La Grande Boucle Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maurice Garin (France)

The first Tour was six stages over 2,428 kms, averaging 400 kms per stage. The race was over 19 days with many rest days in-between stages. 60 riders started the race and only 21 riders completed the six stages. The last rider to complete the race finished nearly 65 hours behind the winner in total time classification. Maurice Garin (1871-1957) was born in Italy, but became a naturalised French citizen in 1901. His winning time in 1903 was nearly three hours ahead of the second placed rider. In 1904 he was also declared the winner, but was later disqualified.

In the 1904 race Henri Cornet (1884-1941) was only 19 years of age when he completed the race. However, the first three riders were disqualified due to cheating and, although he finished three hours after the first placed rider, he was finally declared the winner in November 1904 when he was 20 years of age. Louis Trousselier (1881-1939) won the race in 1905 and René Pottier (1879-1907) won the race in 1906. In 1907 René committed suicide when he learned that his wife had found a lover while he was away competing.

Answer: Jean Robic (France)

Jean Robic (1921-1980) was a French professional cyclist who won the 1947 Tour de France without wearing the yellow jersey until the last day when he won the 257km final stage. He won the Rome-Naples-Rome in 1950 and the World Cyclo-cross championship in 1950. Jan Jenssen was the first Dutch cyclist to win the Tour de France and in 1968 was the second winner to only gain the yellow jersey on the final day in the individual time trial.

He also won the points classification in 1964, 1965 and 1967. He won the Vuelta a España in 1967 plus the points classification in 1967 and 1968.

The yellow jersey was first introduced in 1919 to identify the leader. The first rider to wear the yellow jersey was Eugėne Christophe of France. Francis Pélissier was the first rider to quit the Tour while wearing the yellow jersey.

He retired from the race due to sickness.

Answer: Eddie Merckx (Belgium)

Eddie Merckx won the Tour in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974. In 1969 he won all three classifications. He won 34 individual stages from 1969-1975. He also won the Giro d'Italia five times (1968, 1970, 1972-1974) and the Vuelta a España in 1973. Jacques Anquetil (1934-1987) won the Tour in 1957 and 1961-64.

He also won 16 individual stages. In 1961 he gained the yellow jersey on day one and wore it throughout the tour. He also won the Giro d'Italia (1960 and 1964) and the Vuelta a España in 1963. Bernard Hinault won the Tour in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985 with 28 individual stage victories.

He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1980, 1982 and 1985 plus the Vuelta a España in 1978 and 1983. Miguel Indurain won the Tour in five consecutive years (1991-1995) with 12 individual stage victories.

He won the Giro d'Italia in 1992 and 1993. He won gold at the 1996 Olympics in the men's road individual time trial after being World Time Trial Champion in 1995.

Answer: François Faber (Luxembourg)

François Faber (1887-1915) was born in France, but travelled on a Luxembourg passport due to his father's nationality. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour in 1909. He won 19 individual stages from 1908-1914. He was killed while fighting with the French Foreign Legion during WWI. Odile Defraye (1888-1965) was the first Belgian and second foreigner to win the Tour in 1912 and also won three stages in his victory year.

He also won the Milan-San Remo in 1913. Philippe Thys (1889-1971) won the Tour on three occasions in 1913, 1914 and 1920 with 13 stage victories. Ottavio Bottecchia (1894-1927) was the first Italian to win the Tour in 1924 and 1925.

Answer: Greg LeMond (USA)

Greg LeMond also won the Tour in 1986 and 1990. He was also World Road Race Champion in 1983 and 1989. During his career he was responsible for some technology advancements in professional cycling, including aerodynamic handlebars and carbon fibre frames. Laurent Fignon (1960-2010) won the race in 1983 and 1984.

In 1989 he held a 50 second lead on LeMond going into the final stage which was a time trial over a relatively short distance of 24.5 km. He rode after LeMond and lost 58 seconds during this last stage of the race. Pedro Delgado was third in 1989 but was the winner of the Tour de France in 1988.

He also won the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Sean Kelly won the Points Classification in 1989 plus 1982, 1983 and 1985. He also won the Paris-Nice on seven occasions.

Answer: Amsterdam (Netherlands)

In 1954 the race started outside of France for the first time. The race started in Amsterdam on July 8, 1954 with 23 stages, over 4,656 kms and was won by Louison Bobet (France). It was the second of his three consecutive wins. In 1958 the race started outside of France for the second time, in Brussels.

The third time was from Cologne in 1965. The first time the race started in Luxembourg was in 1989.

Answer: Cadel Evans (Australia)

Cadel Evans was the first citizen of a Commonwealth country to win the Tour in 2011. He had been runner-up in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 he won the World Road Race Championship in Mendrisio, Switzerland. He started his racing career as a mountain biker and won the UCI World Cup (Cross Country) in 1998 and 1999. Cadel was also a four-time Olympian. Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012 with Chis Froome winning his first Tour in 2013. Stephen Roche won the Tour in 1987, however, Ireland has not been part of the Commonwealth since 1949.

Answer: 10

There were 155 numbers given out, yet only 67 started the race. There were a number of reasons as to why these numbers decreased and also why there were so few finishers in the race. WWI had only been over for seven months and the French road system had been devastated during the war, also very few repairs had been carried out on the roads in that seven months. Many riders had fought in the war and, after coming back into civilian life, they had very little time to prepare and train. Added to this, the bicycle manufacturers had also suffered during the war years so they could not sponsor any riders. Riders were then left to their own devices for repairs and maintenance over the longest Tour to date.

1919 was the first year of the introduction of the yellow jersey so people could identify the race leader. Eugėne Christophe (France) was the first rider to wear the yellow jersey after the eleventh stage. The 10th finisher (Jules Nempon - France) was 21 hours, 24 minutes and 12 seconds after Lambot on time classification. In 1922 Firmin Lambot (1886-1964) also won the race without winning a stage. Besides his two wins (1919 and 1922), he also won six stages from 1913-1921.

Answer: Red Polka Dot

The wearer of the red polka dot jersey is known as the "King of the Mountains" and the jersey was introduced in 1975. Points are awarded for the first riders over the top of the mountain. Mountain climbs are given various points depending on the difficulty of the climb and in some cases more than one rider can earn points.

The green jersey is worn by the cyclist with the most sprinting points, awarded for intermediate and final sprints. The white jersey is worn by the Tour's best cyclist aged 25 years or under.

The pink jersey is worn by the leader of the general classification in the Giro d'Italia. This is similar to the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

Answer: Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)

Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012 and has won gold medals at multiple Olympic Games. His first win in the velodrome was in Athens (2004) in the men's individual pursuit. Miguel Indurain won the Tour in five consecutive years (1991-1995) with 12 individual stage victories.

He won the Giro d'Italia in 1992 and 1993. He won gold at the 1996 Olympics in the road cycling individual time trial after being World Time Trial Champion in 1995. Jan Ullrich won the Tour in 1997 and won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in the road race. Fabian Cancellara won the gold medal in the Beijing Olympics (2008) in the road time trial and has won numerous stages in the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.