The Tour de France is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx, known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tours, all five Monuments, setting the hour record, three World Championships, every major one-day race other than Paris–Tours, and extensive victories on the track.
Momignies is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Belgium has an extensive rail network. It is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Belgium is 88.
Macon is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Momignies, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common competition formats are mass start events, where riders start simultaneously and race to a set finish point; and time trials, where individual riders or teams race a course alone against the clock. Stage races or "tours" take multiple days, and consist of several mass-start or time-trial stages ridden consecutively.
The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most revered races are often described as the cycling monuments.
Anor is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies about forty kilometres south-south-east of Maubeuge.
Visma–Lease a Bike is a Dutch professional bicycle racing team, successor of the former Rabobank. The team consists of four sections: ProTeam, Women's Team, Development Team, and cyclo-cross.
Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny was a Belgian/French composer and music-theorist.
Hirson is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Sir Mark Simon Cavendish is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team. As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a sprinter. He is widely considered one of the greatest road sprinters of all time, and in 2021 was called "the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour and of cycling" by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France. He holds the record for most stage wins at the Tour de France (35), achieved across 15 Tours and 17 years (2008-2024).
Geraint Howell Thomas, is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers, Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a track and road rider, with notable victories in the velodrome, in one-day racing and in stage racing. On the track, he has won three World Championships, and two Olympic gold medals, while on the road he won the 2018 Tour de France becoming the first Welshman and third British rider to win it.
Christopher Clive Froome, is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Israel–Premier Tech. He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France, one Giro d'Italia (2018) and the Vuelta a España twice. He has also won several other stage races, and the Vélo d'Or three times. Froome has also won two Olympic bronze medals in road time trials, in 2012 and 2016, and took bronze in the 2017 World Championships.
Michel Dernies is a Belgian former racing cyclist, who rode in twelve Grand Tours between 1985 and 1994. He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix.
Frederik Backaert is a Belgian former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2014 and 2021, for the Wanty–Gobert and B&B Hotels p/b KTM teams. In June 2017, he was named in the startlist for the Tour de France.
Tadej Pogačar, also known as Pogi, is a Slovenian professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates. His victories include three Tours de France, the 2024 Giro d'Italia, and six one-day Monuments. Comfortable in time-trialing, one-day classic riding and grand-tour climbing, he has been compared to legendary all-round cyclists such as Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as one of the sport's greatest.
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen is a Danish professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike. Described as one of the best climbers of his generation, his rivalry with Tadej Pogačar is considered one of the greatest of all time. He is best known for winning the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Tour de France.
Remco Evenepoel is a Belgian professional cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Soudal–Quick-Step.
Joseph Somers was a Belgian professional road cyclist. Professional from 1936 to 1950, he notably won Bordeaux–Paris in 1937 and 1947, the Grand Prix des Nations in 1943 and the Tour of Belgium in 1939.
Joseph Somers (BEL)