Tour de France 2019

July 6-28, Brussels, France , Road - WorldTour

Live report

Latest from Tour de France 2019

Simon Yates wins stage 12 at the Tour de France

Tour de France: Simon Yates wins stage 12

Tour de France 2019 stage 12 finish line quotes

Bahrain-Merida launch investigation after Rohan Dennis quits Tour de France

Caleb Ewan wins stage 11 at the Tour de France

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) became the third rider in a row this year to win his first stage in the Tour de France. The Australian was caught behind teammate Jasper De Buyst's crash with 10km to go, but was piloted back up to the wheel of Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) in time for the final sprint.

Groenewegen opened up the sprint, but the diminutive Australian was tucked tight in his slipstream and, on a slightly downhill sprint, dashed around and with a bike throw denied the Dutchman the victory.

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quickstep) was third across the line ahead of green jersey holder Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) continues to lead the overall classification as the sprinters prepare to take a back seat to the overall contenders as the Tour de France heads into the Pyrenees.

Stage 11 Brief Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal	3:51:26
2	Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
3	Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4	Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5	Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
6	Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7	Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
8	Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
9	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
10	Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic

General classification after stage 11
#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep	47:18:41
2	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos	0:01:12
3	Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos	0:01:16
4	Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma	0:01:27
5	Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe	0:01:45
6	Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep	0:01:46
7	Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott	0:01:47
8	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	0:02:04
9	Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates	0:02:09
10	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ	0:02:33

Tour de France Overview

Tour de France 2019 Start List

With four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Ineos) out through injury, this year's Tour de France is a wide open affair. Defending champion Geraint Thomas returns and the Welsh rider will be joined by his talented young Ineos teammate Egan Bernal, with the Colombian also a contender for the yellow jersey.

The home nation will depend on Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) - both former podium finishers - while the other contenders include Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Mikel Landa (Movistar), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Rigoberto Urán, and Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma).

In terms of the sprinters, Peter Sagan leads the way and, although he may not be the fastest rider in the flat bunch finishes, he will start the Tour de France as the favourite for the points classification, having won the green jersey in six of the past seven Tours. Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Vimsa) is arguably the strongest sprinter in the world at the moment, and he'll also face competition from debutant Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), and André Greipel (Arkéa-Samsic). There'll be no Mark Cavendish, who wasn't selected by Dimension Data, or Fernando Gaviria (UAE), who has a knee injury.

The race route

The 2019 Tour de France will celebrate the legendary career of Belgian Eddy Merckx 50 years after his first Tour victory, with the Grand Départ to be held in Brussels on July 6. The race also celebrates the 100th year of the iconic maillot jaune (yellow jersey), which Merckx wore for a total of 96 days, more than any other rider in history.

The 2019 route, unveiled in Paris in October, covers 3,640 kilometres over 21 stages, with three stages apiece in the Pyrenees and Alps, five summit finishes, and seven peaks above the 2000-metre altitude mark. There are seven largely flat stages, a few medium mountain days, and only 54 kilometres of time trialling, split between one team time trial and one individual time trial.

Tour de France 2019: The Essential Guide

The race will begin with a 192km stage taking in many of cycling's historic challenges across the Flemish and Walloon regions, including the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Stage 2 will be a 28km team time trial starting at the Palais Royal and finishing by the Brussels Atomium. Merckx claimed his first yellow jersey after his Faema team won a similar test in his home town of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe.

The race will then leave Belgium and head into France on stage 3's 214km race from Binche to Epernay, before heading south through the Vosges mountains and into the Massif Central. It's then down to the Pyrenees, with a 27.2km individual time trial in Pau preceding summit finishes on the mighty Col du Tourmalet and Prat d'Albis.

After the second rest day, the route heads to the Alps for three stages that include the Col d'Izoard, the Col du Galibier, and the Col d'Iseran – the highest paved road in Europe. The winner of the 2019 Tour de France will effectively be determined after one mammoth final climb to the finish line at Val Thorens on stage 20, before the race heads into Paris for the finale along the Champs-Elysées.