Cafe Roubaix

2015 Post-Tour de France Criteriums

Location	First	Second	Third
Aalborg	Patrick Clausen	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Daniel Foder
Aalborg	Michael Valgren	Alex Rasmussen	Simon Dahl
Aalst	Peter Sagan	Chris Froome	Preben Van Hecke
Acht van Chaam	Robert Gesink	Daniel Teklehaimanot	Stef Clement
Antwerp	Greg Van Avermaet	Zdenek Stybar	Sep Vanmarcke
Bavikhove	Preben Van Hecke	Alberto Contador	Marcel Kittel
Boxmeer	Wout Poels	Robert Gesink	Daniel Teklehaimanot
Camors	Steven Tronet	Julien Simon	Warren Barguil
Castillon-la-Bataille	Romain Bardet	Chris Froome	Alexandre Geniez
Dijon	Pierre-Luc Perrichon	Alexis Vuillermoz	Thibaut Pinot
Emmen	John Degenkolb	Bauke Mollema	Robert Gesink
Etten-Leur	Chris Froome	Alberto Contador	Bauke Mollema
Hadsten	Søren Kragh Andersen	Patrick Clausen	Jonas Aaen Jorgensen
Heerlen	Simon Geschke	Wout Poels	Bram Tankink
Herentals	Greg Van Avermaet	Zdenek Stybar	Nairo Quintana
Kolding	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Michael Valgren	Mads Baadgaard Rahbek
Lisieux	Warren Barguil	Jeremy Roy	Thomas Voeckler
Lommel	Greg Van Avermaet	Peter Sagan	Kevin Hulsmans
Luxembourg	Zdenek Stybar	Bob Jungels	Stephen Cummings
Maarheeze	Lieuwe Westra	Steven Kruijswijk	Wout Poels
Maastricht	Wout Poels	Steven Kruijswijk	Peter Weening
Marcoles	Alexandre Geniez	Chris Froome	Romain Bardet
Mechelen	Chris Froome	Stephen Cummings	Preben Van Hecke
Ninove	Greg Van Avermaet	Chris Froome	Nairo Quintana
Oostvoorne	Bauke Mollema	Jos van Emden	Roy Curvers
Roeselare	Nairo Quintana	Chris Froome	Serge Pauwels
Roosendaal	Nairo Quintana	Bauke Mollema	Wout Poels
Sint-Niklaas	Chris Froome	Geraint Thomas	Preben Van Hecke
Steenwijk	Bauke Mollema	Albert Timmer	Pieter Weening
Surhuisterveen	Peter Sagan	Robert Gesink	Bauke Mollema
Thüngen	André Greipel	Nils Pollit	Marcel Sieberg
Tiel	Bauke Mollema	Lars Boom	Wilco Kelderman
Wateringen	Niki Terpstra	Dylan van Baarle	Robert Gesink
Wilrijk	Jurgen Roelandts	Preben Van Hecke	Sep Vanmarcke
Zevenbergen	Steven Kruijswijk	Wout Poels	Mathieu van der Poel

2015 Tour de France Conclusions

Chris Froome did a textbook race and although he didn’t look as strong as two year ago, when he scored his maiden Tour de France victory, his second victory is much more impressive, as the Brit overcame all the obstacles of the first week and gave proof of solid and flawless tactics, something which he looked to be lacking until this season. No one can argue that Froome – who also took the polka dot jersey – was the strongest cyclist out there, a man on a mission who took time out of his opponents on every type of terrain: flat, time trial and mountain. Once he did that, the 30-year-old Sky rider made his life much easier and could afford to lose a big chunk of his advantage on the last two mountain stages, before arriving in Paris with a second Tour de France trophy in the bag, which makes him one of the most successful riders in the race’s history since the end of World War ll.

This triumph was not just one of Froome’s, but of the whole Sky team, who made its homework before the race and played it perfectly during July, helping its leader gain time in a tough first week and in the end delivering a win expected since 2013. Sky came at the start with arguably its best and most powerful Tour de France line-up since the inception of the team and every single cyclist had a contribution to Froome’s overall victory, with the likes of Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas – who was one of the race’s revelations – and Wout Poels deserving an extra mention for their job on the mountains and for how they closed almost all the attacks. Precisely for this reason, it will be interesting to see what the three of them will do next year, when Porte and Thomas are poised to be Grand Tour leaders, while Poels will have to fill in the shoes of the Tasmanian, who’s leaving Sky on a high note at the end of this season.

Nairo Quintana – one of the most gifted climbers the world has ever seen – was sad at the end of the race, as he arrived at the conclusion that he has lost the overall victory in the first week, when he missed the split caused by the crosswinds in the Zelande stage and finished 1:28 behind Chris Froome. At a closer look, he’s half-right, because after that moment he had many opportunities to turn the tables on his favourite terrain, the mountains, but failed to deliver until the last two Alpine stages, which was too little, too late. Besides that, the Colombian paid dearly for having Alejandro Valverde in the team, the Spanish champion being more interested in securing his place on the podium, than helping his leader. If he’s to win the race in 2016, Quintana needs to be sure that he’ll be the sole captain of Movistar next year, although it will be difficult, considering the long and special relationship between Valverde and Eusebio Unzue, the general manager of the team.

Peter Sagan was the nearly-man of the race, finishing five times in second place and missing a stage win for the second season in a row. It was a major disappointment for the Slovak champion, who partially made up for it by taking the green jersey for the fourth time since 2012. Not even the change of regulation in the points standings made by the organizers could stop Sagan from winning the maillot verte with an incredible ease, a nice reward for one of the most consistent and talented riders in the Tour de France. More than sure, July left the 25-year-old Slovak hungry for more, so look out for him in this second half of the season, as he’ll try to add some important victories to his already impressive palmares.

Only the sixth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours, Vincenzo Nibali hoped to repeat his 2014 feat and take another overall victory in Le Tour, but it looked to be an almost impossible mission since the beginning of the race, as the Italian champion wasn’t on the top of his form and struggled in the first half of the competition, all these adding to the time he has lost in the second stage and to the failed attempt of clawing back some precious seconds on the northern cobbles. Despite falling short in his attempt of defending last year’s trophy, Nibali can still find reasons to be happy for his ride, as he put on the same aggressive spirit for which he’s known and appreciated, and surged away to take an epic win on La Toussuire, that eventually propelled him to fourth overall.

Alberto Contador was hoping at the start of the race to deliver that Giro-Tour double that is obsessing him for a couple of years now, but the Tinkoff-Saxo leader failed once again, the main reason being that he left too much energy on Italy’s roads in May, when he took his second Trofeo Senza Fine. Winning the Grande Boucle after a hard ride in the Corsa Rosa was a daring attempt from the 32-year-old Spaniard, who fought more with his heart than his legs, which couldn’t respond when Froome or Quintana attacked. To his credit, Contador tried to lit up the race and put pressure on his rivals, but it was obvious he can’t be a major protagonist. Still, people shouldn’t rush in writing him off, despite his below par performance, as 2016 we’ll see “El Pistolero” returning for one final shot at glory in the race that made him a star, almost a decade ago.

With Marcel Kittel out of the race, many were expecting a Mark Cavendish show in the sprints, but it wasn’t to be for the Manxman, who took only one stage, for the most part of the race staying in André Greipel’s shadow. A rider who made his Tour de France debut late in his career, when he was 29-years-old, the German cyclist of Lotto-Soudal proved to be the most powerful sprinter in the peloton, and helped by an excellent form, a perfect timing and a great team, he catapulted himself to four stage wins, making the 2015 edition of the race his best ever, which is even more impressive considering he’s now 33. It was an outstanding run for a rider of whom people began to think that his best sprint years were behind him, at least in Grand Tours.

MTN-Qhubeka made its debut in the Tour de France and had three excellent weeks, during which the team got itself noticed on the big scene every single time it had the opportunity. Best climber of the Criterium du Dauphiné, Daniel Teklehaimanot fought hard in the first days of the event and got to wear the polka dot jersey, a beautiful reward for a rider who loves cycling and is commited to working hard in order to succeed in this sport. Norwegian champion Edvald Boasson Hagen got himself involved in breakaways and some sprints, Serge Pauwels finished in 13th place, while the cherry on the cake was brought by Stephen Cumming, with a cunning and extraordinry win in stage 14, at Mende, on Mandela Day. On top of all these, the main news is that MTN-Qhubeka is here to stay and this means we can expect many great exploits from the South African team in the years to come, regardless of the structure going World Tour or not.

The home nation had two riders on the podium of the previous edition, but not even the most optimistic French supporters thought this scenario will repeat in 2015. Despite not finishing with a cyclist in the top three, France can be satisfied with the Tour its riders have had this year: Alexis Vuillermoz (Mur-de-Bretagne), Romain Bardet (Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne) and Thibaut Pinot each took a stage win, the latter of the three conquering the mythical Alpe d’Huez after a brave action, which showed that persistence does pay off. Besides these wins, Bardet and Pierre Rolland finished in the top 10 overall, while Warren Barguil – a debutant – made waves until the races hit the Alps and came home 14th, proving he has what it takes (grith, determination, tactics and enough room for improvement) in order to be a contender in the years to come.

Besides Geraint Thomas and Warren Barguil, there were also other cyclists to make a name for themselves in July. One of these was Bob Jungels, the Luxembourg champion who worked hard for Bauke Mollema, went into escapes and still managed to finish in 27th place, a great result for a cyclist who hasn’t raced the Tour de France until this year, and even more important, a result which gives him the confidence he can be back one day to make a bigger impact on the race. Two other young cyclists, Adam and Simon Yates, kept the flag high for Orica-GreenEdge, performing at a level well beyond their years, going in breakaways and scoring a couple of impressive top 10 finishes. Finally, a special mention deserves also Emanuel Buchmann, the German champion from Bora-Argon 18, who was third in Cauterets, after a long escape, and thus confirmed the potential he already highlighted last year, in the U23 ranks.

2015 Tour de France – Third week stats

– Chris Froome became the 20th rider to win the race at least twice

– He’s also the first cyclist since Eddy Merckx (1970) to win the GC and the mountains classification at the same edition

– Chris Froome now has 30 yellow jerseys, making him the rider with the most days in the lead

– The 30-year-old Brit became the second cyclist to win the Criterium du Dauphiné and Tour de France in the same year twice, following Bernard Hinault (1979, 1981)

– Chris Froome is the first rider to win the polka dot jersey having not actually worn it during the race

– Chris Froome is the sixth cyclist to win the overall and the mountains classification, following Sylvère Maes, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Federico Bahamontes and Eddy Merckx

– The 72 seconds separating Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana is the tenth smallest gap between first and second

– Nairo Quintana is the first Colombian rider to finish in the top three of the Tour de France twice

– The South American has a total of 21 days in the white jersey; only Jan Ullrich (54), Phil Anderson (37) and Andy Schleck (30) are ahead of him

– Alejandro Valverde finished for the first time on the podium of the Tour de France

– 2015 is the first year ever when the top five in the Tour de France are all Grand Tour winners

– For the first time since 1989, two Dutch cyclists finished in the top 7 of the Tour de France

– Mathias Frank is the first Swiss cyclist in the past 16 years to notch a top 10 overall

– Only 16 riders finished within an hour of the Tour de France winner, fewest since 1997

– Peter Sagan became the first cyclist to finish second in five Tour de France stages in one year since Alex Zülle, in 1999

– Same Sagan came ten times in the top five. He is first rider to achieve this feat in a single Tour de France since Sean Kelly (1985)

– The Slovak equalled Charles Pélissier on sixth place for most second places in Tour de France stages (16)

– Peter Sagan jumped to second in an all-time standings of the most days spent in the green jersey, 71

– Sagan is only the third cyclist to win the green jersey at least four times

– Ruben Plaza brought Lampre-Merida its first stage win in the race since 2010

– In Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Romain Bardet became the first rider from Auvergne to win a stage in the past 54 years

– Simon Geschke became the second German to win a stage with a mountain top finish, following Jan Ullrich in 1997 (Ordino-Arcalis)

– After abandoning in stage 17, Michal Kwiatkowski became the 14th reigning world champion to retire from the Tour de France

– Of the riders who made their Tour de France debut, Warren Barguil got the best GC result: 14th

– For the first time since 2012, French riders have won at least three stages in one edition

– Thibaut Pinot became the fourth French rider to win on Alpe d’Huez, following Bernard Hinault (1986), Pierre Rolland (2011) and Christophe Riblon (2013)

– 12 teams have scored at least one stage victory: AG2R, Astana, BMC, Etixx-Quick Step, FDJ, Giant-Alpecin, Katusha, Lampre-Merida, LottoNL-Jumbo, MTN-Qhubeka, Sky and Tinkoff-Saxo

– Lotto-Soudal was the team with the most stage wins: 4

– Seven out of the 19 stages in line were won from a breakaway

– Adam Hansen completed a record-equalling 12 straight Grand Tour

– Nine riders have retired during the third week, making it for a total of 38 abandons

– Thomas De Gendt is the cyclist with the most kilometers spent in a breakaway: 679

– Europcar and LottoNL-Jumbo are the only teams to complete the race with all nine riders

– Romain Bardet was voted the most combative cyclist of the race, becoming the 30th Frenchman to receive this prize

– Robert Gesink is the first rider since Sean Kelly (1983) to finish in the top 36 of every Tour de France stage

– Germany was the nations with the most stage wins at this edition: 6 – Sébastien Chavanel was the lanterne rouge of the race, after coming last in the general classsification

– Pinarello is now the most successful brand in Tour de France history, with 11 overall wins

– After Rohan Dennis and Tony Martin got to lead the race, there are now 280 cyclists who wore the yellow jersey since 1919

– Sky topped the money classification, with a total of 556 630 euro; Orica-GreenEdge was the last team in the standings, with just 10 940 euros

– In the individual money classification, Chris Froome leads, with a total of 503 530 euros

– The average speed of the race was of 39,567 km/h

 

2015 Tour de France – Second week stats

– Chris Froome’s 2’52” lead at the start of stage 11 was the biggest a Tour contender has had after the first summit finish since Lance Armstrong led Jan Ullrich by 4’14”, in 2000

– Same Chris Froome was the ninth rider to win twice on 14 July, a record for the event

– On Pierre-Saint-Martin, Sky became the first team in the race’s history to record a 1-2 on a mountain finish twice

– For the first time in the Tour de France, three British riders finished in the top 10 of a stage (Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates)

– Rafal Majka became the first rider since Laurent Fignon (1984) to win three Tour de France mountain stages before turning 26

– The Pole is also the first cyclist to take a victory from a breakaway at this year’s edition

– Six riders have retired on stage 11; last time this has happened was in stage 15 of the 2012 edition

– Etixx-Quick Step’s Michal Kwiatkowski is the first cyclist to receive the most combative prize twice

– After winning on Plateau de Beille, Joaquim Rodriguez became the active Spanish rider with the most Grand Tour victories, 13

– 14 cyclists have abandoned during the second week, one more than in the previous week

– Thanks to Stephen Cummings, MTN-Qhubeka scored its maiden Grand Tour victory

– The South-African squad is also the first Pro Continental team to take a stage at this year’s edition

– At 34 years and 121 days, Stephen Cummings became the third-oldest Tour de France stage winner for Great Britain

– Great Britain climbed to 7th place in an all-time victory ranking, with 59 stage wins

– André Greipel nabbed his third stage victory at this year’s edition and equalled his feat from 2012 edition

– He also became the active German cyclist with the most Tour de France stage victories

– Tinkoff-Saxo leads in the money classification, while Orica-Green-Edge lies at the bottom of the ranking

2015 Tour de France – First week stats

– Rohan Dennis became the 7th Australian – after Phil Anderson, Stuart O’Grady, Bradley McGee, Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans and Simon Gerrans – to wear the yellow jersey

– Same Dennis is the youngest rider (25 years and 37 days) to wear the yellow jersey since Andy Schleck (25 years and 33 days), in 2010

– By winning stage 1 of the race, the BMC cyclist set the record for the fastest ever individual time trial in the Tour de France: 55,45 km/h

– Michal Kwiatkowski is the first world champion since Greg LeMond, in 1990, to get the most combative rider prize after a stage

– Fabian Cancellara now has 29 days in the yellow jersey, a record for a cyclist who didn’t win the race

– Rohan Dennis, Fabian Cancellara, Chris Froome and Tony Martin have led the race in the first four days; last Tour de France with four different yellow jersey holder on the first four days was the 1992 one (Miguel Indurain, Alex Zülle, Richard Virenque, Pascal Lino)

– Joaquim Rodriguez’s win on the Mur de Huy was the 9th for a Catalan in the Tour de France

– Tony Martin became the 15th rider to retire from the race while wearing the yellow jersey

– Daniel Teklehaimanot is the first African to lead the mountains classification

– Chris Froome has 18 days in yellow, a record for a British cyclist

– Alexis Vuillermoz took the host nation’s first stage victory at this edition; since 2000, there was at least one French winner in every edition

– The only two riders who finished in the top 30 on every stage are Robert Gesink and Peter Sagan

– Rohan Dennis and Alexis Vuillermoz claimed their maiden Grand Tour victory

– Mark Cavendish took his 26th stage and surpassed André Leducq on an all-time list, only Eddy Merckx (34) and Bernard Hinault (28) having won more

– Thanks to Tony Martin, Zdenek Stybar and Mark Cavendish, Etixx-Quick Step became the first team to have three different winners in the first seven individual stages of a single edition since TI-Raleigh-Campagnolo, in 1982 (Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann and Ludo Peeters)

– For the second time in a row, the team time trial in the Tour de France was won for just one second

– Five of the last seven team time trials in the race have now been won by USA-registered teams

– 13 cyclists have abandoned during the first nine stages

– Etixx-Quick Step is the team which earned the most money in the first week: 44 350 euros

Riders who retired from the Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey

Year	Rider	Reason
1927	Francis Pélissier	Sick during stage 6
1929	Victor Fontan	Broke his bicycle in stage 10
1937	Sylvère Maes	Quit after the public had threatened the team during stage 16
1950	Fiorenzo Magni	Quit after the public had threatened two Italian teams during stage 11
1951	Wim van Est	Fell on a descent during stage 13
1965	Bernard Van de Kerckhove	Sick during stage 9
1971	Luis Ocaña	Broken collarbone in stage 14
1978	Michel Pollentier	Disqualified after caught cheating during an antidoping test after stage 16
1980	Bernard Hinault	Injured knee after stage 12
1983	Pascal Simon	Crack in his shoulder blade during stage 17
1991	Rolf Sørensen	Broken collarbone in stage 5
1996	Stéphane Heulot	Knee injury during stage 7
1998	Chris Boardman	Head injuries during stage 1
2007	Michael Rasmussen	Fired by team after stage 16 for lying about his whereabouts before the race
2015	Tony Martin	Broken collarbone in stage 6

A short history of the Tour de France pavé stages (past 35 years)

Year	Stage	First	Second	Third	Yellow jersey before the stage	Yellow jersey after the stage
1980	Liège – Lille	Bernard Hinault	Hennie Kuiper	Ludo Delcroix	Rudy Pevenage	Rudy Pevenage
1980	Lille – Compiègne	Jean-Louis Gauthier	Gery Verlinden	Bernard Bourreau	Rudy Pevenage	Rudy Pevenage
1983	Valenciennes – Roubaix	Rudy Matthijs	Kim Andersen	Pascal Poisson	Jean-Louis Gauthier	Kim Andersen
1985	Neufchâtel-en-Bray – Roubaix	Henri Manders	Sean Kelly	Phil Anderson	Kim Andersen	Kim Andersen
2004	Waterloo – Wasquehal	Jean-Patrick Nazon	Erik Zabel	Robbie McEwen	Thor Hushovd	Robbie McEwen
2010	Wanze – Arenberg-Porte du Hainaut	Thor Hushovd	Geraint Thomas	Cadel Evans	Sylvain Chavanel	Fabian Cancellara
2014	Ypres – Arenberg Porte du Hainaut	Lars Boom	Jakob Fuglsang	Vincenzo Nibali	Vincenzo Nibali	Vincenzo Nibali

Tour de France Stats

Historical stats

– The Tour de France was created in 1903, the inaugural edition being won by Maurice Garin

– Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Eddy Merckx share the record for the most overall wins, five

– The nation standings is led by France (36), followed by Belgium (18) and Spain (12)

– As expected, France has the most stage wins – 684

– Peugeot is the team with the most victories in the overall classification, 9

– 60 cyclists have won the Tour de France at least once

– Eddy Merckx holds the record for the most days spent in the yellow jersey (96), as well as the one for the most stage victories (34)

– The Belgian also has the most stage wins in the yellow jersey at one edition: 7 in 1970

– Charles Pélissier, Freddy Maertens and Eddy Merckx share the record for the most stage wins at a single edition: 8

– Fabian Cancellara is the cyclist with the most yellow jerseys ever for someone who has not won the Tour: 28

– Richard Virenque has the most polka dot jerseys: 7

– In the points classification, Germany’s Erik Zabel leads, with six victories

– Andy Schleck and Jan Ullrich are the only riders who have won the white jersey three times

– Raymond Poulidor has the most overall podiums: 8

– François Faber is the only cyclist who took five stages in a row (1909)

– George Hincapie, Stuart O’Grady and Jens Voigt hold the record for the most starts: 17

– Joop Zoetemelk is the rider with the most completed editions: 16

– Youngest ever winner of the Grande Boucle is Henri Cornet (19 years and 355 days in 1904), while the oldest one is Firmin Lambot (36 years and 131 days in 1922)

– Italy’s Fabio Battestini is the youngest ever stage winner (19 years and 133 days in 1931); Pino Cerami is the oldest one (41 years and 95 days in 1963)

– Only two cyclists from outside of Europe have won the trophy: Cadel Evans (Australia) and Greg LeMond (U.S.A.)

– 14 riders were forced to retire while leading the general classification

– Lucien Aimar, Firmon Lambot, Greg LeMond, Gastone Nencini, Oscar Pereiro and Roger Walkowiak have all won the overall standings without nabbing a stage victory

– Albert Bourlon went down into the history books as the rider with the longest winning escape – 253 kilometers, in 1947

– Up until this point, 23 nations gave a leader of the general classification

– André Darrigade holds the record for the most consecutive editions in which he scored at least a stage victory

– Australia, Canada, Columbia, South Africa and the U.S.A. are the five countries from outside Europe who had a cyclist in the yellow jersey

– Bernard Hinault is the only rider who wore the yellow jersey at eight editions

– Laurent Fignon, Vincenzo Nibali and Joop Zoetemelk are the three cyclists who got to win on three summit finishes at one edition

– Smallest winning margin was recorded in 1989, when Greg LeMond defeated Laurent Fignon for just 8 seconds

– In 1903, Maurice Garin put two hours, 59 minutes and 21 seconds between him and the second places cyclist, Lucien Pothier, which stands as the biggest ever winning gap

– 11 cyclists have won the Tour de France at their debut in the race, while four riders took the GC at their last presence here

– Ottavio Bottecchia, Maurice Garin, Nicolas Frantz, Romain Maes and Philippe Thys have lead the event from the first until the last stage

– Pierre Brambilla, Laurent Fignon and Hermann Van Springel have lost the lead in the last day

– Jan Janssen, Greg LeMond and Jean Robic are the three cyclists who took the final win in the last day of the race

– Louison Bobet, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond have all won the race while wearing the rainbow jersey

– Andy and Frank Schleck are the only brothers to have finished the Tour de France on the podium

– The most successful jersey number in the history is 1 (worn by 24 champions)

– The highest jersey number worn by a Tour de France winner was 171 (Pedro Delgado in 1988)

– The second running (1904) saw the shortest edition (2420 kilometers); the longest one took place in 1926 (5745 kilometers)

– The longest stage in line ever witnessed had 482 kilometers; the shortest one had 19,6 kilometers

– Lowest average speed of an edition was in 1924 – 23,972 km/h; highest average speed was recorded in 2006: 40,789 km/h

– Throughout history, only three stages were neutralised, in 1978, 1995 and 1998

– Alpe d’Huez was the host of the first ever summit finish, in 1952, when Fausto Coppi took the victory

– First visit of the peloton outside the borders of France was in 1907, to Metz, who was a German posession at that time

– Paris is the most visited city (145), followed by Bordeaux (134) and Pau (118)

– Most visited venue outside France is Liège (22)

– 1992 was the year in which the race went to the most foreign countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain

– The yellow yersey was introduced in 1919, the polka dot one in 1933, the green jersey in 1953 and the white one in 1979

– First passage of the Pyrenees was in 1910, with the Alps making their debut one year later

– Col du Galibier is the highest ever summit finish – 2645 meters, while Col du Tourmalet is the most visited climb (79 times)

2015 stats

– 22 teams will race this edition (17 World Tour, 5 Pro Continental)

– Five of these haven’t scored a World Tour win in 2015: Bora-Argon 18, Bretagne-Séché, Europcar, IAM and LottoNL-Jumbo

– MTN-Qhubeka is the only team which will make its debut in the Grande Boucle

– This 102nd running of the race has 3358,3 kilometers and five summint finishes (Pierre-Saint-Martin, Plateau de Beille, Pra-Loup, La Toussuire, Alpe d’Huez)

– With Galibier out due to landslide, Col d’Allos is now the highest point of this year’s race – 2250 meters

– The 2015 edition will be the one with the fewest individual time trial kilometers ever: 13,8

– It will be for the 21st time that the Grand Depart will take place outside of France

– Three riders who previously have won the race are now at the start: Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali

– The cyclists who came to Utrecht have won a combined total of 17 Grand Tours, 24 Monuments, 13 world titles and more than 230 Grand Tour stages

– Youngest rider in this years’ race is Merhawi Kudus (21 years and 184 days), while the oldest one is Matteo Tosatto (41 years and 73 days)

– 32 countries will have at least one rider in the race, with France topping the list (41)

– There will be 24 national champions in the Tour de France, MTN-Qhubeka and Movistar being the teams which are lining-up the most, three each

– Europcar is the only team with all nine cyclists coming from the same country (France)

– Matteo Tosatto is the rider with the most Grand Tour starts under his belt, 32 (including this one)

– Adam Hansen is participating in his 12th consecutive Grand Tour

– 44 cyclists will make their debut in the race this year

– Emanuel Buchmann is the only neo-pro to race the 102nd edition

– The Tour de France will visit six new cities: Utrecht, Zelande, Livarot, La Pierre-Saint-Martin, Muret and Sèvres-Grand Paris Seine

2015 Tour de France favorites – race days/wins

Chris Froome – 27/5

Andrew Talansky – 32/1

Joaquim Rodriguez – 33/3

Wilco Kelderman – 34/1

Vincenzo Nibali – 36/1

Nairo Quintana – 36/2

Tejay van Garderen – 36/1

Bauke Mollema – 37/0

Rui Costa – 39/2

Alejandro Valverde – 41/7

Thibaut Pinot – 42/2

Romain Bardet – 43/1

Alberto Contador – 44/4

Who will win the Tour de France?