1. What distance was the longest stage in Tour de France history?

   1. 182km

   2. 282km

   3. 382km

   4. 482km

2. How many consecutive Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a España) did Australian Adam Hansen complete?

   1. 10

   2. 14

   3. 17

   4. 20

3. Where is the 2020 Tour de France scheduled to start?

   1. Brussels, Belgium

   2. Nice, France

   3. Budapest, Hungary

   4. Rennes, France

4. When did a French rider last win the race?

   1. 1980

   2. 1985

   3. 1990

   4. 1995

5. How many times has the UK hosted stages of the Tour de France?

   1. Once

   2. Twice

   3. Three times

   4. Four times

6. Who was the first Irishman to win a Tour de France stage?

   1. Stephen Roche

   2. Sean Yates

   3. Martin Earley

   4. Shay Elliott

7. How many times has Chris Froome won won the Tour?

   1. Three

   2. Four

   3. Five

   4. Six

8. Which year’s Tour set the record for the highest overall average speed across the entire race?

   1. 1985

   2. 1995

   3. 2005

   4. 2015

9. How many Tour de France stages has sprinter Mark Cavendish won?

   1. 27

   2. 30

   3. 33

   4. 36

10. Who was the first Briton to win a stage at the Tour de France?

    1. David Millar

    2. Brian Robinson

    3. Barry Hoban

    4. Mark Cavendish

11. Which rider holds the record for the most appearances at the race, with 18?

    1. Jens Voigt

    2. Haimar Zubeldia

    3. George Hincapie

    4. Sylvain Chavanel

12. French riders have won the most stages overall, but which country comes second in the historical list?

    1. Spain

    2. Belgium

    3. UK

    4. Italy

13. Who holds the record for the fastest ascent of Mont Ventoux?

    1. Chris Froome

    2. Nairo Quintana

    3. Iban Mayo

    4. Marco Pantani

14. Which of these riders did not win five Tours de France?

    1. Greg LeMond

    2. Bernard Hinault

    3. Jacques Anquetil

    4. Miguel Induráin

15. Where is the Grand Départ scheduled to take place in 2021?

    1. Copenhagen

    2. Oslo

    3. Rome

    4. Cairo

Solutions

1:D - The early Tours - far less structured affairs - featured some ludicrously long stages. In 1919 a 482km stage was routed from Les Sables d’Olonne on the Atlantic coast to Bayonne, in the Basque region., 2:D - “Mr Grand Tours” Hansen pulled off one of the most jaw-dropping feats of endurance in any sport by starting every three-week race consecutively from the Vuelta in 2011 up to and including the Giro in 2018. That made for 65,098km of racing., 3:B - The Tour often begins in a neighbouring country, but this year they are planning to keep it real in the south of France, with three stages in and around Nice on the Côte d’Azur., 4:B - Bernard Hinault – nicknamed ‘The Badger’ – won the last of his five titles all the way back in 1985. The French are desperate for a new winner., 5:D - The first was a best-forgotten trip to Devon in in 1974, followed by a more successful jaunt to the south of England in 1994. London and Kent hosted in 2007 before the stratospheric success of Yorkshire’s 2014 Grand Depart., 6:D - Elliott was a trailblazer for the successful Irish riders who came after him, such as Roche and Yates. He was the first Irishman to ride the Tour, the first to wear the yellow jersey, and the first to win stages at all three Grand Tours. He died in 1971 aged just 36., 7:B - Froome took his first Tour de France title in 2013 and, after crashing out in 2014, he followed that up with three straight victories in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Froome has also won the Giro once, in 2018, and the Vuelta a España in 2011 and 2017., 8:C - Lance Armstrong’s final victory – now scratched from the record books – was perhaps not surprisingly the fastest race in Tour de France in history., 9:B - The Manx Missile won four stages in 2008, establishing himself as the fastest man in the peloton for several years. His 30th Tour de France stage victory came in 2016. Only Belgian icon Eddy Merckx has won more stages overall, with 34., 10:B - Born on 3 November 1930, Robinson became the first Briton to win a stage at the world’s greatest bike race in 1958. He retired at the age of 33. Now aged 89, he was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2017., 11:D - Out of the 18 times the Frenchman Chavanel lined up to start the race, he made it to the finish in Paris 16 times, a seriously impressive effort. Now retired, the swashbuckling rouleur won three individual stages in the process., 12:B - Riders from cycling-mad neighbours Belgium have notched up 471 stages wins in total, with France well ahead on 708., 13:C - The real experts will know it was in the Critérium du Dauphiné, not the Tour. Mayo raced up the mountain in 55min 51sec., 14:A - LeMond won three. He won the Tour de France in 1986, but was nearly killed in a hunting accident the following year. A long recovery culminated in his return to the top level of the sport, and victory in the 1989 and 1990 Tours de France, including perhaps the most exciting finish in history when he denied French rival Laurent Fignon by just eight seconds., 15:A - Presuming all plans are not thrown off by coronavirus, the 2021 Tour will roll out of the picturesque city of Copenhagen.

Scores

1. 3 and above.

   Ah well. It was a tough one.

2. 2 and above.

   Ah well. It was a tough one.

3. 1 and above.

   Ah well. It was a tough one.

4. 4 and above.

   Ah well. It was a tough one.

5. 5 and above.

   Ah well. It was a tough one.

6. 6 and above.

   That's a decent score.

7. 7 and above.

   That's a fine score.

8. 8 and above.

   That's a fine score.

9. 9 and above.

   That's a fine score. Well played.

10. 10 and above.

    That's a fine score. Well played

11. 11 and above.

    That's a very fine score. Well played

12. 12 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played

13. 13 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played

14. 14 and above.

    That's an incredible score. Well played

15. 0 and above.

    Ah well. It was a tough one.

16. 15 and above.

    That's an incredible score. Well played