10 Tour De France Facts

These 10 Tour de France facts give an overview of the premier cycling event in the world. The Tour de France is revered around the world as offering a showplace for the best cyclists to compete.

1. Year the Tour de France started. The first Tour de France race was held in 1903. The winner was Maurice Garin of France. Garin was 32 years old and completed the race in 94 hours, 33 minutes.
2. Dates of the 2010 Tour de France. The dates for the 2010 Tour de France are July 3 to 25. The three-week cycling event covers four weekends and three full weeks.
3. Route of the 2010 Tour de France. The 2010 Tour de France begins in Rotterdam, Brussels. The tour then enters France for the remainder of the event. The race ends in Paris.
4. The 2010 Tour de France terrain. Each year the Tour de France covers a variety of terrain. The 2010 event covers flat, hilly and mountainous terrain.
5. New stops in 2010. The 2010 Tour de France has eleven new stops on the route. The new cities added are Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, Bourg de Toll, Bourg les Valence, Gueugnon, Longjumeau, Pamiers, Pauillac, Sisteron, Station Redhead, Tournus and Wanze (Belgium).
6. Rest days. The Tour de France offers the cyclists days of rest. There are two rest days in the 2010 race: July 12 and July 21.
7. Length of the 2010 race. The 2010 Tour de France covers 3,642 kilometers. This converts to 2,263 miles of cycling.
   
8. Longest race. The longest Tour de France was held in 1926. This race was 5,745 kilometers (3,569 miles long).
9. Cyclist with most wins. Lance Armstrong won the Tour De France seven consecutive years (1999 to 2005). He beat the record of five Tour de France wins by several other cyclists.
10. Cyclists who have won five races. The following cyclists have won the Tour de France five times: Jacques Anquetil of France; Eddy Merckx of Belgium; Bernard Hinault of France; and Miguel Indurain of Spain.