Tour de France

Created in 1903 by journalist Henri Desgrange to boost sales of the newspaper L'Auto, the Tour de France has grown over time into the most prestigious stage race in cycling. The yellow jersey, symbol of the overall leader, was introduced in 1919 to make it easier for spectators to identify the race leader within the peloton.

Four riders share the record for most victories, with five titles each: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, the latter being the only one to have won his five titles consecutively, between 1991 and 1995. The seven consecutive victories claimed by Lance Armstrong between 1999 and 2005 have since been annulled by cycling's governing bodies for doping, leaving those editions without an official winner.

The race has only been interrupted twice in its history, during the two World Wars. Since the early 2020s, the Tour has been dominated by the rivalry between Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, who have revived interest in the fight for overall victory, echoing the great duels that have marked the race's history.