Historical stats
– The Tour de France was created in 1903 and the inaugural edition was 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 – 688 – and the most yellow jerseys, 736
– 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), most yellow jerseys (111), 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
– André Darrigade is the rider with the most consecutive editions with at least one stage victory: 10
– Ti-Raleigh has the most victories in a team time trial: 6
– Fabian Cancellara is the cyclist with the most yellow jerseys ever for someone who has not won the Tour: 29
– Richard Virenque has conquered 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
– Eddy Merckx was awarded the super combativity award on four occasions, an all-time record
– Raymond Poulidor has the most overall podiums: 8
– François Faber is the only cyclist who took five stages in a row (1909)
– Bernard Hinault holds the record for the most individual time trial wins: 20
– The 1927 edition stands out for scheduling no less than 16 team time trials
– 2015 is the year with the fewest kilometers of ITT: 13,8
– George Hincapie, Stuart O’Grady and Jens Voigt share the record for the most starts: 17
– Joop Zoetemelk is the rider with the most completed editions (16) and the most second places (6)
– 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.)
– Gino Bartali holds the record for the longest time span between the first and the last GC victory: 10 years
– 15 riders were forced to retire while leading the general classification
– 1958 and 1987 are the years of the editions which witnessed the most riders to wear the yellow jersey: 8
– 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 solo escape, 253 kilometers in 1947
– Up until this point, 24 nations gave a leader of the general classification
– 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 a single 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 bib in the history of the race is 1, with 25 victories scored by the riders who wore it
– 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 (152), followed by Bordeaux (134) and Pau (119)
– 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
– During the 1970s, there was a team points competition too, with the riders of the leading team wearing green caps to show that they headed the classification
– 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 (80 times)
– Since 1975, the race concludes on Champs-Élysées
– The 103 editions which took place so far have covered a total of 433 500 kilometers
2017 stats
– 22 teams will race this edition (18 World Tour, 4 Pro Continental)
– Three of these haven’t scored a World Tour win in 2017: Direct Energie and Fortuneo-Vital Concept and Wanty-Groupe Gobert
– This 104th running of the race has 3540 kilometers, two individual time trials (making up for a total of 37 kilometers) and three summit finishes (La Planche des Belles Filles, Peyragudes, Izoard)
– During these three weeks, the peloton will tackle all five mountain regions of France: Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees, Massif Central and Alps
– Bonus seconds will be up for grabs for the top three: 10, 6 and 4
– For the first time in history, Düsseldorf will host the Grand Depart
– Col du Galibier is the highest point of this year’s race – 2642 meters
– The peloton will go through three neighboring countries: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg
– The race will visit 34 French departments
– Two former winners are at the start: Alberto Contador and Chris Froome
– The cyclists who’ll line up for the event have won a combined total of 14 Grand Tours, 20 Monuments, 10 world titles and more than 250 Grand Tour stages
– Youngest rider in the race is Elie Gesbert (22 years), while the oldest one is Haimar Zubeldia (40 years)
– When it comes to teams, Cannondale-Drapac is the youngest one (27.6 years) and Dimension Data is the oldest (32.1 years)
– 49 riders will make their maiden outing at the Grande Boucle
– All of Wanty-Groupe Gobert’s riders are Tour de France debutants, making the Belgian outfit the seventh squad in the past 39 years to field a team comprising rookies
– 32 countries will have at least one rider in the race, with the home nation topping the list (39)
– 18 national champions will line up for July’s race
– Bahrain-Merida, Katusha-Alpecin and Orica-Scott are the outfits with the most nationalities represented in the squad, 7
– Haimar Zubeldia is the rider with the most Grand Tour starts under his belt, 29 (this one included)
– Adam Hansen is participating in his 18th consecutive Grand Tour, this extending his record
– For the first time in 28 years, there won’t be any Russian riders competing in the Grande Boucle
– Oldest Grand Tour rookie is Pieter Vanspeybrouck (30 years)
– Elie Gesbert is the sole neo-pro to race the 104th edition
– Sylvain Chavanel is the active rider with the most starts – 17 (including this one)
– During the three weeks, the publicity caravan – which turns 87 years – will hand out 18 million objects to the spectators
– 10 to 12 million spectators are expected on the road side
– The overall winner will receive 500 000 euros
– The Tour de France will visit 10 new cities: Düsseldorf, Mondorf-les-Bains, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Nantua, Eymet, Laissac-Sévérac l’Église, Romans-sur-Isère, La Mure, Izoard and Salon-de-Provence
