Tour de France Meaning, History, Format, Distance, Stages, Prize Money Purse, Winners List

2022 Tour de France is scheduled to begin from 1st July 2022, we take a look at the history and all-time winners list of the prestigious competition along with the meaning and distance

The 109th edition of the Tour de France will take place in 2022. On July 1, it will begin in Copenhagen, Denmark, and conclude on July 24, with the final stage taking place on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The inaugural Tour de France Femmes, whose first stage will take place on the race’s final day, will come after it.

Tour de France Meaning, History, Format, Distance, Stages, Prize Money Purse And Winners List

Tour de France History, Organizers, And Other Details

The Tour de France is a yearly multi-stage bicycle race for men that takes place largely in France and sporadically in neighbouring nations. It has 21 stages, each lasting a day, spread across 23 days, same like the other Grand Tours.

The race is currently managed by the Amaury Sport Organisation and was first organised in 1903 to boost sales for the newspaper L’Auto. With the exception of the two World Wars, the event has been held every year since its inaugural edition in 1903. The race was lengthened as the Tour acquired notoriety and popularity, and its scope started to grow internationally.

With more cyclists from around the world joining the event each year, the field of competitors grew from a predominately French one. With the exception of the teams that the organisers invite, the Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams who compete in the race are primarily UCI WorldTeams.

Between 1984 and 2009, a similar race for women was held under various names. A one- or two-day event was staged between 2014 and 2021 in response to complaints from activists and the professional women’s peloton, and the Tour de France Femmes will hold its debut in 2022.

Tour de France Format, Number of Participants, Track Length, And Difficulty

The majority of the race is typically held in July, with the COVID-19 epidemic delaying the race in 2020 to August 29, 2020, being the sole exception to this rule since the end of World War II. The race’s format, which includes the appearance of time trials, travel through the Pyrenees and Alps mountain ranges, and the conclusion on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, does not alter even while the route does. Modern Tour de France events encompass over 3,500 kilometers over a period of 23 days and 21 day-long parts. France’s clockwise and anticlockwise circuits are alternated during the race.

There are often 20 to 22 teams, each with eight riders. All of the stages are timed to the finish line, and the riders’ times are multiplied by the times of the preceding stages. The race leader and wearer of the yellow jersey is the cyclist with the lowest total finishing time.

There are other competitions held during the Tour besides the general classification, including the sprinters’ points competition, the climbers’ mountains competition, the young rider competition for riders under the age of 26, and the teams’ team competition, which is determined by the top three finishers from each team on each stage. A rider competing in sprints or a team’s sprint specialist will frequently win a stage to gain prestige.

Tour de France All-time Winners

With five victories each, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain have won the most Tours. The only other person to win five straight Tours is Indurain. The youngest winner was Henri Cornet, who took home the prize in 1904 just before turning 20. The oldest winner was Firmin Lambot, who was 36 years and 4 months old when he won in 1922.

The most Tour victories have been earned by French cyclists, 21 of whom have taken home 36 victories. With 18 victories, Belgian cyclists are in second place, and Spanish cyclists are third with 12 triumphs. Slovenian Tadej Pogaar, who won the 2021 Tour, is the most recent victor.

Tour de France Most Successful Players

Jacques Anquetil (FRA), Eddy Merckx (BEL), Bernard Hinault (FRA), and Miguel Indurain are the only four riders to have won five times (ESP). Indurain set the record with a run of five straight victories.

Tour de France Prize Money and Honorary Awards

Cash prizes have always been given out. Although the first reward was an apartment provided by a race sponsor from 1976 to 1987, prize money has increased year from the initial 20,000 francs. In 1988, the top award was an automobile, a studio apartment, a piece of art, and 500,000 Swiss francs. Only monetary prizes were awarded in 1990.

Both day finishes and overall finishes at the conclusion of the race result in prizes and bonuses. Each of the 21 stage winners in 2009 received €8,000, while the overall champion took home €450,000. The winners of the team classification receive €50 000, while the champions of the points classification and mountains classification each gain €25,000. The young rider competition and the combativity reward each receive €20,000.

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