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The Tour of France has been held annually since 1903, interrupted only by World War I and World War II.
The Tour de France (French for "Tour of France"), often referred to as La Grande Boucle, Le Tour or The Tour, is a long-distance road bicycle racing competition for professionals, lasting three weeks during July and covering in and around France.
The Tour was founded as a publicity event for the newspaper L'Auto by its editor and co-founder, Henri Desgrange, to rival the Paris-Brest et retour ride, and Bordeaux-Paris. The idea for a round-France stage race is also credited to one of his journalists, Géorges Lefèvre. L'Auto announced the race on January 19, 1903. Promotion of the Tour de France certainly proved a great success for the newspaper; circulation leapt from 25,000 before the 1903 Tour to 65,000 after it.
Even though, the number of stages has varied in the past, recently the Tour has consisted of about 20 stages, with a total length between 3,000 and 4,000 km (1800 to 2500 miles). In addition to the race for the overall win, there are several additional competitions. The leaders of these competitions are represented by certain colored jerseys.
Most stages take place in France, though it is very common to have a few stages in nearby countries, such as Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany as well as non-neighboring countries such as the Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom (visited in 1974 and 1994) and the Netherlands. The three weeks round usually include two rest days, which are sometimes used to transport the riders long distances between stages.