Timeline
The Tour de France: a history in eight moments
From the first race in 1903 to the yellow jersey, the polka dots and the Champs-Élysées finish: the Tour de France as a timeline with cycling vocabulary.
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In short
The Tour de France began in 1903 as a publicity idea for the newspaper L'Auto. The yellow jersey (le maillot jaune) appeared in 1919, the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey (le maillot à pois) in 1975, and the race has finished on the Champs-Élysées since 1975, with exceptions such as 2024.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
- 1903Premier Tour de France, organisé par le journal L'Auto.First Tour de France, organised by the newspaper L'Auto.
- 1910Les coureurs passent pour la première fois dans les Pyrénées.Riders cross the Pyrenees for the first time.
- 1919Apparition du maillot jaune, couleur des pages du journal.The yellow jersey appears, the colour of the newspaper's pages.
- 1930Les équipes nationales remplacent les marques.National teams replace brand teams.
- 1953Création du maillot vert du classement par points.The green points jersey is created.
- 1975Arrivée sur les Champs-Élysées et maillot à pois.Finish on the Champs-Élysées and the polka-dot jersey.
- 1989Greg LeMond gagne avec 8 secondes d'avance, record.Greg LeMond wins by 8 seconds, a record.
- 2024Arrivée exceptionnelle à Nice, à cause des Jeux olympiques.Exceptional finish in Nice, because of the Olympics.
Key words
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le coureur | rider |
| l'étape | stage |
| le maillot jaune | yellow jersey (leader) |
| le peloton | the main pack |
| l'échappée | breakaway |
| le contre-la-montre | time trial |
Every July, millions of people line the roads. The caravane publicitaire passes an hour before the riders, throwing free goodies. Commentators love words like grimper (to climb), attaquer (to attack), se faire rattraper (to be caught) and le sprint final.
- Ami
Qui porte le maillot jaune ?
Who's wearing the yellow jersey?
- Toi
Un Danois, mais il a perdu du temps dans l'étape de montagne.
A Dane, but he lost time on the mountain stage.
- Ami
Et l'échappée, elle va tenir ?
And will the breakaway hold?
- Toi
Non, le peloton revient à toute vitesse.
No, the pack is coming back fast.