Tour de France 2020 AUGUST 29 - SEPTEMBER 20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cycling’s most prestigious race began in 1903 as a way to boost sales of a sports newspaper but soon became popular in its own right. The 2020 race features all five of France’s mountain ranges, with the Alps, Massif Central and Pyrenees all tackled in the first eight days ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elite Club Four riders have conquered Le Tour five times, with Bernard Hinault’s 1985 win providing most recent French victory. Four-time winner Chris Froome is out of form and not selected for Team Ineos 2020 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Jacques Anquetil FRA 1957, 61, 62, 63, 64 5 Eddy Merckx BEL 1969, 70, 71, 72, 74 5 Bernard Hinault FRA 1978, 79, 81, 82, 85 5 Miguel Induráin ESP 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95 4 Chris Froome GBR 2013, 15, 16, 17 Race Classifications Jersey colours ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall leader: Yellow Awarded to race winner and worn by current race leader at start of each stage – calculated by totalling each day’s finishing time Points leader: Green Fastest sprinters compete for points at end of each stage – points adjusted by terrain, with flat stages awarding most points King of the Mountains:Polka dot Held by rider who proves to be best climber, with more severe climbs offering most points Best young rider: White Awarded to highest placed rider aged 24 or younger on first day of year. Prize returned in 2000 after 10-year hiatus ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yellow jersey first awarded in 1919 to help spectators identify race leader. Instantly recognisable and highly sought after, it has since been worn by total of 270 riders from 24 countries ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HIGHEST NUMBER OF DAYS IN YELLOW JERSEY Eddy Merckx (1969-72, 1974-75) 97 Bernard Hinault (1978-82, 1984-86) 76 Miguel Induráin (1991-95) 60 Chris Froome (2013, 2015-17) 59 Jacques Anquetil (1957, 1961-64) 51 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- YELLOW JERSEY WEARERS BY COUNTRY France 85 Britain 8 Switzerland 9 Luxembourg 9 Spain 12 Germany 14 Netherlands 18 Italy 28 Others 31 Belgium 56 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Le Tour: Start to finish 1903: Henri Desgrange (right), editor of L’Auto sports newspaper, creates Tour de France. Maurice Garin of France is first winner 1904: Cheating crisis – some riders take trains and sabotage rivals’ bicycles 1905 Inaugural mountain climb, on Ballon d’Alsace 1919 Desgrange introduces yellow jersey (L’Auto is printed on yellow paper) 1930 Manufacturers’ teams replaced by national squads 1937: Derailleur systems permit gear changes without removing wheels 1952 Italy’s Fausto Coppi wins by postwar record of 28 mins, 27 secs 1967: First drug tests after Briton Tom Simpson dies on Mont Ventoux 1969 In stunning debut, Belgian Eddy Merckx (right) wins all three main jerseys – only rider ever to do so 1986: American Greg LeMond becomes first non-European winner 1989: LeMond defeats Laurent Fignon by eight seconds, smallest margin of victory in Tour history 1991-95 Spaniard Miguel Indurain becomes first man to win five consecutive Tours 1998 Major doping scandal involving Festina team rocks Tour – team ejected from race 1999-2005: Lance Armstrong (above) wins seven Tours in a row but is stripped of his titles in 2012 after lengthy doping investigation 2012-18 Bradley Wiggins (right) becomes first British winner. Compatriots Chris Froome (4) and Geraint Thomas (1) win five of next six Tours for Team Sky 2019: Egan Bernal, 22, is first Colombian to win Tour de France and youngest winner since 1909 2020: Tour de France postponed by two months due to coronavirus pandemic ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coupe Omnisports Designed in 1971 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 winner Egan Bernal First cyclist from Latin America to win Tour de France ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 Route 1 Stage Start Finish Start / finish Rest day Individual time-trial Mountain stage Transfer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRAND DÉPART: Aug 29, Nice Mantes-la-Jolie Châtelaillon-Plage Poitiers Grenoble Méribel La Planche des Belles Filles Lure Champagnole Grand Colombier La Roche- sur-Foron Bourg-en- Bresse Clermont- Ferrand Lyon La Tour-du-Pin Île de Ré Île d’Oléron Laruns Chauvigny Châtel-Guyon Sarran Orcières-Merlette Puy Mary Cantal Mont Aigoual Gap Villard-de-Lans Privas Millau Le Teil Sisteron Pau Lavaur Cazères Loudenvielle FINISH: Sep 20, Paris Champs- Élysées ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total race distance 3,484.2km Stage Aug-Sep km 1 29 156 2 30 186 3 31 198 4 1 160.5 5 2 183 6 3 191 7 4 168 8 5 141 9 6 153 10 8 168.5 11 9 167.5 12 10 218 13 11 191.5 14 12 194 15 13 174.5 16 15 164 17 16 170 18 17 175 19 18 166.5 20 19 36.2 21 20 122 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Le Tour, Encyclopedia of the Yellow Jersey Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Nationaal Archief, National Library of France © GRAPHIC NEWS