The Tour de France began in 1903 and is the world's largest cycling tournament. This 21-stage bicycle road race typically covers 3,500 kilometres and often extends into the neighbouring countries around France.
The race is broken into stages from one town to another, each of which is considered to be an individual race. The time taken to complete each stage is added to a cumulative total for each rider, and the rider with the lowest time is declared the winner at the end of the Tour.
For the 2008 Tour, the 21 stages have the following profiles:
10 flat stages
5 mountain stages
4 medium mountain stages
2 individual time-trial stages
As with most cycling races, competitors enter as part of a team. The Tour de France usually consists of 20 to 22 teams with nine riders each. Entry is by invitation, and invitations are only granted to the best professional teams.
Stage 1 - 5 July 2008: Brest - Plumelec (206.14 km)
Stage 2 - 6 July 2008: Auray - Saint Brieuc (166.24 km)
Stage 3 - 7 July 2008: Saint Malo - Nantes (208 km)
Stage 4 - 8 July 2008: Cholet (29.52 km)
Stage 5 - 9 July 2008: Cholet - Châteauroux (228.39 km)
Stage 6 - 10 July 2008: Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy (205.83 km)
Stage 7 - 11 July 2008: Brioude - Aurillac (158.23 km)
Stage 8 - 12 July 2008: Figeac - Toulouse (174.12 km)
Stage 9 - 13 July 2008: Toulouse - Bagnères-de-Bigorre (219.05 km)
Stage 10 - 14 July 2008: Pau - Hautacam (162.62 km)
Stage 11 - 16 July 2008: Lannemezan - Foix (179.31 km)
Stage 12 - 17 July 2008: Lavelanet - Narbonne (170.65 km)
Stage 13 - 18 July 2008: Narbonne - Nîmes (186.4 km)
Stage 14 - 18 July 2008: Nîmes - Digne-les-Bains (201.49 km)
Stage 15 - 20 July 2008: Embrun - Prato Nevoso (188.57 km)
Stage 16 - 22 July 2008: Cuneo - Jausiers (163.31 km)
Stage 17 - 23 July 2008: Embrun - Alpe d'Huez (212.54 km)
Stage 18 - 24 July 2008: Bourg-d'Oisans - Saint-Etienne (204.79 km)
Stage 19 - 25 July 2008: Roanne - Montluçon (165.3 km)
Stage 20 - 26 July 2008: Cérilly - Saint-Amand-Montrond (52.78 km)
Stage 21 - 27 July 2008: Étampes - Paris Champs-Élysées (98.56 km)
