198 riders in 22 teams commenced the 1997 Tour de France. [1] 139 riders finished. [2]
The 16 teams with the highest UCI ranking at the start of 1997 were automatically qualified. [3]
Qualified teams
Invited teams
| No. | Starting number worn by the rider during the Tour |
| Pos. | Position in the general classification |
| DNF | Denotes a rider who did not finish |
| Country | No. of riders | In competition | Stage wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | 1 (Neil Stephens) | |
| 2 | 2 | ||
| 9 | 5 | ||
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 5 | 4 | ||
| 2 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | ||
| 45 | 29 | 6 (Cédric Vasseur, Laurent Brochard, Laurent Desbiens, Richard Virenque, Christophe Mengin, Didier Rous) | |
| 7 | 7 | 5 (Erik Zabel x3, Jan Ullrich x2) | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 (Chris Boardman) | |
| 62 | 53 | 7 (Mario Cipollini x2, Nicola Minali x2 Marco Pantani x2, Mario Traversoni) | |
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 9 | 1 (Jeroen Blijlevens) | |
| 2 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 1 | ||
| 24 | 20 | 1 (Abraham Olano) | |
| 8 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 6 | ||
| 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 198 | 139 | 22 |