Tour de France 2022 JULY 1-24 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. This year sees the return of the brutal Paris-Roubaix cobblestones and the notorious climb of Alpe d’Huez 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 – missing from last two editions after career-threatening injury – returns, as road captain for Israel Start-Up Nation 5 Jacques Anquetil FRA 1957, 61, 62, 63, 64 15 5 Eddy Merckx BEL 1969, 70, 71, 72, 74 5 Bernard Hinault FRA 1978, 79, 81, 82, 85 15 5 Miguel Induráin ESP 1991, 92, 93, 94, 95 4 Chris Froome GBR 2013, 15, 16, 17 Tadej Pogacar Slovenian seeking third victory after wins in 2020 and 2021 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 275 riders from 25 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 Belgium 56 Others 34 Italy 28 Netherlands 19 Germany 14 Spain 12 Luxembourg 9 Switzerland 9 Britain 9 Total 275 wearers 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 Induráin 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 2022: Cycling-obsessed Denmark becomes 10th nation outside France to host Grand Départ of Le Tour Coupe Omnisports Designed in 1971 2022 Route Stage Start Finish Start / finish Rest day Individual time-trial Mountain stage Transfer START: Jul 1, Copenhagen 1 Roskilde 2 Nyborg 3 Sonderborg DENMARK Calais Dunkirk Lille 5 BELGIUM Arenberg Binche 6 Longwy Tomblaine 7 La Planche des Belles Filles SWITZ. Dole 8 Lausanne Aigle 9 Morzine 10 Megève Albertville 11 Col du Granon Briançon 12 Bourg d’Oisans 13 Saint-Étienne 14 Mende Rodez 15 Carcasonne 16 Foix Saint-Gaudens 17 Hautacam 18 Lourdes Castelnau-Magnoac 19 Cahors Rocamadour 20 Lacapelle-Marival 21 Paris La Défense Arena FINISH: Jul 24, Paris Champs- Élysées FRANCE Total race distance 3,417.5km Stage Jul km 1 1 13.2 2 2 202.5 3 3 182 4 5 171.5 5 6 154 6 7 220 7 8 176.5 8 9 186.5 9 10 193 10 12 148.5 11 13 152 12 14 165.5 13 15 193 14 16 192.5 15 17 202.5 16 19 178.5 17 20 130 18 21 143.5 19 22 188.5 20 23 40.7 21 24 116 Source: Le Tour, Encyclopedia of the Yellow Jersey Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Nationaal Archief, National Library of France © GRAPHIC NEWS