The Tour de France (French for Tour of France), often referred to as Le Tour or The Tour, is an epic long distance road bicycle racing competition for professionals held over three weeks in July in and around France. It has been held annually since 1903, interrupted only by World War I and World War II. The current Tour is the 2005 Tour de France.
The Tour de France is by far the most prestigious of all cycling competitions in the world. While the other two European Grand Tours are well-known in Europe and attract many professional cyclists, they are relatively unknown outside the continent, and even the UCI World Cycling Championship is only familiar to cycling enthusiasts. The Tour de France, in contrast, has long been a household name around the globe, even amongst people who are not generally interested in pro cycling, and is for cycling what the FIFA World Cup is to football in terms of global popularity. It is also the world's largest annual pro sporting event, with up to 200 participants annually.
Along with the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) and the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), the Tour de France is one of cycling's three "Grand Tours".
The 92nd Tour de France is being held from July 2 to July 24, 2005. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was announced on October 28, 2004. It will be a clockwise route, visiting the Alps before the Pyrenees.
The traditional prologue on the first day was replaced by an individual time trial of more than twice the length of a standard prologue. This stage crossed from the mainland of France to the Île de Noirmoutier. The most famous route to this island is the Passage du Gois, a road that is under water at high tide. This road was included in the 1999 Tour. Several of the favorites crashed here that year, and ended that stage 7 minutes behind the peloton. Fortunately, this year they took the bridge to the island.
Later in the race, there will be one more time trial, on the penultimate day. Also, there are just three uphill finishes (Courchevel, Ax-3 Domaines and Pla d'Adet), a lower number than in previous years. The finish line of the last stage will be, as always, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The Tour commemorated the death of Fabio Casartelli. During the 15th stage the riders passed the Col du Portet d'Aspet, where Casartelli died exactly 10 years earlier. The Tour also commemorated the first time there was an official mountain climb in the Tour, the Ballon d'Alsace. During the 9th stage this mountain was passed again, exactly 100 years after the first ascent in the Tour.
