Since 1903
More than 120 years of suffering, sabotage, mountains and myth — told era by era.
Timeline
L'Auto editor Henri Desgrange launched the Tour in 1903 to boost circulation against rival Le Vélo. Sixty riders set off from Montgeron on 1 July; Maurice Garin won the six monstrous stages, some over 400km and ridden through the night. The 1904 race was so riddled with cheating that the first four finishers were disqualified.
The maillot jaune appeared in 1919, coloured to match the yellow newsprint of L'Auto. The Pyrenees (1910) and Alps (1911) had already turned the Tour into a mountain epic. National teams arrived in 1930, and the King of the Mountains classification in 1933.
The Tour restarted in 1947 after an eight-year wartime break. Coppi versus Bartali, then Bobet's hat-trick, then Anquetil — the first rider to win five — defined an era of national teams, wine-bottle musettes and unpaved cols.
Eddy Merckx won everything in sight in 1969, taking yellow, green and the mountains jersey in one Tour. Bernard Hinault carried French dominance into the 1980s; his 1985 victory remains the last by a Frenchman.
LeMond's eight-second win in 1989 and Indurain's five time-trial-powered titles opened the race to the world. The 1998 Festina affair and the later stripping of Lance Armstrong's seven titles left the record books with blank years.
British teams professionalised the race in the 2010s with Wiggins, Froome and Thomas. Since 2020 the Tour has belonged to the Pogačar–Vingegaard duel, raced at power outputs and speeds unimaginable a generation ago.
Traditions
Organiser L'Auto was printed on yellow paper, so the race leader's jersey was made yellow in 1919 to stand out in the bunch and advertise the paper.
The last-placed finisher earns an affectionate nickname — and often more appearance money than mid-pack riders.
A convoy of sponsor floats precedes the race, throwing millions of freebies to the roadside crowd. For many families it is the main event.
Tom Simpson wore yellow in 1962; Yorkshire hosted the Grand Départ in 2014; Mark Cavendish holds the record for stage wins with 35; and 2027 starts in Edinburgh.
The race was not held during the two World Wars, and the 1999–2005 editions have no listed winner after Lance Armstrong's titles were stripped in 2012.
Paris has closed the race since 1975. Sprinting on the cobbles beneath the Arc de Triomphe is the most prized stage win outside the mountains.