Tour de France 2022: everything you need to know (2023)

FAQs

Tour de France 2022: everything you need to know? ›

The 2022 Tour de France will take place July 1 to July 24. It will be the 109th edition of race. The Grand Depart will take place in Denmark. The 2022 Tour de France Grand Depart will take place in and around Copenhagen in 2022, with three stages launching the race.

The 2022 Tour de France will take place July 1 to July 24. It will be the 109th edition of race. The Grand Depart will take place in Denmark. The 2022 Tour de France Grand Depart will take place in and around Copenhagen in 2022, with three stages launching the race.

Tour de France is split into 21 stages: Nine flat stages, three hilly stages, seven mountain stages (including five summit finishes), two individual time trials and two rest days. One stage is performed every day, covers roughly 225 kilometers, and takes about five and a half hours to complete.

#1 Col de la Loze (Meribel); #2 Col de Portet; #3 Mont Ventoux (Bedoin); #4 Col du Madeleine (La Chambre); and #5 Col de la Croix de Fer (Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne). Also visit our 2022 Tour de France and Highest Climbs in TdF History pages.

Tour de France 2022 is great to play, but it looks dated.

Its poor textures and clunky animations are disappointing. However, it doesn't ruin the game, it just makes it less realistic. Unfortunately, the audio is also a letdown.

There is no dress code on the Tour de France outside the "in race" programmes and the Presidential Grandstand in Paris for which we request guest to dress in a "Sport chic" style. Can I cycle to the Tour de France? You can come by bike to our hospitality areas but we don't have a bike storage area.

“The main thing at the Tour de France is sleeping well and recovering every night. The nights are very important. I always sleep eight hours,” Rigo says. Day in and day out for three straight weeks, Rigo and his teammates push themselves close to their breaking points during the Tour.

In the Tour and many other big races, the race leader (the guy wearing the yellow jersey) is king. If he has to go, he can call a bathroom break whenever he desires, says Stephen Hall, a professional track and criterium cyclist and a stage winner at the 2015 Tour of Thailand.

Since cycling is a non-weight-bearing exercise, racing a grand tour is a little like living in space: Riders are working incredibly hard, but their bones are under very minimal stress.

Col du Galibier, France

What makes the Col du Galibier one of the all-time toughest climbs in the Tour de France? It can't be reached before cresting either the Col du Lautaret from the south or the Col du Telegraphe from the north.

What is the toughest Tour de France stage? ›

Some of the most challenging stages in the Tour de France include: The "Queen stage" or the stage with the highest elevation, often in the mountain ranges, like the Tourmalet, the Galibier, the Alpe d'Huez, the Ventoux.

The Col du Tourmalet has been included in the Tour de France more than any other climb.

But unlike other huge sporting events, like Euro 2020 and Wimbledon, there are no gate fees or tickets to purchase. So, how does the Tour de France make any money? The minutiae of the economics aren't usually made public, but the Hustle did a deep dive into that very question in September 2020.

The best time to visit France is in spring (April-May), summer (June-August), or autumn (September-October). Spring is pleasant across the country, with fewer crowds and temperatures ranging from 55°F to 68°F.

By the time the race gets to Paris, each team will walk away with the total of what its riders have earned throughout the race. The final bearer of the yellow jersey – the overall winner of the Tour de France's general classification – takes home the biggest share of the prize pool – €500,000 (US$562,000 / AU$748,000).

All types of jeans are OK to wear in France. Avoid ripped and too short cropped jeans.

Jeans (besides dark or black-wash) are usually safest to avoid. I'd recommend a skirt, tights, and a nice blouse—paired with either boots or heels. If you're ever unsure of what would be allowed, opt for semi-formal attire: a dress or skirt (always with tights) or slacks.

Caffeine is one of the only legal performance-boosting aids available, and riders will often have a coffee with their breakfast or take a caffeine gel before the start of the race.

Pee at the side of the road

If the need to pee is only really affecting one rider, the rider may stop at the side of the road and pull down their shorts to go for a pee.

Are the Tour De France riders allowed to listen to music while competing? No, they are not. For bikers, listening to music while riding is one of the most dangerous things to do.

Do Tour de France riders drink alcohol? ›

Only once or twice during the whole year do cyclists drink alcohol during a race. This can be seen on the last stage of the Tour de France and occasionally on the last stage of La Vuelta a España.

It's just part of the job. In that first race, it came as a surprise to Faulkner how casual it all is—and how exposed. “I just pulled over, and you just jump off to the side of the road and pull your bibs down. It's just… it's just butts out.

On average, a rider will consume two to three energy bars, three or four rolls or rice cakes, and about six 500ml bottles of isotonic mixes during a stage. Depending on the individual, an energy gel or two may be added to this, with caffeine-based gels generally favoured, especially during the closing stages of a race.

Riders may have some carbohydrate snacks while travelling, such as bananas or protein bars. During the race, they will then refuel on a mix of homemade rice cakes and bespoke products including bars and gels.

Noun. sticky bottle (plural sticky bottles) (cycle racing, slang) A water bottle, handed from a car occupant to a cyclist during a race, illicitly used to aid the rider as he/she briefly maintains a grasp on the bottle while being carried along by the car.

Musettes. A musette is a lightweight shoulder bag that's filled with food and drink, and it's a great way to hand riders their nutrition without the need for anyone to go back to the team car. There might be water bottles, energy bars, gels, fruit, cake, and so on tucked away in the musette.

The rest day is dedicated to a relaxing workout, massages, napping and scouting out the next stage. After a big block of races, riders need a physical and mental recovery. Physically, the rest day means day off.

UCI introduced the minimum weight limit rule in 2000.

However, according to the rule book, there is no upper limit for the weight of a Tour de France bike.

Only an elite few humans are capable of completing a Tour de France stage in a time that's measured in hours instead of days. The reason they're able to do what the rest of us can only dream of is that these athletes can produce enormous amounts of power.

Rider Weight and Body Composition

Climbers, of course, tend to be whippet thin at an average height of 5'8” to 5'10” and an average weight of just 132 to 145 pounds. Time trial specialists, while still very lean, are bigger and heavier, averaging 5'10” to 6'0” in height and 154 to 165 pounds in weight.

Who is the most aggressive Tour de France? ›

Based on my research, it seems that most climbs are done at around 12-14mph–and we're talking about some serious gradients and after several hours in the saddle for days on end. Of course, many of us could probably climb pretty well with all those hours put in.

The fewest number of cyclists to complete the Tour de France is 10. Alcohol was used as a stimulant until the 1960s.

Firmin Lambot is the oldest winner, having been 36 years, 4 months old when he won in 1922. French cyclists have won the most Tours; 21 cyclists have won 36 Tours among them.

The highest point of elevation ever reached in the Tour de France is 2,860 m (9,383 ft) at the Cime de la Bonette loop road in the Alps (as of 2019), seen here from the northern ascent of the Col de la Bonette mountain pass.

In fact, the current tour de France climbing grade is based on the height of the mountain, climbing distance, the average slope and other factors to divide into 5 grades, respectively 4, 3, 2, 1 and HC level, the difficulty of grade 4 is the easiest, the smaller the number, the higher the difficulty,HC level is the ...

Average Speed Climbing: 12.8 mph

These athletes are literally cycling up and through the Pyrenees and Alps during this phase of the Tour de France, making for some of the most memorable moments of the Tour.

Stage 15 of the Tour de France 2023 is a 180km mountain stage from Les Gets-Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc. The climbs include the Col de la Forclaz Montmin and the Col de la Croix Fry.

Tour cyclists will complete more than 2,200 miles in 23 days with a mere two days of rest. And cyclists still ride two or three hours on those rest days. That's more than a century (100-mile) ride per day. A dedicated road cyclist will average 200 to 250 miles per week, well below a Tour rider's 770 miles.

How many hours a day do Tour de France riders train? ›

In general, most riders will have completed their last long ride the weekend before the Tour, and then they start to dial it back by tapering. “They go from riding five to six hours a day to riding about an hour or so or just taking the whole day off,” says Lim.

You can walk to the top from Morzine via the Nyon plateau and continue on up. Usually you can find a spot in the last km, but be aware it's a big walk and fairly steep and you can expect to be climbing for around three hours before reaching the summit.

You'll experience crowds from May to September, but encounter the most people in July (followed closely by June and August). We'd recommend visiting between October and April if your main objective is to avoid crowds. For the warmest temperatures, October and April are the best times to visit Paris sans crowds.

The lowest average rates occur in February and August, although rates may also be lower than average during the last two weeks in November, first two weeks in December, and last two weeks in January. Rates during the remaining six months fall somewhere in between.

June – August is usually high season in France, and this is when the country is at its hottest and busiest. You can expect long queues at most of the famous attractions around this time! During the winters, it is cold throughout the country, with temperatures dropping well below freezing in some parts.

Walkowiak became only the second rider, after Firmin Lambot in the 1922 Tour de France, to win without taking a single stage.

Yellow Jersey

After each stage, officials calculate who has the fastest time across the entire race. The jersey then goes to the overall leader, who gets to wear it in the following stage. And because it's based on time and not points, the yellow won't necessarily go to the given day's stage winner.

Back to the jerseys page. Created in 1953 on the occasion of the Tour de France's 50th anniversary, the green jersey, which is sponsored by Skoda, rewards the rider who is leading the points classification each day. Points are awarded at stage finishes and at the intermediate sprints in line stages.

Prior to stage 19 getting underway, Enric Mas (Movistar) was the latest rider to leave the Tour de France due to Covid.

What are three interesting facts about the Tour de France? ›

The first Tour de France race was held in 1903. The youngest rider ever to win the Tour de France was Henri Comet – he was only 19 years, 352 days when he won the second ever Tour in 1904. The oldest person to win the Tour de France was Firmin Lambot, who was 36 years old when he won in 1922.

According to our methodology Col du Granon is the toughest climb in the 2022 Tour de France. Surprisingly, this is only its second Tour appearance - in part because it is a dead-end at least as a paved road.

Some of the most challenging stages in the Tour de France include: The "Queen stage" or the stage with the highest elevation, often in the mountain ranges, like the Tourmalet, the Galibier, the Alpe d'Huez, the Ventoux.

8 mountain stages with. 4 summit finishes (Cauterets-Cambasque, Puy de Dôme, Grand Colombier and Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc) 1 individual time trial. 2 rest days.

The most infamous Tour doping scandal came in 2012 when seven-time winner (1999–2005) Lance Armstrong of the United States was stripped of his titles after an investigation revealed that he had been the central figure in a doping conspiracy during the years in which he won his titles.

Marc Soler is the third UAE Team Emirates rider to leave the Tour de France after suffering with a stomach bug throughout stage 16 and finishing outside the time cut.

Other Sports | Tour de France cyclist Daniel Oss breaks neck in high-speed crash with fan.

Essentially, world-class athletes would run into a café and demand the proprietor give them beer, wine, champagne, or whatever other alcoholic beverages were available during the middle of the race.

Are the Tour De France riders allowed to listen to music while competing? No, they are not. For bikers, listening to music while riding is one of the most dangerous things to do. When you ride a bicycle, you must listen to everything and be aware of the environmental audio to react.

Riders at the WorldTour level are paid a minimum salary of €40,045 (US$40,230 / AU$59,700; employed) or €65,673 (US$65,980 / AU$97,925; self-employed), with prize money awarded during races being more like a bonus than the main event.

Where do Tour de France riders sleep? ›

Where do the Tour de France riders sleep? In hotels, usually with two riders to a room. Sometimes those hotels are nice.