History UsefulNotes / TourDeFrance

*** Michael Rasmussen would probably have won in '07, if it hadn't been for the general corruption in the sport, and even then, he still finished 10th on the time trial. But see KickTheSonOfABitch below.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: UCI and ASO did ''not'' want Rasmussen to win in 2007. He was doping (and he later confessed he had been), there was just no proof at the time. In fact, the rules regarding whereabouts were applied in a special way, which hasn't been done before or since, simply to get rid of him.

** Miguel Induraín. (Spain) - 1991-1995

* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1997 or later[[/note]]: Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates)

* [[DownToTheLastPlay Down to the Last Time Trial]]: Several versions of the race have ended like this, most notably in 1989 where the final stage was a 24,5 km time trial. Laurent Fignon had a 50-second lead on Greg [=LeMond=], but the American beat the Frenchman by 58 seconds, taking home the race by the smallest margin in race history. 1989 was the last year to end the race on a time trial, leading to a format where the last stage will be a sprinters' duel, usually without any general classification contenders doing anything.

* '''Youth classification (3 times):''' %% Eligible riders with most wins: Pogačar eligible in 2023.
** Jan Ullrich (Germany) - 1996-1998 (1997 while also winning the GC)
** Andy Schleck (Luxembourg) - 2008-2010 (2010 while also winning the GC)
** Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) 2020-2022 (2020 and 2021 while also winning the GC)

* '''Finishes (16):''' %% Active riders with most finishes are Imanol Erviti, Geraint Thomas and Simon Geschke (11)

[[folder:2022 competition winners]]

* Points classification: Wout van Aert (Belgium, Jumbo Visma)
* Mountains classification: Vingegaard

* Team classification: Ineos Grenadiers
* Combativity Award: van Aert

[[folder:2021 competition winners]]
* General classification: Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates)
* Points classification: Mark Cavendish (Great Britain, Deceuninck–Quick-Step)
* Mountains classification: Pogačar
* Youth classification[[note]]Riders born in 1996 or later[[/note]]: Pogačar
* Team classification: Team Bahrain Victorious
* Combativity Award: Franck Bonnamour (France, B&B Hotels p/b KTM)

** Pure climbers usually never win, unless they build up a big enough lead before the time trial(s). Last pure climber to win the race was Andy Schleck in 2010, but he only won after Contador was disqualified.
*** Rarely averted: Pantani got a win without any prior disqualifications in 1998, but it was in the particular context of the Festina affair.
*** Rasmussen would probably have won in '07, if it hadn't been for the general corruption in the sport, and even then, he still finished 10th on the time trial. But see KickTheSonOfABitch below.

* [[DownToTheLastPlay Down to the Last Time Trial]]: Several versions of the race have ended like this, most notably in 1989 where the final stage was a 24,5 km time trial. Laurent Fignon had a 50 second lead on Greg [=LeMond=], but the American beat the Frenchman by 58 seconds, taking home the race by the smallest margin in race history. 1989 was the last year to end the race on a time trial, leading to a format where the last stage will be a sprinters' duel, usually without any general classification contenders doing anything.

** This trope has also happened in individual stages. Stage 15 of the 2014 edition had a prime example[[note]]Highlights here, set to start with 5 km to go: https://youtu.be/XsSk9MfuHOM?t=2h22m, Bauer wears blue and has number 93[[/note]], where the peloton did not catch breakaway rider [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Bauer_(cyclist) Jack Bauer]] (no, not ''[[Series/TwentyFour that]]'' Jack Bauer) until the last 50 meters before the finish line. [[DownerEnding Bauer finished tenth in a stage it looked like he would win]].

** NBC Sports Network lampshades this as part of their "Epic Cycle" coverage that features other prominent cycling events such as the Tour of California and various criterium events.

* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: There are some gentleman rules, which everyone are expected to follow.

** Most teams in the competition are named after their main sponsor(s). The only one exceptions in recent years are Astana and Katusha. Astana is sponsored by the Kazakhstan government and some big Kazakh companies (Astana was the name of the capital city before it got changed to Nur-Sultan), while Katusha it sponsored by several big Russian companies.

* '''Participations (18):''' Sylvain Chavanel (France) - 2001-2018 %% Active rider with most participations is Alejandro Valverde (14)
* '''Finishes (16):''' %% Active rider with most finishes is Pierre Rolland (12)

* TropeCoTropeOfTheWeek: Most teams in the competition are named after their main sponsor(s). The only one exceptions in recent years are Astana and Katusha. Astana is sponsored by the Kazakhstan government and some big Kazakh companies (Astana was the name of the capital city before it got changed to Nur-Sultan), while Katusha it sponsored by several big Russian companies.
** In addition, the various competitions have different sponsors; in 2022, these were LCL for the general classification (yellow jersey), Škoda for the points classification (green jersey), E.Leclerc for the mountains classification (polka-dot jersey), and Krys for the young-rider classification (white jersey).

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: Doping in the Tour de France has its own page on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]], and TOW also has dedicated pages on the death of Tom Simpson (1967), the Festina affair (1998), doping in the 1998 Tour as a whole (with many teams other than Festina involved), doping in the 1999 Tour, the Lance Armstrong case, the Floyd Landis case (2006), Operación Puerto (2006, not only cycling, but many cyclists involved), and doping in the 2007 Tour. Note that most cases of doping that can currently be found in the news are either those of the past, accidental (e.g. clenbuterol in China), or biological passport cases (a system criticized by pros, of the kind one would expect to be clean, and experts). Nor is doping the only way that people have cheated in the Tour de France; way back in 1904 (the second year of the race), nine riders including the top four finishers were disqualified for [[RefugeInAudacity riding cars and/or trains through stages instead of racing legitimately in them]].

The Tour de France is a well known race all over the world, with winners from 15 countries and four continents. It enjoys a large following on French television every year, not only because of the competition aspect but also because of its [[TouristBump "touristic" value]], since it goes through a number of [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues regions]] and their beautiful landscapes French people are proud of, with commentators talking a bit about local cultures and history in addition to sports matters.

* CheatersNeverProsper: Usually subverted with a lot of known dopers having won or been placed highly, but sometimes played straight, when people are thrown out or removed from the records.

* TheAce: Eddy Merckx at the top of his career. In 1969 he was so dominant that he won all the major individual classifications that existed at the time (general, points, mountains, combination[[note]]A points competition based on the best-placed riders in the general, points, and mountains classifications[[/note]], and the combativity award). Had the youth classification existed at the time, [[UpToEleven he would have won that, too]].

* UpToEleven: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez Alpe d'Huez]] is a famous climb, used in many Tour de France races as a stage finish. How do you top such a stage finish? How about climbing that mountain, descending down the other side, riding around the mountain, and climbing it a second time--''all in the same stage''? That's exactly what they did in the 2013 race.
** Col du Galibier is one of the most famous climbs of the Tour for a reason. At 2642 m it is the fourth highest pass in France. Already a "Hors Catégorie" in itself, a quirk makes it especially sadistic: when taken from Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, the climb starts shortly after the one for Col du Télégraphe, a 1st Category in itself, ends! In total, that's over two kilometers of climbing with only a short pause, that only gets harder as you go on as the slope gets steeper closer to the summit.

** [=FDJ.fr=] takes this UpToEleven, as their national champion jerseys have most of the sponsor names removed, as can be seen here: [[https://www.bobshop.com/out/pictures/master/product/1/12567_1.jpg FDJ.fr French champion jersey]].