The Tour de France It is the most prestigious and demanding cycling race in the world that takes place every year during the month of July and lasts about three weeks. The route includes about 3,500km divided into 21 stages that cross all France and, sometimes, even the neighboring countries. It is no coincidence that it is also known as the “Grande Boucle” That is “the large tour” because of the ring route that embraces the entire French territory.
The race has an origin that has its roots in a simple but revolutionary idea: to increase the sales of a sports newspaper. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the French sports press was dominated by the newspaper “Le Vélo”. To contrast it, the director of the rival newspaper “The car”Henri Desgrange, commissioned his journalists to conceive something extraordinary to raise sales. It was the young Géo Lefèvre who proposed one Cycling race in stages Through all of France: an idea as bold as it is brilliant, which would have changed the history of cycling forever.
The plan worked perfectly, with the first edition of 1903 which was held on six stages won by Maurice Garin Upon arrival at Ville-D’Avray, just outside Paris. A symbolic intuition also contributed to the success of the newspaper: the runner’s shirt at the top of the general classification it was colored yellowjust like the pages of “The car”printed on paper of that color. A tradition remained to date and which has also inspired other runs, such as the Giro d’Italiain which the pink jersey is a tribute to the color of the Gazzetta dello Sport.
However, the tour did not always play: it was suspended during the two world wars, between 1915 and 1918 and then from 1940 to 1946. In the over 120 years of history, the tour has gone through wars, scandals, technical innovations and cultural transformations. From Maurice Garin to Tadej Pogačar, passing through legends such as Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong, La Corsa wrote epic sports pages. Anquetil, Merckx, Indurain and Hinault were the most winning athletes, but the big duels are also unforgettable: Anquetil against Poulidor, Fignon against Lemond, Contador against Schleck. The one in progress, from 5 to 27 July 2025, is edition number 112. But how was the tour really initially and what makes it so special today?
History and origins of the Tour de France
The Tour de France was born in 1903 as a great editorial bet to relaunch the sales of the French sports newspaper “The car”today I know how “The team”. In those years France lived the Belle Époquea period of cultural ferment and growing passion for sport and bicycle. The race takes shape from a revolutionary idea linked to the world of press: “The car”a French sports newspaper, he was looking for a way to increase his sales and overcome the rival “Le Vélo”.
The real turning point came in 1902: Géo Lefèvrea young editor of only 23 years old, proposed to the director of the newspaper Henri Desgrange a crazy idea for the time, but ingenious. A long, long, massacring cycling race capable of crossing the whole of France and winning the attention of thousands of readers. The idea of the Tour de France was born. The name itself was a powerful call: it evoked the “Tour de France des Compagonsi”the training journey that the ancient French craftsmen made through the cities of the country to perfect their profession.
The first edition of the 1903 was an extreme test bench: six stages for over 2,400 km on dirt roads, routes often faced at night and without any technical assistance. The riders pedaling with heavy bicycles, without changes, transporting from only the air chambers and tools. Of the 60 parties from Montgeron, south of Paris, only a handful cut the final goal. To triumph was Maurice Garina French naturalized Italian chimney sweep, which completed the path at an average speed of 25 km/h And in addition to glory, he also won a booty of 6,075 francs. Upon arrival, more than 20,000 people rushed to attend the scene, while “The car” He printed a special edition of 130,000 copies: an unprecedented editorial success.
Already the following year, in 1904The scandal overwhelmed the race: the first four classified were disqualified for violating the regulation, including Garin himself. Some had taken trains, others had been helped by local fans who had hindered rivals by launching nails or even attacking them. Paradoxically, these episodes made the race even more famous, fueling the myth and charm of the tour.
Over the years, the race evolved: in 1905 the mountain climbslike the Ballon d’Alsace, and they began to define the first team strategies. In 1919 the yellow jerseyadopted by the organizers on the pressure of the press to make the leader of the race more visible and also chosen in honor of the color of the card on which he was printed “The car “. And in 1930, with the creation of the advertising caravan – A parade of colored vehicles and sponsors preceding each stage by distributing gadgets.
How the Tour de France has evolved, from Grand Départ to scandals
In the 1950s a double turning point came on the tour: in 1952 The first uphill arrivals were inserted which included the triptych as the first “experiment” Alpe d’huez-Sestrières-Puy-de-dôme All three goals saw the Italian Fausto Coppi dominate and win his second Tour de France. In the 1954 Instead the Grand Départthat is, both the idea and the race can start from a foreign country. Since then, the departures of the race in foreign territory have been 26.
Over the years, the tour has seen runners become legends thanks to very accommodation duels such as that between Jacques Anquetil (the first to win the tour 5 times) e Raymond Poulidor in the 1960s. Another duel that inflamed the race was in the 1940s between the two Italians Gino Bartali And Fausto Coppi With both of them who can include two victories in their heads of the tour in their career. In the 80s and 90s, the rivalry between the American Greg Lemond and French Laurent Fignon He gave incredible emotions. In 1989, Lemond won the tour for just 8 seconds, the smaller margin ever, thanks to an extraordinary chronometer test that overturned the fate of the race at the last moment. Lemond also holds the record to have been the first non -European cyclist to triumph at the Tour de France. You cannot then forget the comparison between Eddy Merckx and the Spaniard Luis Ocana in the early 1970s.
These legendary duels made the tour a fascinating race followed all over the world, but unfortunately there were no lack of dark moments related to doping. The use of prohibited substances to improve performance, such as theEPO (erythropoietin)has undermined the credibility of many victories and led to disqualifications and revocations of titles. Among the scandals, the one that marked the most the race is undoubtedly the case of Lance Armstrong. The American cyclist won seven consecutive editions between the 1999 and 2005becoming a legend. However, after years of suspicions and accusations, in 2012 a team doping system was discovered involving Armstrong and his companions. Armstrong was deprived of all his titles and banned from professional cycling.
Record of victories and some statistics on the Tour de France
Among the cyclists who won the tour, four can boast five wins each:
- Miguel Indurain (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995).
- Bernard Hinault (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985).
- Eddy Merckx (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974).
- Jacques Anquetil (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964).
During its long history, the Tour de France has seen cyclists of all age triumphs, but the youngest ever to win was Henri Cornetwhich won the 1904 edition only 19 years and 344 days. At the opposite extreme, the oldest runner to conquer the tour was the Belgian Firmin Lambotwhich in 1922 won the race to 36 years and 129 days. As for the stage victories, however, the record belongs to the British today Mark Cavendishwhich in 2024 conquered his 35th stageovercoming Eddy Merckx.
In addition to the famous yellow jersey, the Tour de France assigns other special stitches that reward different types of cyclists:
- Green jersey: goes to the leader of the points classification, that is, to the best sprinter and to the most constant runner in stage arrivals.
- Polka dot shirt: rewards the best climber, or those who earn more points on the classified climbs of the tour.
- White jersey: It is assigned to the best young man in the general classification, reserved for runners under the age of 25.
