Tour de France

The Tour de France (French pronunciation: ​[tuʁ də fʁɑ̃s]) is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite.

The Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España make up cycling's prestigious, three-week-long Grand Tours; the Tour is the oldest and generally considered the most prestigious of the three. Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same with the appearance of time trials, the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi). The race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits of France.

1903 Tour de France

The 1903 Tour de France was the first cycling race set up and sponsored by the newspaper L'Auto, ancestor of the current daily, L'Équipe. It ran from 1 to 19 July in six stages over 2,428 km (1,509 mi), and was won by Maurice Garin.

The race was invented to boost the circulation of L'Auto, after its circulation started to plummet from competition with the long-standing Le Vélo. Originally scheduled to start in June, the race was postponed one month, and the prize money was increased, after a disappointing level of applications from competitors. The 1903 Tour de France was the first stage road race, and compared to modern Grand Tours, it had relatively few stages, but each was much longer than those raced today. The cyclists did not have to compete in all six stages, although this was necessary to qualify for the general classification.

The pre-race favourite, Maurice Garin, won the first stage, and retained the lead throughout. He also won the last two stages, and had a margin of almost three hours over the next cyclist. The circulation of L'Auto increased more than sixfold during and after the race, so the race was considered successful enough to be rerun in 1904, by which time Le Vélo had been forced out of business.

1953 Tour de France

The 1953 Tour de France was the 40th Tour de France, taking place from July 3 to July 26, 1953. It consisted of 22 stages over 4479 km, ridden at an average speed of 34.593 km/h.

The race was won by Louison Bobet, the first of his three consecutive wins. At first, internal struggles in the French national team seemed to work against Bobet, but when the team joined forces, he beat regional rider Jean Malléjac in the mountains.

The 1953 Tour de France saw the introduction of the points classification, which gives the green jersey to its leader. In 1953 this was won by Fritz Schär.

Changes from the 1952 Tour de France

Fifty years after the first Tour de France, the 1953 Tour featured the introduction of the green jersey, for the leader in the points classification (usually seen as the "best sprinter's" jersey), at that time called the Grand Prix Cinquentennaire. The classification was based on the points system as it had been used from the 1905 Tour de France to the 1912 Tour de France. The points classification was not only added to celebrate the 50 years since the first race, but also to have the sprinters race hard for the entire race.

2016 Tour de France

The 2016 Tour de France will be the 103rd edition of the cycle race Tour de France. On 24 November 2014 Amaury Sport Organisation announced that it will start in the French department of Manche for the first time in the history of the Tour de France. The race is also scheduled to have a stage finish in Andorra.

The official announcement of the final route took place on Tuesday 20 October at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The defending champion Chris Froome said after the event that he expected the course to suit him better than last year's course. "I think it's going to take a complete cyclist – but the stage that certainly stands out for me is Mont Ventoux." he added.

Route and stages

The route for the 2016 Tour de France was unveiled by race director Christian Prudhomme on 20 October 2015 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. It contained two time trial events, both of which were individual. The organizers divide the remaining nineteen stages into three categories: flat stages, medium mountain stages, and mountain stages. There are five mountain stages, four of which have summit finishes: stage 9, to Andorra-Arcalis; stage 12, to Mont Ventoux; stage 17, to Finhaut Émosson and stage 19, to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race is 158.7 km (99 mi) longer, contains the same number of rest days, one additional individual time trial and no longer includes a team time trial.

France

France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign state comprising territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European part of France, called metropolitan France, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. France spans 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and has a total population of 66.6 million. It is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. The Constitution of France establishes the state as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.

During the Iron Age, what is now Metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The Gauls were conquered in 51 BC by the Roman Empire, which held Gaul until 486. The Gallo-Romans faced raids and migration from the Germanic Franks, who dominated the region for hundreds of years, eventually creating the medieval Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) strengthening French state-building and paving the way for a future centralized absolute monarchy. During the Renaissance, France experienced a vast cultural development and established the beginning of a global colonial empire. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).

French wine

French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally to more modest wines usually only seen within France as the Margnat wines were during the post war period.

Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of "terroir", which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards.

France 98 (charity association)

France 98 is an association founded by the French footballers who won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. They organise charity and testimonial matches for former players.

Didier Deschamps is the president of the association. Aimé Jacquet acts as the head coach whenever there is a game. The players are for the most part those who took part in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 victorious campaigns.

Matches played

First match

Organiser: Laurent Blanc

On November 4, 2002 in Nîmes against Marseille, to raise money for the victims of the floods in south-eastern France in September 2002. The match ended up in a 1–4 loss for France 98.

Second match

Organiser: Zinedine Zidane

On October 6, 2003 in Marseille against Marseille, to raise money for the victims of an earthquake in Algeria and those of fires in south-eastern France. The match ended up in a 1–1 draw.

Third match

Organiser: Bixente Lizarazu

Fourth match

Organiser: Fabien Barthez

On May 30, 2005 in Toulouse against Toulouse, to raise money for the victims of the explosion of chemical factory AZF. The match ended up in a 1–2 loss for France 98, with Daniel Moreira playing for both teams during the match.