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All cyclists in the Tour de France ride for a team. From the 200 or so starters in the race there is only a possible five or six riders who can win, the rest are either helping their team leaders or they are sprint or mountain specialists who want to win stages or points or mountain jerseys.

The Tour began as a race for individuals, though is now contested by professional teams which are backed by commercial sponsors. Even when commercial cycling teams had become commonplace in other events, the Tour was contested by national teams for several years during the 1950s and early 1960s.

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Related Pages

• The different jerseys worn by category winners
• Tour de France home page.