We are about a month away from one of the biggest bicycle races in the world: the Tour de France, which this year is from July 1st to the 24th.

You can probably guess from the name where this race takes place: France.

The little word “de” in the name means “of” in English.

“Tour” is kind of tricky. It can mean to visit a bunch of sites in an area.

For example, if someone took a tour of Western Maine, they might visit Oxford, Norway, South Paris, Rumford, Livermore, and Farmington.

Another meaning of tour is a series of professional sports tournaments, such as golf or tennis tours.

The Tour de France is a combination of the two meanings. It is a series of 21 bicycle races (which are all part of one big race) and they take place in different areas of France and neighboring countries. So by racing in the Tour de France, bicyclists are taking part in a sport’s tour and at the same time are touring parts of France on their bicycles.

Each of the 21 races in the Tour de France is called a stage – a stage of the race. Though  locations of some stages change from year to year, there are always certain types of stages. For example, some are called time trials, to see who can do it the fastest. Some are mountain stages, up through mountains, perhaps of the Pyrenees or the Alps.

Regardless of change in locations, each year the last stage is in Paris, with the final sprint on a famous street called the Champs-Élysées, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful streets in the world.

Over all, the Tour de France is about 2,200 miles long, which is almost the same as bicycling from New York to California.

There are usually 22 teams with nine riders on each team. All the teams have to work hard to keep going even when they are over-tired and the weather is hot or rainy or cold.

The Tour de France is the biggest event in bicycle racing. Think of it as the Super Bowl or the World Series or the NBA Championship.

One of the nice things about the Tour de France is that unlike sports that are played in stadiums, like baseball or football or soccer, where you have to pay to be there, everyone can see stages of the Tour de France for free.

The teams are made up of some of the best bicyclists from many nations. This year there will be four Americans taking part:

Sepp Kuss, on team Jumbo–Visma;
Brandon McNulty, on UAE Team Emirates;
Matteo Jorgenson, on Movistar Team;
Quinn Simmons, on team Trek–Segafredo.

Part of what makes the Tour de France so much fun, is that it is a big race made up of 21 separate races. And every team and person would like to win one of the races, if not the whole thing.

Teams can win prizes for certain stages or for being the fastest team over all, but individuals can also win prizes, even if they are not on the winning team.

During the next month as the start of the Tour de France grows closer, there will be more and more reports and information about it. And once the race starts on July 1st, fans all over the world will check each day to see which teams and which individuals are doing the best.

Fun Facts:

•  The Tour de France first started back in 1903 and has been held every year since, except for a few years during World War One and World War Two.

•  The race is for men only, but beginning this year, there will be an eight-day race for women called Tour de France Femmes. (The French word Femmes means women.) It will take place from July 24th to the 31st.

•  Though each team wears matching shirts (called jerseys), four riders get to wear special jerseys for each stage. And each day, who gets to wear the special jerseys can change.

•  The overall race leader gets to wear a yellow jersey. The winner of the latest stage gets to  wear a green jersey. The racer who did the best riding up mountains gets to wear a polka dot jersey. And the rider who is doing the best among racers 25 years old or younger gets to wear a white jersey.

•  The French call the yellow jersey the Maillot Jaune, which means jersey yellow.

•  At the end of the Tour de France, every rider wants to be the one to wear the Maillot Jaune because it means they are the grand winner!