Tour de France 2022

Since 1903, Tour de France 2022 has remained unmatched as the most rigorous and prestigious bike riding event. It is also known as Le Grande Boucle or Le Tour. A race created by Henri Desgrange, L’Auto’s editor, and George Lefèvre, a rugby and cycling journalist. It runs for three weeks in July with 21 stages having different length and challenge. The stages are divided into nine flat stages, seven mountain stages with five summit finish, three hilly stages, and two individual time trials traditionally. Each stage is usually 225 kilometers long, taking the players five to five and half hours to finish. In the past, the race started in Belgium, Yorkshire, the Netherlands, and Germany. This year, it will be Tour de France 2022 Copenhagen and will end in Paris, France with a total km of 3, 328 k short than the usual 3, 500 km.

Tour de France 2022 Route

1. Copenhagen, Denmark (starting Point of Race)
2. Roskilde, Denmark – Nyborg, Denmark (202.2 km, flat)
3. Vejle, Denmark – Sønderborg, Denmark (182 km, flat)
4. Dunkirk (Dunkerque), France – Calais, France (171.5 km, hilly)
5. Lille Métropole, France – Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, France (153.7 km, hilly)
6. Binche, France – Longwy, France (219.9 km, hilly)
7. Tomblaine, France – La Planche des Belles Filles, France (176.3 km, mountain)
8. Dole, Jura, France – Lausanne, Switzerland (186.3 km, hilly)
9. Aigle, Switzerland – Châtel Les Portes du Soleil, Switzerland (192.9 km, mountain)
10. Morzine Les Portes du Soleil, Switzerland – Megève, France (148.1 km, hilly)
11. Albertville, France – Col du Granon Serre Chevalier, France (151.7 km, mountain)
12. Briançon, France – Alpe d’Huez, France (165.1 km, mountain)
13. Le Bourg-d’Oisans, France – Saint-Étienne, France (192.6 km, flat)
14. Saint-Étienne, France – Mende, France (192.5 km, hilly)
15. Rodez, France – Carcassonne, France (202.5 km, flat)
16. Carcassonne, France – Foix, France (178.5 km, hilly)
17. Saint-Gaudens, France – Peyragudes, France (129.7 km, mountain)
18. Lourdes, France – Hautacam, France (143.2 km, mountain)
19. Castelnau-Magnoac, France – Cahors, France (188.3 km, flat)
20. Lacapelle-Marival, France – Rocamadour, France (40.7 km, flat)
21. Paris La Défense Arena, France – Paris, France (Champs-Élysées, end Point of Race) (115.6 km, flat)

Tour de France Stages and Dates

The 2022 Tour de France route has a lot of difference from the previous ones. Instead of going for 21 days, this year it will be 24 days and is the farthest starting point in the history of the race. Despite having the shortest total length, Tour de France 2022 will be challenging the riders through elevation gain. Imagine going up and down Mount Everest five and a half times in one day. The 11th stage alone will be around half of Mt. Everest’s elevation gain totaling to about 4,692 meters. Aside from this, the race also includes 7 flat sprinting stages, 5 summit finishes, 7 hilly stages, and 3 individual time trial races.

This year is specifically unique as they start with two time trial race in Copenhagen. The racers will also be traveling to Copenhagen . Challenging summit finishes in the mountains of the Swiss and French alps are featured in the route as well. The Champs-Élysées this year will also be the first stage of the first-ever Women’s Tour de France which will happen in the heart of the beautiful Paris, France.

Participating Teams

This year continues to have 22 teams joining the most prestigious and largest cycling race in the world. Each team consists eight skilled participants who wish to excel in the individual time trial races included in the event. Check the list of the teams below and choose which ones will be the teams you’re going to cheer on. The 24-day race will be a fight between the teams and the members to bring home the trophy. You can also check the Tour de France standings on the 2022 Tour de France website.

• AG2R CITROËN TEAM
• ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM
• BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
• BORA – HANSGROHE
• COFIDIS
• EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST
• GROUPAMA – FDJ
• INEOS GRENADIERS
• INTERMARCHÉ – WANTY – GOBERT MATÉRIAUX
• ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH
• JUMBO – VISMA
• LOTTO SOUDAL
• MOVISTAR TEAM
• QUICK – STEP ALPHA VINYL TEAM
• TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE – JAYCO
• TEAM DSM
• TREK – SEGAFREDO
• UAE TEAM EMIRATES
• ALPECIN – FENIX
• TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC
• B&B HOTELS – KTM
• TOTALENERGIES

Tour de France Brief History

Desgrange and Lefèvre initially made the race to boost the sales of the then-struggling newspaper called L’Auto. At first, it was the idea of making France a big velodrome that lets biking enthusiasts go through a 1, 500-mile loop. They need to bike counterclockwise from Paris to Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Nantes then, returning to the capital of France. The first ever race had no summit finish. It only had 6 stages with 1 to 3 rest days in-between stages to help the racers recover before cycling into another 250-mile ride.

Maurice Garin who rode a steel La Francaise bike that weighed 18 kg was Tour de France’s first ever winner. He began as a chimney sweeper before he was the world’s leading cyclist. He finished the race in 17 hours, winning against his competitors by just a minute. 

Tour de France Infamous Events

The race was not immediately as successful as it is today. In 1904, some fans of one of the riders, Antoine Faure, formed a blockade, beat Garin and another rider as they passed by St. Etienne, Faure’s hometown. Another is when dissatisfied fans placed tacks and broken glass on the road causing the bicycles to have flat tires. Still this has not stopped the riders from continuing the race. Instead they hitched through passing vehicles, had their tires fixed and went on the race.

However, another incident occurred. It was in 2021, as the 1st stage of the race was coming to an end when a woman who was waving her signboard hit one of the bikers, Tony Martin. This caused him to fall, and the other bikers who were behind him crashed as well. The woman was then fined €1,200 due to causing the incident. It was then called the worse crash in the history of the race. These infamous events did not hinder the race but made it an even bigger talk of the town causing more and more sponsors to pledge and key figures to give attention to the competition.

This race lets biking enthusiasts all around the world gather and compete to win the renowned Tour de France trophy, the €450,000, and the coveted green and yellow jerseys. This has become the equivalent of the World Cup or Super Bowl in cycling. As it is large, this race entices around 3.5 billion television viewers and more than 12 million onlookers every year.