The 2016 Tour de France was the 103rd edition of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 2 July in

Mont Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is i ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, and concluding on 24 July with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris. A total of 198 riders from 22

teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interd ...

entered the race. The overall general classification was won by Chris Froome of , with the second and third places were taken by Romain Bardet () and Nairo Quintana (), respectively.

Mark Cavendish Sir Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx people, Manx retired professional cyclist. As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialised in the Madison (cycling), madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he ...

of won the opening stage to take the general classification leader's yellow jersey. rider

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak former professional cyclist who competed in road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...

won the second stage to claim yellow and held onto it until the fifth stage when Greg Van Avermaet () took the stage and the yellow jersey. Van Avermaet lost ground in the mountainous eighth stage, finishing over 25 minutes behind the stage winner Froome, who took the yellow jersey. Froome retained the yellow jersey through to stage 17 and extended his lead further following a strong performance in the stage 18's mountain time trial. Bardet won the mountainous 19th stage and moved into second place overall and despite crashing in the rain, Froome was able to extend his lead. He then held the lead into the finish in Paris. The points classification was won by Sagan, who won three stages. 's

Rafał Majka Rafał Majka (Polish pronunciation: ; born 12 September 1989) is a Polish professional Road bicycle racing, road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is known as a strong climber, and rose to prominence at the 2013 Giro d'Italia, wher ...

won the mountains classification. rider Adam Yates, in fourth place overall, won the young rider classification. The team classification was won by and Sagan was given the award for the most

combative Combatives is the term used to describe the hand-to-hand combat systems primarily used by members of the military, law enforcement, or other groups such as security personnel or correctional officers. Combatives are based in martial arts but a ...

rider. Cavendish won the most stages, with four.

Teams

Map of nationalities in the 2016 Tour de France

Twenty-two

participated in the 2016 edition of the Tour de France. The race was the 18th of the 28 events in the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

, and all of its eighteen UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited, and obliged, to attend the race. On 2 March 2016, the organiser of the Tour,

Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO and also A.S.O.) is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well a ...

(ASO), announced the four second-tier UCI Professional Continental teams given wildcard invitations: , , and . The presentation of the teams – where the members of each team's roster are introduced in front of the media and local dignitaries – took place in the town square of

Sainte-Mère-Église Sainte-Mère-Église () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern French Departments of France, department of Manche, in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy. On 1 January 2016, the former communes of Beuzeville-au-Plain, Chef-d ...

, Normandy, on 28 June, two days before the opening

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

held in the region. Each team arrived in World War II military vehicles, commemorating the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. Each squad was allowed a maximum of nine riders, therefore the start list contained a total of 198 riders. Of these, 33 were competing in their first Tour de France. The riders came from 35 countries; France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany all had 10 or more riders in the race. Riders from ten countries won stages during the race; British riders won the largest number of stages, with seven. The average age of riders in the race was 30 years, ranging from the 22-year-old Sondre Holst Enger () to the 42-year-old

Matteo Tosatto Matteo Tosatto (born 14 May 1974) is an Italian former road racing cyclist. He rode as a professional between 1997 and 2016, with his biggest personal victories coming in stages of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. He contested 34 Gran ...

(). Of the total average ages, was the youngest team and the oldest. The teams entering the race were: UCI WorldTeams * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * UCI Professional Continental teams * * * *

Pre-race favourites

In the run up to the 2016 Tour de France, Chris Froome () was seen by many as the top pre-race favourite for the general classification. His closest rivals were thought to be Nairo Quintana () and Alberto Contador (). The other riders considered contenders for the general classification were

Richie Porte Richard Julian Porte (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian former professional Road bicycle racing, road bicycle racer who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2022. His successes include wins at 8 UCI World Tour, World Tour stage races: Pa ...

(),

Thibaut Pinot Thibaut Pinot (born 29 May 1990) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2010 to 2023, spending his entire career with . Once considered one of the most promising talents in French cycling, he finis ...

(), Fabio Aru (),

Vincenzo Nibali Vincenzo Nibali (; born 14 November 1984) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022. He is one of seven cyclists who have won all three of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours i ...

(), who won the 2014 Tour and the

2016 Giro d'Italia The 2016 Giro d'Italia was the 99th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Apeldoorn on 6 May with a individual time trial, followed by two other stages in the Netherlands, both ...

, Romain Bardet (), and Tejay van Garderen (). Froome, who won both the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

editions of the race, had shown his form during the season with overall victories in two

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...

s, the

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annuall ...

and the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycle sport, cycling road bicycle racing, road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during ...

, a race considered to be the warm-up for the Tour. The runner-up in the 2013 and 2015 Tours, Quintana, had won three stage races in the lead up to the Tour, the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

, the

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

, and the Route du Sud. Contador, winner of the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Tours, found success in stage races during the season, winning the Tour of the Basque Country and placing second at

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

and the Volta a Catalunya. The sprinters considered favourites for the points classification and wins on the flat or hilly bunch sprint finishes were

(),

Marcel Kittel Marcel Kittel (born 11 May 1988) is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2019 for the , and squads. As a junior, he specialised in time trials, even winning a bronze medal in the World Championships for cycli ...

(),

André Greipel André Greipel (born 16 July 1982) is a German cyclist, who rode professionally in road bicycle racing between 2005 and 2021. Since his retirement from road racing, Greipel has worked as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental teams and , and in ...

(),

(), Alexander Kristoff (), John Degenkolb () and Michael Matthews (). Sagan, the world road race champion and winner of the points classification in the four previous Tours, had won the one-day

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

and the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

, and two stages of the Tour of California during the season before the Tour. Kittel's 2016 season had been successful up to the Tour as he had amassed a total of nine wins from sprints, most notably, two stages of the Giro and the Scheldeprijs one-day race. He also won both the general and points classifications of the Dubai Tour. Greipel's season total of wins so far was eight, with three Giro stages. Cavendish's form was not clear as his season was mostly spent training for the

omnium An omnium (from Latin ''omnium'': of all, belonging to all) is a multiple race event in track cycling. Historically the omnium has had a variety of formats. In recent years, road racing has also adopted the term to describe multi-day races that f ...

track event at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

the month following the Tour. Although Kristoff's total of wins in the season was eight, they were not in major races. Degenkolb had spent the majority of his season recovering from an injury and it was thought he could pose a threat. Matthews only had two wins so far in the season, both at Paris–Nice, including the race's points classification.

Route and stages

On 24 November 2014, ASO announced that for time the first time in Tour history the department of

Manche Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...

would host the 2016 edition's opening stages (known as the ''Grand Départ''), before further details of the first three stages held in Manche were released on 9 December 2014. On 15 January 2015, the organisers confirmed that the race would visit

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

, for the fifth time in history; after the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and 2009 editions. The principality hosted the finish of the ninth stage, the first rest day and start of stage ten. The entire route was unveiled by race director Christian Prudhomme on 20 October 2015 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The defending champion Chris Froome said after the route was announced that he expected the course to suit him better than the previous year's course. "I think it's going to take a complete cyclist – but the stage that certainly stands out for me is Mont Ventoux", he added. The first stage started at the

island monastery and finished north on at Utah Beach. The second stage was held between

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.Cherbourg-en-Cotentin Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (, ; Norman: ''Tchidbouo'') is a port city in the department of Manche, Normandy, northwestern France, established on 1 January 2016.Granville and headed south to the finish in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

. Stage four took the race further south, between

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

and

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

, with the fifth stage crossing the elevated region of Massif Central to the finish at the Le Lioran mountain resort. Stage six headed to

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

before the entrance to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

in stage seven. This mountain range also hosted two further stages: a roller-coaster stage eight and the finish in Andorra in stage nine. The following three stages, 10 to 12, crossed the south of the country eastwards to

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

. After an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

, stage 14 took the race northwards through the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

Valley, which was followed by a stage that took the race into the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

. Stage 16 ended with a finish in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, Switzerland. The next four stages took place in and around the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, before a long transfer took the Tour to the finish with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris. There were 21 stages in the race, covering a total distance of , longer than the 2015 Tour. The longest mass-start was the fourth at , and stage 21 was the shortest at . The race featured a total of in individual time trials and four summit finishes: stage 9, to Andorra-Arcalis (Andorra); stage 12, to Chalet Reynard (Mont Ventoux); stage 17, to Finhaut– Émosson (Switzerland); and stage 19, to Saint Gervais-les-Bains. The highest point of elevation in the race was the -high Port d'Envalira mountain pass on stage ten. There were seven ''

hors catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is th ...

'' (English: beyond category) rated climbs in the race. There were sixteen new stage start or finish locations. The second rest day took place in Bern after stage 15.

Race overview

''Grand Départ'' and journey south

The first stage's bunch sprint finish was won by Mark Cavendish, who gained the race leader's yellow

jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

; he also claimed the green jersey as the leader of the points classification, with Paul Voss () taking the

polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Alison Jackson wears a cycling_jersey.html" ;"title="Queen of the Mountains polkadot cycling jersey">Queen of the Mountains polkadot cycling jersey The polka dot, also written polkadot, and also called s ...

jersey as the leader of the mountains classification. Alberto Contador crashed and lost 55 seconds. Peter Sagan took victory in stage two with an uphill sprint in Cherbourg, putting him in the yellow and green jerseys. Jasper Stuyven of led the mountains classification. General classification rivals Contador and Richie Porte both lost time. The bunch sprint in Angers was won by Cavendish in a

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

with André Greipel. Cavendish's win was his 28th in the Tour and drew him level with

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In ...

at second on the all-time list; Cavendish also took the green jersey. Another photo finish followed in the next stage with Marcel Kittel beating 's

Bryan Coquard Bryan Coquard (born 25 April 1992) is a French cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Since turning professional, Coquard has taken more than fifty victories in road racing, primarily in French races – including six stage wins and an overall v ...

. Sagan claimed back the green and Thomas De Gendt () the polka dot. Greg Van Avermaet of won the fifth stage after he was the only rider to survive from an early breakaway. He took the lead of the general classification by over five minutes. Stage six was won by Cavendish, who beat Kittel and claimed the green jersey.

Pyrenees and transition

In stage seven, the first in the Pyrenees, Steve Cummings () soloed over the final climb, the

Col d'Aspin Col d'Aspin () (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the French Pyrenees in the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It connects Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, in the upper Adour valley, with Arreau, on the Neste (river), River Neste. Details of the climbs ...

, and descended into the finish at Lac de Payolle where he took victory. Van Avermaet came fifth and extended his lead. 's Adam Yates attacked the chasing group and as he passed underneath the one kilometre to go arch it collapsed on top of, and injured, him. In the following stage Chris Froome attacked the front of the race of overall favourites as they passed the summit of the Col de Peyresourde, descending to the finish in

Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; ), also referred to as just Luchon, is a Communes of France, commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region of south-western France. T ...

to take a solo victory by thirteen seconds. This put him in the yellow jersey, sixteen seconds ahead of Yates in second, with

() taking the polka dot. In the Tour's queen stage, the ninth,

Tom Dumoulin Tom Dumoulin (; born 11 November 1990) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has won the Giro d'Italia and nine stages across the three Grand Tours, five medals in three different World Champion ...

of broke clear of the large breakaway to claim the win at the Andorra-Arcalis. Thibaut Pinot took the lead of the mountains classification. Contador abandoned the race, citing a fever which had developed overnight. The next day was the first rest day of the Tour. Another breakaway succeeded in stage ten, with using their advantage of having three riders in the small group to give Michael Matthews the win. Sagan, who came second, took the lead in the points classification. On stage eleven, Sagan forced a move in the final with his teammate

Maciej Bodnar Maciej Bodnar (born 7 March 1985, in Oława) is a Polish former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2007 to 2023. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Łukasz Bodnar. Bodnar was a team-mate of Peter Sagan ...

, who were followed by Froome and his teammate Geraint Thomas. They opened up a lead of over twenty seconds and held it to six seconds at the finish, where Sagan beat Froome in a sprint. A successful breakaway saw De Gendt win stage twelve at the finish at Chalet Reynard, which was changed from the intended summit finish at Mont Ventoux, later, due to dangerous winds. In the chasing group of overall favourites, a leading group of Porte, Froome and

Bauke Mollema Bauke Mollema (; born 26 November 1986) is a Dutch professional cycle sport, cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has finished in the top 10 in all three Grand Tours, with stage wins in the 2021 Tour de France, 2017 Tour de France, and the 2 ...

() crashed into the back of a camera motorbike that was stopped by the encroaching spectators. Froome's bike was unrideable and he was forced to run until he was given a bike from a neutral service car; although it did not fit him he managed to ride until he received his team bike. The race jury gave Froome and Porte the same time as Mollema, who later criticised the jury's decision, suggesting that they would have acted differently if he was the one to go down. De Gendt took the lead of the mountains classification. Stage thirteen's individual time trial was won by Dumoulin, 1:03 ahead of Froome, who extended his lead over his nearest rival (Mollema) to one minute and forty-seven seconds. Cavendish won his fourth stage the next day with a bunch sprint at the Parc des Oiseaux.

Alps and finale

rider Jarlinson Pantano won stage fifteen after a sprint with fellow surviving breakaway rider Majka. In next stage, Sagan won his third stage from a select group of sprinters that had traversed a cobbled climb from the finish in Bern. The next day was the second rest day. In stage seventeen, as the race entered the Alps, 's Ilnur Zakarin attacked a breakaway and held off a chasing Pantano to take the win at the summit finish by the Émosson Dam. In the following stage's mountain time trial Froome beat second-placed Dumoulin by 21 seconds and extended his lead to three minutes and 52 seconds overall, with Mollema keeping second. In stage nineteen, the general classification leaders descended the wet roads of the unclassified penultimate climb at the head of the race, with only Costa surviving from the breakaway. Romain Bardet attacked after a series of crashes that included Froome and Mollema. Froome took Thomas's bike and got back to the group, but Mollema was left isolated and finished over four minutes behind the stage winner Bardet, who had passed Costa in the final and soloed to the finish at the Le Bettex ski station. Froome's lead was increased to 4' 11", with Bardet moving up from fifth to second. In stage twenty Jon Izaguirre () took the win in

Morzine Morzine (; ), alternatively known as Morzine-Avoriaz (), is an alpine commune on the Swiss border in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is located in the French-Swiss Chablais historical ...

, attacking on the wet descent from a three rider group that led over the final climb of Col de Joux Plane. The final stage in Paris was won by Greipel, his second consecutive Champs-Élysées stage win. Froome finished the race to claim his third Tour de France, becoming the first man since

Miguel Induráin Miguel Induráin Larraya (; born 16 July 1964) is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. Induráin won five Tours de France from 1991 Tour de France, 1991 to 1995 Tour de France, 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five- ...

in 1995 Tour to officially defend his title. He beat second-placed Bardet by four minutes and five seconds, with Nairo Quintana third, a further sixteen seconds down. Sagan won the points classification with a total of 470, 242 ahead of Greipel in second. Majka won the mountains classification with De Gendt and Pantano second and third respectively. The best young rider was Yates, two minutes and sixteen seconds ahead of second-placed Louis Meintjes (). finished as the winners of the team classification, over eight minutes ahead of second-placed . Of the 198 starters, 174 reached the finish of the last stage in Paris, beating the previous record high of 170 set in the 2010 Tour.

Classification leadership and minor prizes

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2016 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was the general classification, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses (time subtracted) were awarded at the end of every stage apart from the two individual time trials. The first three riders got 10, 6 and 4 seconds, respectively. If a crash had happened within the final of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour. The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey. The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing among the highest placed in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type. The leader was identified by a green jersey. The third classification was the mountains classification. Points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit of the most difficult climbs first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second- or first-category and ''hors catégorie'', with the more difficult climbs rated lower. Double points were awarded on the summit finishes on stages 9, 12, 17 and 19. The leader wore a white jersey with red polka dots. The final individual classification was the young rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1991. The leader wore a white jersey. The final classification was a team classification. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time. The number of stage victories and placings per team determined the outcome of a tie. The riders in the team that lead this classification were identified with yellow number bibs on the back of their jerseys and yellow

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the Human head, head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a Custodian helmet, policeman's helmet in the Unite ...

. In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the greatest effort and who demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship". No combativity awards were given for the time trials and the final stage. The winner wore a red number bib the following stage. At the conclusion of the Tour, Peter Sagan won the overall super-combativity award, again, decided by a jury. A total of €2,295,850 was awarded in cash prizes in the race. The overall winner of the general classification received €500,000, with the second and third placed riders getting €200,000 and €100,000 respectively. All finishers of the race were awarded with money. The holders of the classifications benefited on each stage they led; the final winners of the points and mountains were given €25,000, while the best young rider and most combative rider got €20,000. The team classification winners were given €50,000. €11,000 was given to the winners of each stage of the race, with smaller amounts given to places 2–20. There were also three special awards each with a prize of €5000. The Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given to the first rider to pass Goddet's memorial at the summit of the

Col du Tourmalet Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds ...

on stage eight, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given to first rider to pass the summit of the highest climb in the Tour, the Port d'Envalira on stage ten, and the Prix Bernard Hinault, given to the rider with fastest ascent of the Côte de Domancy on stage eighteen. Thibaut Pinot won the Jacques Goddet, Rui Costa won the Henri Desgrange and Richie Porte won the Bernard Hinault. * In stage two,

, who was second in the points classification, wore the green jersey, because first placed

wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. * In stages three and five, Mark Cavendish, who was second in the points classification, wore the green jersey, because first placed

wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Young rider classification

Team classification

UCI rankings

Riders from the WorldTeams competing individually, as well as for their teams and nations, for points that contributed towards the World Tour rankings. Riders from both the WorldTeams and Professional Continental teams also competed individually and for their nations for points that contributed towards the new

UCI World Ranking The UCI men's road racing world rankings are a points system used to rank men's road cycling riders. Points are awarded based on results in UCI sanctioned races, with points varying widely based on the importance and prestige of the race. The ...

, which included all UCI road races. Points were awarded to the top twenty (World Tour) and sixty finishers (World Ranking) in the general classification and to the top five finishers in each stage. The points accrued by Chris Froome moved him up to third in the World Tour and second in the World Ranking. Peter Sagan held the lead of both rankings. 's strong showing put them in the lead of the World Tour team ranking, replacing . Spain and France remained the leaders of the WorldTour and World Ranking nation rankings, respectively.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour De France, 2016 2016 UCI World Tour July 2016 sports events in France

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...