The 1985 Tour de France was the 72nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 28 June and 21 July. The course ran over 4,109 km (2,553 mi) and consisted of a prologue and 22 stages. The race was won by Bernard Hinault, who equalled the record by Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx of five overall victories. Second was Hinault's teammate Greg LeMond, ahead of Stephen Roche.
Hendrik Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk 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 France history with 62,885 km ridden. He won the 1979 Vuelta a España and the 1980 Tour de France.
Gerard Friedrich "Gerrie" Knetemann was a Dutch road bicycle racer who won the 1978 World Championship. He wore the Yellow Jersey early in each Tour de France for four consecutive years between 1977 and 1980.
The 1980 Tour de France was the 67th edition of the Tour de France. The total distance was 3,842 km (2,387 mi) over 22 stages. In the first half of the race, Bernard Hinault started out strong by winning the prologue and two stages. However, knee problems forced Hinault to abandon the race while still in the lead. Joop Zoetemelk became the new leader, and defended that position successfully. Just as in 1979, when Hinault and Zoetemelk finished nearly a half hour ahead of the rest of the field, the 1980 edition was a battle between these two riders until Hinault abandoned. At the time Hinault was just 21 seconds ahead of Zoetemelk and the race was about to enter the Pyrenees. Zoetemelk did not wear the yellow jersey during stage 13 though he did in every stage thereafter finishing the race with nearly a seven-minute advantage over second place Hennie Kuiper. It was his first Tour victory in his tenth attempt, after already having finished second in five editions.
The 1983 Tour de France was the 70th edition of the Tour de France, run from 1 to 24 July, with 22 stages and a prologue covering a total distance of 3,809 km (2,367 mi) The race was won by French rider Laurent Fignon. Sean Kelly of Ireland won the points classification, and Lucien Van Impe of Belgium won the mountains classification.
Johan van der Velde is a former Dutch cyclist. In the 1980 Tour de France, he won the young rider classification, also placing 12th in the general classification that year. He had been a racing cyclist for only a year. In the 1981 Tour de France, he took first place on the second and 21st stages, finishing 12th overall for the second year. He rode with TI–Raleigh in the Tour de France from 1979 to 1983 and the Panasonic team where he won Stage 5 and wore the Yellow Jersey for two days in the 1986 Tour de France.
The 1971 Tour de France was the 58th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,608-kilometre (2,242 mi) race consisted of 22 stages, including three split stages, starting in Mulhouse on 26 June and finishing at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in Paris on 18 July. There were three time trial stages and two rest days. Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team won the overall general classification, defending his title to win his third Tour de France in a row. Joop Zoetemelk (Flandria–Mars) finished second, 9:51 minutes behind, and Lucien Van Impe was third (Sonolor–Lejeune), just over 11 minutes in arrears.
The 1982 Tour de France was the 69th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 25 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over 3,507 km (2,179 mi). It was won by Bernard Hinault, his fourth victory so far.
The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over 3,753 km (2,332 mi). It was dominated by Bernard Hinault, who led the race from the sixth stage on, increasing his lead almost every stage. Only Phil Anderson was able to stay close to him, until the 16th stage when he fell behind by about 7:00, and then on the 17th stage he would lose another 17 minutes. In the end only Lucien Van Impe, Robert Alban and Joop Zoetemelk were able to finish inside 20:00 of the now three time champ.
The 1978 Tour de France was the 65th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 29 June and 23 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of 3,908 km (2,428 mi).
Fedor Iwan den Hertog was a Dutch racing cyclist. His sporting career began with De IJsselstreek Wezep. He won the Olympic 100 km team time trial in 1968 with Joop Zoetemelk, René Pijnen and Jan Krekels. He also won the national road championship in 1977.
Jan Jozef Alfons Franciscus Krekels is a retired cyclist from the Netherlands. He became Olympic champion in the 100 km team time trial in 1968 with Joop Zoetemelk, René Pijnen and Fedor den Hertog; at the same Games he came in 11th in the road race. He also won the 19th stage of the Tour de France in 1971 and the prologue of Paris–Nice in 1970. He retired from professional cycling in 1978.
Henk Lubberding is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer. He was a professional from 1977 to 1992.
Eddy Bouwmans is a Dutch former road bicycle racer. Bouwmans currently works as a Hospitality Coordinator for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike.
TI–Raleigh was a Dutch professional track cycling and road bicycle racing team between 1972 and 1983. In that decade the team won over 900 races. The team was created and led by Peter Post. In his own cycling career, his nickname was the Six Days Emperor, being a track champion. He also won the 1964 fast edition of Paris–Roubaix. Post was pretty harsh on himself. He had no time to celebrate and was always looking ahead at the next race. That attitude might have been the key to the team's success.
Paul Wellens is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer.
Lisa Brennauer is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2022, for six different teams.
SD Worx is a professional cycling team based in the Netherlands, which competes in elite road bicycle racing events such as the UCI Women's World Tour. They have topped the UCI Women's World Tour team ranking in 2016–2019, 2021 and 2022.
Chantal van den Broek-Blaak is a Dutch road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam Team SD Worx–Protime. In 2017 she became world road race champion in Bergen, Norway.
William Nickson is a British former cyclist and 1981 British National Road Race Champion. He won the 1976 Milk Race whilst riding for the Great Britain "A" team. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He also rode in the 1977 Tour de France.
