The Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, formerly known as the Tour du Haut Var, () is an early-season two-day
road bicycle race
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...
in the
Var department region in the
south of France
Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...
. Until 2008 it was run as a one-day race, part of the
UCI Europe Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale
The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and ove ...
. In 2009, the race transformed to a
2.1 event, raced over two days. Dutchman
Joop Zoetemelk
Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in Tour de F ...
and France's
Arthur Vichot
Arthur Vichot (born 26 November 1988) is a French former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2020, for the and teams. He is the nephew of Frédéric Vichot, who won stages in the Tour de France in 1984 and 1985.
Pro ...
hold the record with three wins.
The Tour des Alpes-Maritimes is one of several stage races held in the hilly
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...
region in February, alongside the
Étoile de Bessèges
The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...
,
La Méditerranéenne
La Méditerranéenne, previously known as Le Tour Méditerranéen, was a professional road bicycle racing event held in Spain, France and Italy, close to the Mediterranean Sea. Run over four days, it holds a UCI race classifications, 2.1 rating on ...
and the
Tour La Provence.
These early-season races are competed mainly by French teams and are considered preparations for
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 ...
, the first European
World Tour event in March.
Winners
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour Du Haut Var
UCI Europe Tour races
Recurring sporting events established in 1969
1969 establishments in France
Cycle races in France