– Before the Tour de France, the world’s first long-distance bike race was held Nov. 7, 1869, and extended nearly 80 miles between Paris and Rouen.
– In 1903, Henri Desgrange came up with the idea for the Tour. It was about 1,464 miles and went in stages from Paris to Lyon, Lyon to Marseille, on to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and back to Paris. It took 19 days for 60 riders to finish.
– The first victor was Maurice Garin, who won by 2 hours and 49 minutes.
– Considered the world’s biggest sports competition with 18 to 20 teams of 10 riders each, the race this year is the 87th. It lasts from July 1 to 23 and covers nearly 2,500 miles. Each of the 22 stages takes four to seven hours to cover. Women may participate if they qualify.
– A women’s race, the Tour Feminin, was held from 1984 to 1989 but was canceled, primarily for lack of sponsorship.
– A short “prologue” race of individual timed trials starts the Tour, followed the next day by a mass start of the stages, known as the “peloton.” Typically, there are two other timed rides over the course of the race.
– The route changes each year. All Tours have ended in Paris except the first one, which ended in Ville-d’Avray. Each race starts in a different location; some have started in a different country.
– Along the way are an estimated 1,200 TV journalists and more than 100 trucks with satellite dishes and mobile studios. A medical crew of three doctors, three nurses and three ambulances also is on hand.
– The prize for the first Tour was slightly more than 6,000 French francs for the grand winner versus 2.2 million francs ($350,000) for last year’s grand winner, Lance Armstrong.
– Only the two world wars have stopped the Tour, from 1915 to 1918 and from 1939 to 1945.
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– Greg LeMond was the first American to win, in 1986, 1989 and 1990.
– In 1919, the jellow jersey became a symbol of the race, inspired by the newspaper L’Auto, the original sponsor, which was printed on yellow newsprint. Nowadays, the previous year’s winner begins the Tour wearing the jersey.
– A toe amputated during the Tour from bicycle climber Rene Vietto is preserved in a bar in Marseille.
– Since the Tour began, three riders have died during the race: Fabio Casartelli, Wim van Est and Tom Simpson. Evidence of drugs and alcohol were found during Simpson’s autopsy, and drug testing became mandatory.