It’s the best three weeks in professional cycling: the Tour de France.
The 2015 edition of the Tour will run July 4-26, beginning in Utrecht, Netherlands and ending on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
MORE: Tour winners since 1999 | TV schedule for 2015 Tour | Contenders, riders, teams | Odds
Curious to learn more about the Tour de France? Here’s a beginner’s guide to the Tour, by the numbers:
What is the Tour de France?
The Tour de France is the world's most popular and grueling cycling race. It is a 23-day journey throughout France — and occasionally other European countries — comprised of 21 stages, and the route is different every year. The first edition of the Tour was in 1903.
You might recognize the most iconic symbol of the Tour: the yellow jersey, or le maillot jeune. The yellow jersey is worn by the race leader and is awarded after each of the 21 stages. Eddy Merckx holds the record for the most days in the yellow jersey — 96 — from 1969 to 1975.
While le maillot jeune is the most coveted jersey, there are four different colored jerseys: yellow (individual leader in the general classification), green (points classification leader), red polka dot (mountains classification leader, sometimes called the “King of the Mountains”) and white (young rider classification, given to a rider 25 years old or younger).
There is also a classification for the fastest team, brining the total to five different assemblages and making the Tour both an individual and team race.
In total, there are 22 teams consisting of nine riders each for a total of 198 riders. One rider is designated the team leader, the rider who is gunning for a jersey or multiple stage wins. The eight other riders are called domestiques, the French word for servant. Their job is to work for the team leader by setting pace, breaking wind so the leader can draft, and shielding the leader from opponents, among other duties. Sometimes, they specialize in sprinting or climbing to help their team leader during a flat or mountainous stage.
Nineteen riders have won multiple Tours, but it’s the French who have the most wins as a country: 21 have won the Tour a total of 36 times.
Four riders have won the Tour a record five times — Lance Armstrong’s seven wins were erased after he admitted to doping — and, you guessed it, two of them are French: Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault. Eddy Merckx of Belgium and Miguel Indurain of Spain have also won the Tour five times.
How have Americans finished in the Tour?
Aside from Armstrong and Floyd Landis’ forfeited Tour de France victories (Armstrong from 1999-2005 and Landis in 2006), only one American has won the Tour: Greg LeMond, who won it in 1986, 1989 and 1990.
This year, there are three American riders: Tejay van Garderen, Andrew Talansky and Tyler Farrar. It’s the smallest U.S. contingent since 1996.
What cycling terms do I need to know?
There are weird words in the cycling world, but they are vital in understanding what is going on during the Tour.
As each stage kicks off, the riders will start in a large group and as the stage goes on, the majority of riders will stay in that main group, called the peloton. Riders in the peloton act as a cohesive unit, though the teams typically ride together and the peloton typically includes the rider with the yellow jersey.
The riders at the front of the peloton bear a bigger workload because of the wind, though it’s usually advantageous to ride at the front.
Why? Riders are less apt to end up in a crash, less likely to get caught in the back if the peloton breaks form, more able to react to attacks — in which a rider speeds up in hopes of creating a gap from the peloton — and can easily initiate a breakaway.
A breakaway is when a rider — typically one rider or a group of riders — opens a gap ahead of the peloton. Riders attack in an attempt to separate from the peloton gain time on the leader, in an attempt to win a stage or to try to draw opponents in an effort to tire them out.
What’s unique about this year’s Tour?
This year marks the 102nd edition of the race, covering 3,360 kilometers (2,083 miles) over the course of 21 stages.
The Tour begins in Utrecht, Netherlands. It’s the 21st international start in Tour history and the sixth time the race has begun in the Netherlands. It also features six new stage cities: Utrecht Zélande, Livarot, La Pierre-Saint-Martin, Muret, Sèvres-Grand Paris Seine Ouest.
Within the 21 stages, there are nine flat stages, three hilly stages and seven mountain stages (with five summit finishes). The most notable mountain stage is the Alpe d’Huez, among the Tour's most difficult climbs and a stage finish each year since 1976. The Alpe d’Huez is a 13.8-kilometer climb at an 8.1 percent grade. Riders will summit the Alpe d’Huez at the finish of stage 20.
In addition, riders will complete one individual time trial and one team time trial and will have two rest days during the race.
The longest stage comes just four days into the race. Stage 4 from Seraing to Cambrai is 223.5 kilometers (138.6 miles) long. The shortest stage is Stage 1, the individual time trial in Utrecht. That stage is just 13.8 kilometers (8.6 miles) long.
