The Tour de France - a short View into history

The Tour de France was organised for the first time in 1903. It was created by the journalist and cyclist Henri Desgrange. He was editor-in-chief and publisher of the sports newspaper L'Auto and was looking for a way to sell his medium better. To this end, he created a competition that did not yet exist in this form: several cycling races in one, stages whose times were added together to form an overall ranking.

The first Tour, in which 60 riders took part, had six of them and covered a total distance of more than 2,400 kilometres. Sections of more than 400 kilometres, for example from Marseille to Toulouse or Nantes to Paris, were the rule. However, there was usually a break of several days between the individual stages. The riders were not allowed help in any way. The first winner was the Frenchman Maurice Garin, but the starting field was international right from the start.

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Over time, the stages became shorter, but there were more of them. The number of rest days decreased. For years, 21 stages have been the standard, with two or three rest days in between. Four riders are currently regarded as the record winners of the Tour de France, having won what is considered the toughest race in the world five times. One of them is the Spaniard Miguel Indurain, the only one to do so five times in a row (1991-1995). The US American Lance Armstrong won the race seven times in a row from 1999 to 2005. In 2012, he was stripped of them following doping investigations, and the Tour officially has no winner in these years. The only German to win the Tour de France in the 110 previous editions was Jan Ullrich in 1997.

The basic rule of cycling and the Tour de France

The basic rule of the Tour de France is quite simple. The rider with the lowest overall time after the 21 stages - the times of the individual stages are added together - wins the tour. The majority of the stages are completed in a mass start. Exceptions are time trials, where each rider has to complete the course individually. Timekeeping begins when they roll off the start ramp and ends when they cross the finish line. In the mass starts, the measurement for all riders begins simultaneously in a flying start when the race director in the vehicle in front waves the start flag after a few kilometres of warm-up.

At the finish, all riders who cross the finish line in the same group will receive the same time - even if there are several seconds between the first and last rider in a group. A new time will only be recorded if there is a clearly recognisable gap (of at least one second) between two riders.

>> The regulations of the Tour de France 2024

The Tour de France route: how time differences arise

This happens relatively rarely on flat stages, even if they are more than 200 kilometres long - the stages today are usually between 150 and 200 kilometres. The stages through the mountains and the time trials are therefore decisive for victory in the Tour de France.

In the mountains, the best riders rarely arrive in larger groups, often alone or in groups of less than ten riders. This is how the time differences arise. After 21 stages, the best riders are usually separated by just a few minutes. In 1989, however, there were only eight seconds between first and second.

On average, there are three types of stages in a stage race. In addition to the mountain stages, which usually lead through the Alps or the Pyrenees, there are hilly stages in the Massif Central, the Vosges or the foothills of the Alps, as well as flat stages in the rest of the country. There are usually one or two time trials.

The route changes every year. The only standard is actually the finale in Paris on the magnificent Champs-Elysees boulevard. In 2024, the tour ended exceptionally in Nice due to the Olympic Games in Paris. The tour always starts in a different city, often abroad. In 2017, for example, it started in Düsseldorf. As a rule, the race organisation chooses the city partner with the most financial clout.

176 riders compete for the special jerseys

176 riders are currently competing in the Tour de France. They are spread across 22 teams, which makes eight riders per team. There are no clubs or national teams behind the teams - although the latter did exist for a short period many years ago - but generally completely sponsor-financed constructs that live solely from the income of their sponsors. This has a long tradition in cycling. The outfits are correspondingly colourful.

>> The start list of the Tour de France 2024

To make the best riders stand out, they are awarded special jerseys. The best rider in the current intermediate overall standings (and then also in the final standings), i.e. the one with the lowest time, wears the yellow jersey. There are also several special classifications.

This includes the mountain jersey. It is white with red dots. It is awarded to the rider who collects the most points in the mountain classifications. These are awarded on selected climbs on the stages. The more difficult the mountain is to ride, i.e. the longer and steeper it is - they are divided into five categories - the more points are awarded.

Another classification is the points classification. The leader in this classification wears the green jersey. This jersey is usually awarded to the best sprinter. This is because points are not only awarded at so-called intermediate sprints on the stages, but above all for the winners of the stages, especially the flat ones. And these are usually won by the riders who can achieve the highest final speed on the flat.

And then there is the white jersey. It is awarded to the best rider in the time classification who is under 25 years old and therefore leads the young rider classification.

Allocation of roles in the teams

This means there are chances of winning for the best sprinters, the best climbers and, via stage wins, also for the best time trialists. But what do all the other 160 or so riders in the peloton do? They are helpers for their captains, for the winning riders. They have various tasks to fulfil. It starts with supplying the team with water bottles and small snacks, which they fetch from the team cars travelling behind the peloton. The team's sporting director, who can communicate with the riders via radio, and a mechanic also sit there. Everything happens during the race, there are no breaks. The riders are usually in the saddle for between four and five hours.

Another of the helpers' tasks is to protect their top rider, as things can get heated in a field like this. It is also important to get the captains into the best positions. In other words, the climbers at the front of the peloton at the start of a climb and the sprinters on the last few kilometres of the flat stages. As many teams are pursuing this goal, it can get quite tight at the front.

If the helpers are free from other tasks, they can try their luck on their own. This usually happens via breakaway groups. A group of riders who otherwise have little chance of success in the finale often breaks away at the start of a stage. However, racing in a breakaway group is much more strenuous because there is less slipstream for the riders to rest in. In the slipstream, however, riders can save up to 30 or 40 per cent of their energy. The helpers also have this job - to keep their captain out of the wind for as long as possible. And to close the gap to the breakaway again.

Peloton, tete de la course - what do these terms mean?

France is one of the classic cycling countries, and not just because of the Tour de France. This is why many terms that are also used in German are borrowed from French. An overview of the most important technical terms.

• Peloton: The French term for the peloton, the largest group in the race
• Tete de la course: Also from the French, describes the leading group that is currently leading the race
• DNF: Did not finish, stands for racers who have to abandon a stage due to illness, crash or other reasons
• DNS: Did not start, is used for drivers who were able to finish the last stage but do not start the next one
• OTL: Over the time limit, if a rider fails to reach the so-called waiting time, which is a percentage of the winner's time depending on the difficulty of a stage, he is no longer allowed to start the next stage
• Broom trolley: If a rider abandons a stage en route, he must hand in his start number. The broom wagon behind the last rider in the race collects him and takes him to the stage finish
• Flamme Rouge: The last kilometre of a stage is always a special one: the finish line is just around the corner. It is marked by an inflatable archway with a red pennant hanging from it
• Grupetto: a group of riders that forms mainly on difficult mountain stages, where riders who are left behind - helpers or sprint specialists - who have nothing to do with the outcome of the stage and prefer to conserve their strength
• Hors categorie (HC): can be roughly translated as "exceptional" and is a category of the mountain classifications. These are otherwise numbered from 4 to 1. The lower the number, the more difficult the mountain. Particularly challenging mountains fall into the HC category

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