Road Book · Cycling Trivia
Tour de France Quiz: Ride All 21 Stages of Cycling’s Greatest Race
Twenty-one questions, two rest days and one final jersey ceremony. Test what you know about the Tour’s history, its famous jerseys, the climbs that made legends and the 2026 race that rewrote the record books.
🚴 21 stages🟡 4 jerseys to win⛰️ 2 rest days✅ Answers explained
The Tour de France is more than a bike race. It is a three-week moving festival that has crossed mountains, cities and borders since 1903, and it remains one of the most watched annual sporting events on the planet. Whether you follow every stage or only catch the dramatic mountain finishes, this Tour de France quiz is designed to teach as much as it tests. Every answer comes with a short, fact-checked explanation, and the guide below the quiz fills in the stories behind the questions.
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KM 0 Play the Tour de France Quiz
Each question is a stage. Stages 1–7 are the flat opening week, stages 8–14 roll through the hills, and stages 15–21 head into the high mountains. Score well in each category to earn its jersey at the final ceremony.
Stage 1 of 21History
Stages 1–7 · Flat8–14 · Hills15–21 · Mountains → Paris
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KM 12 How the Tour de France Works
The modern men’s Tour usually consists of 21 stages raced over about 23 days, with two rest days and a total distance in the region of 3,300 to 3,500 kilometres. The 2026 edition, for example, covered 3,333 km from Barcelona to Paris. Stages come in several flavours: flat days for sprinters, hilly days for punchy all-rounders, mountain stages for climbers, and individual or team time trials where riders race alone against the clock.
The overall winner is not the rider who wins the most stages. It is the rider with the lowest cumulative time across every stage, known as the general classification (GC). That is why a rider can win the Tour without winning a single stage, and why teams protect their leader so carefully on flat days where a crash or split could cost minutes.
Teamwork matters. Since 2018, each team starts with eight riders. Most of them are domestiques who fetch bottles, shelter their leader from the wind, chase breakaways and set the pace on climbs. One of the most enjoyable things about watching the Tour is spotting how these roles play out.
The race is organised by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), while the sport’s world governing body is the UCI. Riders must finish each stage within a time limit, so even the slowest climbers fight to reach the summit before the cut-off.
KM 30 A Short History: 1903 to Today
The Tour was born out of a newspaper rivalry. In 1903, the sports paper L’Auto, edited by Henri Desgrange, launched a race around France to boost circulation. It worked, and the race has run every year since, apart from the years lost to the two World Wars.
1903The first Tour: six stages, some longer than 400 km, won by Maurice Garin.
1910The race tackles the Pyrenees, including the Col du Tourmalet.
1911The Alps arrive, with the Col du Galibier.
1919The yellow jersey is introduced, first worn by Eugène Christophe.
1933The mountains classification begins.
1953The green points jersey debuts to mark the race’s 50th anniversary.
1975First finish on the Champs-Élysées; the polka-dot and white jerseys appear.
1986Greg LeMond becomes the first American, and first non-European, winner.
1989LeMond beats Laurent Fignon by just 8 seconds, the closest finish ever.
2012Bradley Wiggins becomes the first British winner.
2022The Tour de France Femmes is relaunched as a modern women’s race.
2024The race finishes in Nice, not Paris, because of the Olympics; Mark Cavendish takes a record 35th stage win.
2025The Paris finale adds the climb of Montmartre.
2026Tadej Pogačar wins his fifth Tour, joining the sport’s most exclusive club.
KM 55 The Four Jerseys Explained
Four distinctive jerseys are awarded every day to the leaders of the main competitions. If one rider leads more than one classification, they wear the most prestigious and the next-placed rider wears the other.
Yellow · Maillot Jaune
Leader of the general classification, the rider with the lowest total time. Its colour comes from the yellow paper on which L’Auto was printed.
Green · Points
Rewards consistent high finishes and intermediate sprints, so it usually suits sprinters. Peter Sagan holds the record with seven green jerseys.
Polka Dot · King of the Mountains
Points are awarded at the top of categorised climbs. The classification dates to 1933; the famous red-dotted jersey arrived in 1975.
White · Best Young Rider
The best-placed rider in the general classification aged under 26. Francesco Moser was the first winner in 1975.
KM 78 Legendary Climbs to Know
Mountains decide most Tours. These five ascents appear again and again in cycling trivia, and in the race itself.
1,850 mAlpe d’Huez
Alpe d’Huez is famous for its 21 numbered hairpin bends, each bearing a plaque honouring past stage winners. Fausto Coppi won the first summit finish there in 1952, and the 2026 race climbed it on two consecutive days.
2,115 mTourmalet
Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees has featured more than any other Pyrenean pass since its debut in 1910.
2,642 mGalibier
Col du Galibier is one of the highest roads the Tour regularly uses and a fixture of Alpine stages since 1911.
1,910 mVentoux
Mont Ventoux, the “Giant of Provence”, rises above a bare, wind-swept summit. A memorial near the top honours British rider Tom Simpson, who died on its slopes in 1967.
2,304 mCol de la Loze
Col de la Loze is a modern addition, first used in 2020, known for brutal, irregular gradients near its top.
When a Tour reaches its highest point, the first rider over the top receives the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, named after the race’s founder.
KM 96 Records and Remarkable Numbers
| Record | Holder(s) | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Most overall victories | Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Tadej Pogačar | 5 |
| Most consecutive victories | Miguel Indurain (1991–1995) | 5 |
| Most stage wins | Mark Cavendish | 35 |
| Most days in yellow | Eddy Merckx | 96 |
| Most green jerseys | Peter Sagan | 7 |
| Most polka-dot jerseys | Richard Virenque | 7 |
| Closest winning margin | Greg LeMond over Laurent Fignon (1989) | 8 seconds |
A note on accuracy: Lance Armstrong’s seven titles (1999–2005) were stripped in 2012 after a doping investigation, so he does not appear in official records. The last French winner remains Bernard Hinault in 1985.
KM 120 2026 Tour de France Recap
The 113th Tour de France ran from July 4 to July 26, 2026, starting in Barcelona and finishing in Paris. Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG took the lead early and never let go, sealing his fifth title after earlier wins in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. That victory put him level with Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain on five Tour wins.
| Classification | Winner |
|---|---|
| 🟡 General classification | Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) |
| 2nd overall | Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), +6:26 |
| 3rd overall & ⚪ best young rider | Isaac del Toro (Mexico), +9:42 |
| 🟢 Points | Mads Pedersen (Denmark) |
| 🔴 Mountains | Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) |
| Teams | Lidl-Trek |
The final stage brought one last show: Mathieu van der Poel attacked on the Montmartre climb and held off the sprinters to win in Paris, while Pogačar rolled in safely to collect yellow.
KM 138 Tour de France Femmes
Women’s Tours existed in earlier forms, but the modern Tour de France Femmes launched in 2022. Its winners so far are Annemiek van Vleuten (2022), Demi Vollering (2023), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (2024, by just four seconds), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (2025) and Demi Vollering again in 2026.
The 2026 edition ran from August 1 to 9, from Lausanne to Nice, over nine stages and 1,175 km, its longest route yet. Vollering won the final two stages in Nice to beat Niewiadoma-Phinney by 1 minute 18 seconds, becoming the first rider to win the modern race twice. Elisa Longo Borghini finished third and Antonia Niedermaier took the white jersey.
KM 152 What We Know About the 2027 Tour
The 114th Tour de France will start in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Friday July 2, 2027, a day earlier than usual to allow an extra transfer day back to France. The three British stages are Edinburgh–Carlisle, Keswick–Liverpool and Welshpool–Cardiff, crossing Scotland, England and Wales. The race is due to finish in Paris on July 25.
For the first time, the men’s and women’s Grand Départs will both take place in the same country outside France: the Tour de France Femmes starts in Leeds on July 30, 2027. The full routes of both races are scheduled to be unveiled in Paris on October 22, 2026, so check back for an update once the stages are confirmed.
KM 170 Cycling Glossary
- Peloton
- The main group of riders travelling together.
- Domestique
- A support rider who works for the team leader.
- Breakaway
- Riders who attack and ride ahead of the peloton.
- Echelon
- A diagonal line riders form to shelter from crosswinds.
- Flamme rouge
- The red flag marking 1 km to the finish.
- Lanterne rouge
- The rider in last place overall, named after the red lamp at the back of a train.
- Hors catégorie (HC)
- A climb so hard it is “beyond category”.
- Grand Départ
- The official start of the Tour, often held abroad.
- Gruppetto
- A group of non-climbers riding together to beat the time cut on mountain days.
- Maillot jaune
- French for the yellow jersey.
KM 184 Tips to Ace Any Cycling Quiz
Anchor key dates. Remember 1903 (first Tour), 1919 (yellow jersey), 1953 (green), 1975 (polka dot, white and the Champs-Élysées). Many questions orbit those years.
Know the five-time club. Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain and now Pogačar. If a question asks about the most wins, the answer is five.
Watch for stripped titles. Quiz writers sometimes include Lance Armstrong or Floyd Landis as distractors. Officially, neither holds a Tour title.
Use French clues. Words like maillot, col and lanterne often point straight to the answer.
Practise daily. Short, regular quizzes build recall faster than cramming. A five-minute daily habit, like the questions you find when you play Bing homepage quiz rounds, keeps general knowledge sharp.
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🔑 Tour de France Quiz Answers (spoilers)
- First Tour de France: 1903
- First winner: Maurice Garin
- Why yellow: the colour of L’Auto’s paper
- Green jersey: points classification
- White jersey age limit: under 26
- Peloton: the main group of riders
- Lanterne rouge: last place overall
- Paris finish since 1975: Champs-Élysées
- First American winner: Greg LeMond
- Last French winner: Bernard Hinault (1985)
- 1989 margin: 8 seconds
- Most stage wins: Mark Cavendish (35)
- Riders per team: 8
- 2026 Grand Départ: Barcelona
- Polka-dot jersey: King of the Mountains
- Alpe d’Huez hairpins: 21
- “Giant of Provence”: Mont Ventoux
- Prize at the highest point: Souvenir Henri Desgrange
- 2026 Tour de France Femmes winner: Demi Vollering
- 2027 Grand Départ: Edinburgh
- 2026 Tour de France winner: Tadej Pogačar
KM 205 Frequently Asked Questions
How many stages are in the Tour de France?
The men’s Tour normally has 21 stages over about 23 days, including two rest days. The Tour de France Femmes has been run over eight or nine stages.
Who has won the Tour de France the most times?
Five riders share the record with five wins each: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Tadej Pogačar, who joined them in 2026.
Who won the 2026 Tour de France?
Tadej Pogačar won the 113th Tour, 6 minutes 26 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, with Isaac del Toro third.
When and where does the 2027 Tour de France start?
It starts in Edinburgh on July 2, 2027, with three stages across Scotland, England and Wales before moving to France and finishing in Paris on July 25.
What does the yellow jersey mean?
It is worn by the leader of the general classification, the rider with the lowest total time. At the end of the race, its wearer is the Tour winner.
How long does this Tour de France quiz take?
Most people finish the 21 questions in about five to eight minutes. There is no timer, so you can read each explanation at your own pace.
FINISH Sources and Fact-Checking
Facts in this quiz were checked against official race information and reputable cycling coverage, and were accurate as of October 18, 2026. If you spot an error, please let us know through our contact page and we will review and correct it.
- Official Tour de France website: letour.fr
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Tour de France”: britannica.com
- 2026 final results: ProCyclingUK and CyclingStage
- 2026 Tour de France Femmes: Wikipedia summary and Escape Collective
- 2027 Grand Départ and route presentation: CyclingStage and Domestique