Tour de France facts for kids

The Tour de France (English: Tour of France) is a well known bicycle race. It began in 1903. It is held in France, every summer. In recent years it has ended with a race through the centre of Paris, past the Eiffel Tower. It is among the most famous, and has some of the highest prizes, of bike races in Europe. Recently, it was in the media, because some athletes were doping. The race goes around France, but can have some parts in other countries, including England, Belgium, or Spain as they race in the Pyrenees mountains.

The tour lasts about three weeks. At the end of each day's race the leader is given a yellow shirt, the best sprinter is given a green shirt, and the best rider in the mountain races is given a polka dot jersey. He is sometimes called the King of the Mountains. The best young rider, who must be under 25, gets a white jersey. The winner is the one who finishes the race to Paris in the fastest time. There is a lot of prize money for the teams of the winners of the Tour, but the winner of each day's race also gets prize money 123.

Related pages

List of Tour de France winners

Tour de France Maillot jaune (Yellow jersey) winners

1903 Maurice Garin · 1904 Henri Cornet · 1905 Louis Trousselier · 1906 René Pottier · 1907-1908 Lucien Petit-Breton · 1909 François Faber · 1910 Octave Lapize · 1911 Gustave Garrigou · 1912 Odile Defraye · 1913-1914 Philippe Thys · 1915-1918 World War I · 1919 Firmin Lambot · 1920 Philippe Thys · 1921 Léon Scieur · 1922 Firmin Lambot · 1923 Henri Pélissier · 1924-1925 Ottavio Bottecchia · 1926 Lucien Buysse · 1927-1928 Nicolas Frantz · 1929 Maurice De Waele · 1930 André Leducq · 1931 Antonin Magne · 1932 André Leducq · 1933 Georges Speicher · 1934 Antonin Magne · 1935 Romain Maes · 1936 Sylvère Maes · 1937 Roger Lapébie · 1938 Gino Bartali · 1939 Sylvère Maes · 1940-1946 World War II · 1947 Jean Robic · 1948 Gino Bartali · 1949 Fausto Coppi · 1950 Ferdinand Kübler · 1951 Hugo Koblet · 1952 Fausto Coppi · 1953-1955 Louison Bobet · 1956 Roger Walkowiak · 1957 Jacques Anquetil · 1958 Charly Gaul · 1959 Federico Bahamontes · 1960 Gastone Nencini · 1961-1964 Jacques Anquetil · 1965 Felice Gimondi · 1966 Lucien Aimar · 1967 Roger Pingeon · 1968 Jan Janssen · 1969-1972 Eddy Merckx · 1973 Luis Ocaña · 1974 Eddy Merckx · 1975 Bernard Thévenet · 1976 Lucien Van Impe · 1977 Bernard Thévenet · 1978-1979 Bernard Hinault · 1980 Joop Zoetemelk · 1981-1982 Bernard Hinault · 1983-1984 Laurent Fignon · 1985 Bernard Hinault · 1986 Greg LeMond · 1987 Stephen Roche · 1988 Pedro Delgado · 1989-1990 Greg LeMond · 1991-1995 Miguel Indurain · 1996 Bjarne Riis · 1997 Jan Ullrich · 1998 Marco Pantani · 1999-2005 Lance Armstrong, disqualified · 2006 Óscar Pereiro (Floyd Landis, disqualified) · 2007 Alberto Contador · 2008 Carlos Sastre · 2009–10 Alberto Contador · 2011 Cadel Evans · 2012 Bradley Wiggins · 2013 Chris Froome · 2014 Vincenzo Nibali

Images for kids

Maurice Garin, winner of the first Tour de France standing on the right. The man on the left is possibly Leon Georget (1903)
1936 Tour de France
Jacques Goddet memorial at the top of the Col du Tourmalet
Fabian Cancellara pictured at the 2010 Tour de France. He is the rider who has worn the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification for the most days without ever winning the race.
Richard Virenque pictured at the 2003 Tour de France wearing the polka dot jersey. He won the mountains classification a record seven times.
Alessandro Petacchi in the green jersey
Andy Schleck in the white jersey
Prize money in Euros in the Tour de France, not corrected for inflation.
A collected peloton in the 2006 Tour de France
Bradley Wiggins riding the stage 9 individual time trial of the 2012 Tour de France
Altitude profile of the Alpe d'Huez climb
Vehicles from the 2014 Tour de France Publicity Caravan
Part of the crowd during most days of the Tour is Didi Senft who, in a red devil costume, has been the Tour devil since 1993.
School book by Augustine Fouillée under the 'nom de plume' G. Bruno.
Spectators' banner during the 2006 Tour de France