Regardless of what some believe, this is the biggest and brashest bike race in the world, with an estimated 80 per cent of most WorldTour team's sponsorship income being based around the Tour.
Founded in 1903 by Henri Desgrange, editor of L'Auto newspaper, the Tour may not be the favourite stage race of the cycling cognoscenti but it is one that captures the imagination of the wider sporting public. As a result, the race is the biggest annual sporting event in the world with more live spectators than even the Olympics or football World Cup.
The second grand tour of the season comprises 21 stages and will be contested over 3,328 kilometres – that's 2,068 miles in old money – which is an average of 158.47km (98.46 miles) per day.
And when does the Tour de France finish?
The Tour de France concludes with its traditional final stage in Paris, on Sunday July 21. The race will again end on the famous cobbled Champs-Élysées boulevard following a 115.6km saunter from Paris La Défense Arena on the outskirts of the city.
Where does each stage start and end?
How can I follow the race?
Those with subscriptions to Eurosport (through discovery+ Sport and Entertainment pass) or GCN+ are in luck, both will broadcast every day, as will be ITV4 and Welsh terrestrial channel S4C. In Wales S4C is available on Sky 104, Freeview 4, Virgin TV 166 and Freesat 104, while in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland it can be found on Sky 134, Freesat 120 and Virgin TV 166 and also on iPlayer. Live shows and highlights programmes will be shown at different times each day. Alternatively, if you are stuck at work or do not subscribe to Eurosport if you have a sports package with the likes of Sky and BT or GCN+ – or cannot access S4C – then you can follow the action, as it unfolds, right here with Telegraph Sport. Almost every stage will be live blogged by our team – details to follow – while selected race details and standings in the main classifications will also be published.
What teams will ride the Tour de France?
As with all WorldTour races, each team from the top-flight of professional cycling receive an invitation and in the case of the Tour de France, all are contracted to compete in the grand tour.
In addition, Alpecin-Fenix and Arkéa-Samsic qualified as the top ranked ProTeams from 2021, while race organisers ASO handed wild card spots to French squads B&B Hotels-KTM and TotalEnergies.
WeWork Inc founder Adam Neumann has made a fresh push to buy back the firm even as it seeks hundreds of millions of dollars to emerge from bankruptcy and avoid a sale, FT reported on Thursday. The shared office space provider was running short of cash and needed as much as $400 million in fresh funding to have a chance of emerging viably, FT said, citing two people familiar with the matter. Alex Spiro, an attorney for Neumann's real estate firm Flow told FT that the company and its financial partners were prepared to beat any other offer that WeWork has received by 10%.
Emergency 911 phone service has been restored in some of the areas hit by outages on Wednesday night. At least six cities in four different states across the United States reported experiencing 911 call outages earlier in the evening, according to officials. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said service had been restored in the city just before 9:15 p.m. PT.
The investigation showed that the young child "suffered broken bones, severe bruising, and was the victim of sexual violence," according to a press release
HELSINKI (Reuters) -The Nordic region's biggest bank Nordea reported first-quarter profits above expectations on Thursday, calling it a strong start to the year thanks to solid credit quality. Nordea's goal is to deliver a return on equity of above 15% in 2024 and 2025, in line with its regional rivals, the bank said in February, despite falling interest rates.
Croatia's governing conservatives convincingly won a highly contested parliamentary election on Wednesday, but will still need support from far-right groups to stay in power, according to the official vote count.
STORY: The historic impeachment vote against President Joe Biden's top border official Alejandro Mayorkas is over. The Democratic-majority Senate swiftly ended the bid from House Republicans, launched months ago and rejected both of the House’s articles of impeachment on Wednesday. This was only the second time in history the House tried to impeach a member of a president's cabinet since 1876. House Republicans accused Mayorkas of not enforcing U.S. border laws and lying to Congress, with illegal immigration hitting record levels since Biden took office in 2021. The dismissal of those charges was engineered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who rejected the House case against Mayorkas. “I raise a point of order that Impeachment Article One does not allege conduct that rises to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor as required under article two, section four of the United States Constitution, and is therefore unconstitutional.” By a vote of 51-48, the Senate threw out the first charge against Mayorkas, and Schumer dismissed the second charge that Mayorkas lied to Congress. Republican senators, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, protested Schumer's move and insisted on a full-blown trial. “We've set a very unfortunate precedent here, which means that the Senate can ignore, in effect, the House's impeachment. And by doing what we just did, we have, in effect, ignored the directions of the House, which were to have a trial. No evidence, no procedure. This is a day. It's not a proud day in the history of the Senate.” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was “deeply disappointed”. Immigration is a top concern for Republicans in the run-up to this year’s presidential elections. Mayorkas has denied wrongdoing, while the White House and congressional Democrats blasted the impeachment as a misuse of powers. White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement after the vote: “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas will continue doing their jobs to keep America safe and pursue actual solutions at the border, and Congressional Republicans should join them instead of wasting time on baseless political stunts while killing real bipartisan border security reforms.” That was referring to Trump earlier this year helping kill a bipartisan Senate deal that would have imposed tough new limits on immigration.
Some respite for Asian stock markets may bode well for the European open, in what has so far been a week to forget for world equities. Part of that seems to be driven by hopes for strong results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, aka TSMC, undoing the gloom from Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML's lacklustre new bookings. The sentiment shift was evident in Tokyo, where chip-testing equipment maker Advantest - an Nvidia supplier - marched steadily from being down 2.5% at the open to enter the midday recess with a 4% gain.
One of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party is going on trial Thursday on charges of twice using a Nazi slogan, months before a regional election in which he is running to become his state's governor. Björn Höcke, 52, is the leader of the regional branch of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the eastern state of Thuringia and a powerful figure on the party’s hard right. While never formally a national leader of AfD, the former history teacher has been consistently influential as the 11-year-old party has steadily headed further right and ousted several comparatively moderate leaders.
Some respite for Asian stock markets may bode well for the European open, in what has so far been a week to forget for world equities. Part of that seems to be driven by hopes for strong results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, aka TSMC, undoing the gloom from Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML's lacklustre new bookings. The sentiment shift was evident in Tokyo, where chip-testing equipment maker Advantest - an Nvidia supplier - marched steadily from being down 2.5% at the open to enter the midday recess with a 4% gain.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Every year, Alon Gat’s mother led the family's Passover celebration of the liberation of the ancient Israelites from Egypt thousands of years ago. But this year, Gat is struggling with how to reconcile a holiday commemorating freedom after his mother was slain and other family members abducted when Hamas attacked Israel. Gat’s sister, Carmel, and wife, Yarden Roman-Gat, were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack. His wife was freed in November but his sister remains captive. “We ca
Six of the eight candidates vying to be Panama’s next president laid out their plans to generate jobs and to manage the country’s water crisis in their final debate Wednesday night before the country’s May 5 election. Former government minister José Raúl Mulino, who has led in opinion polls since taking over the top place on his ticket when former President Ricardo Martinelli was sentenced to prison, skipped the event as he did the two previous debates. Another candidate, José Gabriel Carrizo, was also absent after saying he would not participate if organizers could not get Mulino there.