2012-2019[[note]]He was disqualified from the Tour in 2017, or it could easily have been eight[[/note]] mainly because he can do ''very'' well on mid-mountain stages that pure sprinters generally only race to complete. His ability to contest sprint points and finishes that pure sprinters can't--as well as the sprint points and finishes pure sprinters generally ''do'' contest--allowed him to win the green jersey in 2014 [[CurbStompBattle by 149 points]][[note]]His lead was so great that he was uncatchable in the competition for the last three stages[[/note]] even though he didn't win any stages. This feat led the Tour to change the points system in 2015 to give the pure sprinters a fighting chance at the green jersey. These changes only slowed Sagan down in his successful bid to win the green jersey in 2015; he won the jersey by 66 points despite (again) not winning a stage, though he did have to work harder for it.

* [[DownToTheLastPlay Down To The Last Time Trial]]: Several versions of the race have ended like this, most notably in 1989 where the final stage was a 24,5 km time trial. Laurent Fignon had a 50 second lead on Greg [=LeMond=], but the American beat the Frenchman by 58 seconds, taking home the race by the smallest margin in race history. 1989 was the last year to end the race on a time trial, leading to a format where the last stage will be a sprinters' duel, usually without any general classification contenders doing anything.

* FollowTheLeader: Yellow jerseys are very common when it comes to leader's jerseys in professional cycling races. A list of leader's jerseys in different cycling races can be found [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_jersey here]].
* HarderThanHard: Climbs are rated from Fourth Category (least hard) to First Category (hardest). And then there is Hors Categorie ([[ReadingsAreOffTheScale out of category]]).

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: Possibly with Chris Froome. Before 2011, he was a decent rider with occasional flashes of brilliance. Then he TookALevelInBadass, coming second in the Vuelta a España in 2011. Soon after, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis bilharzia]] the previous year (and likely had had the infection for years prior), and been receiving treatment for it. With the disease apparently in remission since a brief relapse early in 2012, his performance has improved significantly. And then some, as evidenced by four Tour wins in five years.

** In addition, the various competitions have different sponsors; in 2020, these were LCL for the general classification (yellow jersey), Škoda for the points classification (green jersey), E.Leclerc for the mountains classification (polka-dot jersey), and Krys for the young-rider classification (white jersey).

* [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead Wearing A Flag On Your Shirt]]: This being the biggest cycling race in the world, expect to see several national champions, especially since most European, as well as the Canadian, championships are held close to this race.

Most winning riders in the different competitions of the race are following:

* '''Points classification (7 times):''' Peter Sagan (Slovakia) - 2012-2016, 2018-2019 %% Second most wins among currently active riders: Michael Matthews, Mark Cavendish, and Sam Bennett - one each.
* '''Mountains classification (7 times):''' Richard Virenque (France) - 1994-1997, 1999, 2003-2004 %% Currently active rider with most wins: Rafal Majka (Poland) - 2014, 2016
* '''Youth classification (3 times):''' %% Eligible riders with most wins: Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogačar, one win each. Bernal eligible through 2022, Pogačar eligible through 2023.

%% Note for potential editors: Same team implies same UCI license. Second most wins of currently existing teams: Sky, Astana, Trek (As Radioshack-Nissan) and EF Education First (as Garmin-Cervelo) - one each.
* '''Combativity award (4 times):''' Eddy Merckx (Belgium) - 1969-1970, 1974-1975 %% Currently active riders with most wins: Daniel Martin, Warren Barguil, Peter Sagan, Jeremy Roy, Julian Alaphilippe and Alessandro De Marchi - one each.

[[folder:2022 competition leaders]]

* Mountains classification: Vingegaard [[note]]Worn by Simon Geschke (Germany, Cofidis)[[/note]]

* Mountains classification: Simon Geschke (Germany, Cofidis)

* General classification: Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates)

* Mountains classification: Simon Deschke (Germany, Cofidis)
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1997 or later[[/note]]: Pogačar [[note]]Held by Thomas Pidcock(United Kingdon, Ineos Grenadiers)[[/note]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSmuJywafBU This crash happened on stage 9]]. Both riders went on to complete the race.

* General classification: Wout van Aert (Belgium, Jumbo Visma)
* Points classification: Van Aert[[note]]Held by Fabio Jakobsen(Netherlands, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl)[[/note]]
* Mountains classification: Magnus Cort Nielsen (Denmark, EF Education-Easy Post)
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1997 or later[[/note]]: Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates)
* Team classification: Jumbo-Visma
[[/folder]]

[[folder:2021 competition winners]]

The Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 15 countries and four continents. It enjoys a large following on French television every year, not only because of the competition aspect but also because of its "touristic" value, since it goes through a number of [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues regions]] and their beautiful landscapes French people are proud of, with commentators talking a bit about local cultures and history in addition to sports matters.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: As common in cycling as MinorInjuryOverreaction is in [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball football]].

[[folder:2020 competition winners]]
* General classification: Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates)
* Points classification: Sam Bennett (Ireland, Deceuninck–Quick-Step)
* Mountains classification: Pogačar
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1995 or later[[/note]]: Pogačar
* Team classification: Movistar
* Combativity Award: Marc Hirschi (Switzerland, Team Sunweb)
[[/folder]]

The Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 15 countries and four continents. It enjoys a large following on French television every year, not only because of the competition aspect but also because of its "touristic" value, since it goes through a number of [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues regions]] and their beautiful landscapes French people are proud of, with commentators talking a bit about local cultures and history in addition to sport matters.

[[folder:2020 competition winners]]

* Points classification: Sam Bennett (Ireland, Deceuninck–Quick-Step)

* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1995 or later[[/note]]: Pogačar
* Team classification: Movistar
* Combativity Award: Marc Hirschi (Switzerland, Team Sunweb)

[[folder:2019 competition winners]]
* General classification: Egan Bernal (Colombia, Team Ineos)
* Points classification: Peter Sagan (Slovakia, Bora-Hansgrohe)
* Mountains classification: Romain Bardet (France, [=AG2R=] La Mondiale)
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1994 or later[[/note]]: Egan Bernal (Colombia, Team Ineos)

* Combativity Award: Julian Alaphilippe (France, Deceuninck–Quick-Step)

The Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 15 countries and four continents. It enjoys a large following on French television every year, not only because of the sport but also because of its "touristic" value, since it goes through a number of [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues regions]] and their beautiful landscapes French people are proud of, with commentators talking a bit about local cultures and history in addition to sport matters.

The Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 15 countries and four continents. It enjoys a large following on French television every year, not only because of the sport but also because of its "touristic" value, since it goes through a number of [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues regions]] and their beautiful landscapes French people are proud of, with commentators talking a bit about local cultures.

* EpicRace: ''The'' epic race in cycling. The other two grand tours, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, also count, but [=TdF=] is the biggest.

* ReleaseDateChange: The 2020 edition had to be bumped up two months (from June-July to August-September) due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic.

* {{Retcon}}: Lance Armstrong's victories have been officially wiped from the records after discovery of his doping. No official winners have been appointed in his place, in great part because most of the podium riders are known to have used [=PEDs=] or other illegal performance-enhancing methods at the time.

Tour de France. Twenty-one days of cycling about 3500km (2175mi) through UsefulNotes/{{France}}, with stages on flat terrain, in the hills and in the mountains, often totaling an average race speed of about 40 kph for the entire distance. In this race, everyone has an agenda. Whether it is to win a stage for themselves, or helping someone win either the general classification, or one of the secondary classifications (points classification, mountains classification, youth competition, team classification), and you can easily expect everyone to be at the top of their form when they're in this race. It's currently considered the biggest race in the sport, and is part of the {{UsefulNotes/UCI World Tour}}, and is one of the three grand tours (Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia are the two others). The race was started in 1903, and has been held every year since then, except for the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII periods, with a total of 101 races being held.

Tour de France. Twenty-one days of cycling about 3500km (2175mi) through UsefulNotes/{{France}}, with stages on flat terrain, in the hills and in the mountains, often totaling an average race speed of about 40 kph for the entire distance. In this race, everyone has an agenda. Whether it is to win a stage for themselves, or helping someone win either the general classification, or one of the secondary classifications (points classification, mountains classification, youth competition, team classification), and you can easily expect everyone to be at the top of their form when they're in this race. It's currently considered the biggest race in the sport, and is part of the {{UsefulNotes/UCI World Tour}}, and is one of the three grand tours (Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia are the two others).

The race was started in 1903, and has been held every year since then, except for the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII periods, with a total of 101 races being held.

Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 15 countries and four continents. Like the sport in general, Tour de France is home to controversies about doping and corruption, to a point where a YMMV can even be placed next to the name of certain winners. The most winning rider in Tour de France history was [[RetGone Lance]] [[UnPerson Armstrong]], with seven victories between 1999 and 2005. As of the 22nd October 2012, Armstrong has been stripped of his titles because of doping. Now the most winning riders are Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Miguel Induraín with five each.

Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 13 countries and three continents. Like the sport in general, Tour de France is home to controversies about doping and corruption, to a point where a YMMV can even be placed next to the name of certain winners. The most winning rider in Tour de France history was [[RetGone Lance]] [[UnPerson Armstrong]], with seven victories between 1999 and 2005. As of the 22nd October 2012, Armstrong has been stripped of his titles because of doping. Now the most winning riders are Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Miguel Induraín with five each.

Despite this being a French event, no French rider has actually won the race since Bernard Hinault won in 1985, and since Richard Virenque finished second in 1997, it took 17 years before another French rider was on the podium, as Jean-Christophe Peraud finished second and Thibaut Pinot finished third in 2014. The following nations have a Tour de France winner (in order of first victory): France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Netherlands, USA, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, Colombia.

** Bernard Hinault (France)[[note]]Hinault is also the most recent French winner of Tour de France[[/note]] - 1978-1979, 1981-1982, 1985

* '''Points classification (7 times):''' Peter Sagan (Slovakia) - 2012-2016, 2018-2019 %% Second most wins among currently active riders: Michael Matthews and Mark Cavendish - one each.

* '''Youth classification (3 times):''' %% Eligible rider with most wins: Egan Bernal, one win. Eligible for until (and including) 2022.

** Banesto/Movistar - 6 times - 1991, 1999 (both as Banesto), 2015-2016, 2018-2019 (as Movistar)

[[folder:2020 competition leaders]]
* General classification: Primož Roglic (Slovenia, Team Jumbo-Visma)
* Points classification: Peter Sagan (Slovakia, Bora-Hansgrohe)
* Mountains classification: Benoit Cosnefroy (France, [=AG2R=] La Mondiale)
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1995 or later[[/note]]: Egan Bernal (Colombia, Team Ineos Grenadiers)

* Combativity Award (Stage 9): Marc Hirschi (Switzerland, Team Sunweb)

* Combativity Award: Julian Alaphilippe (France, Deceuninck-[=QuickStep=])

*** Case in point, legendary Italian sprinter "Super Mario" Cipollini. While he completed Giro d'Italia six times (winning the points competition thrice), he never completed a single Tour de France. Cipollini used to win several stages in the first week, only to shamelessely abandon the Tour at the first or second stage in the mountain.

* {{Determinator}}: There's an award for biggest determinator every year, called the "combativity award". Aside from the award, [=TdF=] could have it's own subpage on the matter. An article about it can be found [[http://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/tour-features/how-tough-are-tour-de-france-riders here]]

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: Doping in the Tour de France has its own page on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]], and it also has dedicated pages on the death of Tom Simpson (1967), the Festina affair (1998), doping in the 1998 Tour as a whole (with many teams other than Festina involved), doping in the 1999 Tour, the Lance Armstrong case, the Floyd Landis case (2006), Operación Puerto (2006, not only cycling, but many cyclists involved), and doping in the 2007 Tour. Note that most cases of doping that can currently be found in the news are either those of the past, accidental (e.g. clenbuterol in China), or biological passport cases (a system criticized by pros, of the kind one would expect to be clean, and experts). Nor is doping the only way that people have cheated in the Tour de France; way back in 1904 (the second year of the race), nine riders including the top four finishers were disqualified for [[RefugeInAudacity riding cars and/or trains through stages instead of racing legitimately in them]].

** Some of the other winners, like Floyd Landis in 2006, and Alberto Contador in 2010, have been stripped of their wins due to doping violations; in these cases the victories have defaulted to the highest remaining cyclist (Óscar Pereiro in 2006, Andy Schleck in 2010). The Tour organizers excluded Bjarne Riis' 1996 win from the official records after Riis confessed to doping, but the Union Cycliste Internationale invoked statute of limitation[[note]]8 years[[/note]], and the Tour organizers now list him as winner on their official page, with a note that said he has confessed to doping. Excluding only Riis would be a major DoubleStandard, as he's hardly the only confessed or proven doper on the list of winners.

* TropeCoTropeOfTheWeek: Most teams in the competition are named after their main sponsor(s). The only one exceptions in recent years are Astana and Katusha. Astana is sponsored by the Kazakhstan government and some big Kazakh companies (Astana is the name of the capital city), while Katusha it sponsored by several big Russian companies.

*** This trope is so prevalent among sprinters that a sprinter who is just a bit more versatile than the others gets a big advantage. While he's able to keep up with--and even beat--the top sprinters of the world consistently, Peter Sagan won the points classification in 2012-2016 mainly because he can do ''very'' well on mid-mountain stages that pure sprinters generally only race to complete. His ability to contest sprint points and finishes that pure sprinters can't--as well as the sprint points and finishes pure sprinters generally ''do'' contest--allowed him to win the green jersey in 2014 [[CurbStompBattle by 149 points]][[note]]His lead was so great that he was uncatchable in the competition for the last three stages[[/note]] even though he didn't win any stages. This feat led the Tour to change the points system in 2015 to give the pure sprinters a fighting chance at the green jersey. These changes only slowed Sagan down in his successful bid to win the green jersey in 2015; he won the jersey by 66 points despite (again) not winning a stage, though he did have to work harder for it.

** In addition, the various competitions have different sponsors; in 2017, these were LCL for the general classification (yellow jersey), Škoda for the points classification (green jersey), Carrefour for the mountains classification (polka-dot jersey), and Krys for the young-rider classification (white jersey).

* Mountains classification: Benoit Consefroy (France, [=AG2R=] La Mondiale)

[[folder:2019 competition winners]]
* General classification: Egan Bernal (Colombia, Team Ineos)

* Mountains classification: Romain Bardet (France, [=AG2R=] La Mondiale)
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1994 or later[[/note]]: Egan Bernal (Colombia, Team Ineos)

* Combativity Award: Julian Alaphilippe (France, Deceuninck-[=QuickStep=])

[[folder:2018 competition winners]]
* General classification: Geraint Thomas (Great Britain, Team Sky)

* Mountains classification: Julian Alaphilippe (France, [=QuickStep-Floors=])
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1993 or later[[/note]]: Pierre Latour ([=AG2R=] La Mondiale, France)

* Combativity Award: Daniel Martin (Ireland, UAE Team Emirates)