First Up - French Style Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maurice Garin

Organised by the French newspaper L'Auto as a way of drumming up support and increasing its circulation, the first Tour de France took place in 1903. The race was won by the Frenchman, Maurice Garin. Known as the "Chimney Sweep", a reference to his previous occupation, Garin was the pre-race favourite.

He duly won the first of six stages and never relinquished the lead. He eventually finished in a time of 94h 33' 14", nearly three hours ahead of his nearest rival.

Answer: Eugene Christophe

As the Tour grew in popularity, it became difficult to distinguish the race leader throughout the various stages. The race organiser, Henri Desgrange, came up with the idea of having a coloured jersey worn by the leader to make it easier to spot him in the pack of riders. Although there have been suggestions that a coloured jersey might have been worn earlier, the official history of the Tour states that the "Maillot Jaune" was first awarded in the 1919 edition of the Tour. Frenchman Eugene Christophe had the honour of donning the very first yellow jersey on July 18 1919. Ironically Christophe never won the Tour overall, twice losing his lead due to mechanical issues.

It is thought that the colour yellow was chosen as the race sponsor, the newspaper L'Auto, was printed on yellow paper.

Answer: First rider to win five Tour de France titles

Frenchman Jacques Anquetil was the first rider to win the Tour de France five times. He captured his first title in 1957 and then came back to dominate the early 1960s, winning four consecutive titles from 1961 to 1964. A powerful time trial specialist nicknamed "Monsieur Chrono", Anquetil would dominate his rivals against the clock in the individual time trials and then limit his losses in the mountains against the more specialised climbers. In his 1961 victory, he gained the yellow jersey on the first day of the race and never relinquished it.

As a matter of interest, the first disqualification from the Tour happened as early as the second edition in 1904. Twelve riders including the first four across the line were removed from the race results sheet after it emerged that they had hitched rides on trains during the race.

Answer: Francesco Moser

Not to be confused with the white jersey that the Tour organisers awarded to the leader of the "combination classification" between 1968 and 1974, the "Maillot Blanc" has, since 1975, been awarded to the best young rider in the race. There have been various different eligibility rules over the years, but since 2000, the competition is open to all riders who are under the age of 26 years on January 1st in the year following that edition of the Tour. The first winner of the best young rider "White Jersey" in 1975 was Italy's Francesco Moser. The first rider who won both this jersey and won the Tour overall was France's Lauren Fignon in 1983 when he was just 22 years old.

In 1997 the official name of the competition was changed to the "Souvenir Fabio Casartelli" in honour of the young Italian who lost his life on the slopes of the Col d'Portet d' Aspet in the 1995 Tour aged just 24.

Answer: Eddy Merckx

In the 1969 edition of the Tour, the legendary Eddy Merckx certainly lived up to his nickname of "The Cannibal" as he hoovered up the three main jerseys on offer at that Tour. Not only did he take the overall victory and secure the coveted "Maillot Jaune", he also won both the "Maillot Vert" (Green Jersey) in the points competition and the "Maillot Pois" (Polka Dot Jersey) for the mountains classification. There were scant crumbs left for his rivals as he also scooped up both the combativity award and the now defunct combination classification. To add insult to injury as far as his rivals were concerned, Merckx would have taken the best young rider competition as well had it been in existence at the time as he was only 24 years of age.

This Tour victory was the first for Merckx who would go on to win the race overall on four more occasions matching the feat of Jacques Anquetil and becoming only the second rider to notch up five wins.

Answer: Amsterdam

The 1954 edition of the Tour de France broke new ground with the race starting outside France for the first time. The first stage was a 216 kilometre run from the Dutch capital of Amsterdam to the Belgian town of Brasschaat. Fittingly, the stage was won by the Dutch rider, Wout Wagtmans. Another innovation at the 1954 Tour was the return of the team time trial, but with a difference. It was the first time that each rider was given the time of the team, calculated at the time the third rider from each team crossed the finish line. Previously when the team time trial had been used, each rider had been credited with their individual time.

The race was won overall by France's Louison Bobet, the second time he won the title.

Answer: They were the first African registered trade team to participate in the race

When professional team MTN-Qhubeka took to the start line on the first stage of the 2015 Tour, they became the first African registered trade team to ride the race. Although a mixed Algerian/Moroccan team did compete in the 1950 Tour, they were considered to be a national squad and not a professional trade team. In addition, MTN-Qhubeka's squad contained two Eritreans, Daniel Teklehaimanot and the 21 year old Merhawi Kudus, who became the first black Africans to ride the Tour.

It was somewhat of a dream start for the rookie team as Daniel Teklehaimanot became the first rider from an African team to wear one of the Tour's famed jerseys when he donned the "Maillot Pois" as leader of the mountains classification on stage 6. The dream start grew a little bigger when they claimed their first ever Tour stage win after Steve Cummings took out stage 14 from Rodez to Mende.

Answer: Greg Lemond

When he won his first Tour in 1986, America's Greg Lemond became the first non-European to claim a Tour crown. In 1990 he notched up another noteworthy Tour first when he took his third title, repeating his victory of the previous year where he had beaten Laurent Fignon by a scant 8 seconds. In taking the 1990 crown, he became the first rider to claim the overall victory without winning a single individual stage. Lemond had experienced a difficult early season due to ill-health and he did not start the race in the best of form. However, his fitness improved as the race progressed and he used his formidable time trialling skills to good effect. Once again the final stage was an individual time trial and, although he did not win the stage, Lemond was able to take enough time on Italy's Claudio Ciappucci to secure the overall victory.

Interestingly, that time trial also provided another Tour first. It was won by Dimitri Konyshev who became the first Soviet rider to win a stage of the Tour.

Answer: Davis Phinney

1986 proved to be a breakthrough year for American cycling at the Tour de France. Not only did Greg Lemond become the first American to win the Tour overall, it was also the year that the 7-Eleven Cycling Team became the first American professional team to compete at the Tour.

The team boasted a strong sprinter called Davis Phinney who was also competing in his first Tour. The rookie used his opportunity well when, on stage 3 from Levallois-Perrot to Llevin, he got himself into a small breakaway which managed to hold off the peloton. Davis used his turn of speed to outsprint his breakaway compatriots and take the victory, the first victory for an American in a road stage of the Tour. Lemond had previously won an individual time trial. The following year, Phinney claimed a second Tour stage win when he took out stage 12.

Answer: Champs -Elysees

In 1975 one of the most iconic sights in world sport made its appearance at the Tour. For the first time, the race finished on Paris' famed Avenue des Champs-Elysees. The popularity of the race had grown to such an extent that the organisers decided to move it from the Velodrome de Vincennes where it had finished for the previous seven years. To obtain permission to make use of the iconic road, the organisers personally gained approval from President Valery Giscard d' Estang.

The stage finish normally consists of a number of laps (the number can vary to take into account special circumstances) of the circuit of the Champs-Elysees.

This stage is considered to be the one that all sprinters want to add to their palmares. After a largely ceremonial ride towards Paris, it has become custom for the "Maillot Jaune" to lead the peloton onto the boulevard and then the racing begins in earnest as the sprinters and their teams vie for one of the most prestigious stages in world cycling. That first sprint in 1975 was won by Belgium's Walter Godefroot.