The Tour de France, the world's most famous bike race gets underway on Saturday with French authorities promising security will be their top priority with the country on heightened terror alert.
After starts in Corsica, northern England and Utrecht, Holland, the famous Grand Depart of the Tour De France will return to mainland France in 2016, when Normandy will host the event.
The route of the 2015 Tour de France was unveiled on Wednesday with one of the major surprises being the penultimate day of racing, which will see the peloton climb the mythical Alpe d'Huez in the French Alps.
Italian Vincenzo Nibali won the 2014 Tour de France on Sunday after the final stage that ended on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue. Frenchmen Jean-Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot finished second and third.
Stage 19: For the first time in Tour de France history a Lithuanian rider on Friday won a stage of the legendary bike race. Numerous crashes and a disjointed peloton contributed to an unusual day on the course.
Australian rider Michael Rogers won stage 16 of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees on Tuesday ahead of Frenchman Thomas Voeckler. The 237.5km stage was the longest of the the 2014 "Grande Boucle".
Two days after wearing the yellow jersey on Bastille Day, Frenchman Tony Gallopin won the 11th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday. Leader Vincenzo Nibali, from Italy, held on to the yellow jersey.
Former two-time winner Alberto Contador broke down in tears as he quit the Tour de France on Monday after crashing badly on the tough 10th stage and injuring his knee.
Germany's Marcel Kittel sprinted home to win stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday and in doing so the giant German picked up his third stage win of the 2014 so far. Chris Froome had crashed earlier in the race.
The three Tour de France stages in the UK made a lasting impression on those close to the sport back in France. Enthralled two-time race winner Bernard Thévenet tells The Local why the riders might actually be glad to be on French soil and why France needs to produce a homegrown winner.
German cyclist Marcel Kittel blasted away the competition during an intense sprint into London for stage three of the Tour de France. It was Kittel's second stage win out of the three fought on British soil.
The 2014 Tour de France moves on to stage three on Monday with riders to race 155km from Cambridge to London. It's set up for an exciting sprint finish on the famous Mall. Watch a video of the preview of the final stage in the UK before the peleton heads to France.
British former world champion Mark Cavendish was devastated after being forced to pull out of the Tour de France with a separated collarbone, he said on Sunday.
British cycling fans will be dismayed at the news on Friday that Bradley Wiggins has not been picked to race in this year's Tour de France. THe former winner has been dropped by Team Sky.
Disgraced drug cheat Lance Armstrong insists he is still a Tour de France champion despite being stripped of his seven titles after admitting taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Pro-cycling has a reputation for premature deaths, from crashes or from performance-boosting substances. However a new study of French riders in the Tour de France has revealed they will end up living an average 6.3 years longer than the rest of us.
Italian Marco Pantani and Germany's Jan Ullrich both used the banned blood-booster erythropoetin (EPO) during the 1998 Tour de France, a French parliamentary commission report said on Wednesday.
A French parliamentary commission was on Wednesday due to make public its long-awaited report on doping in sport, possibly divulging the names of cyclists alleged to have taken performance-enhancing drugs during the 1998 Tour de France.
Kenyan-born cyclist Chris Froome was Sunday poised to succeed Bradley Wiggins as the Tour de France champion to complete what has been a superb summer of sport for Britain.
Portugal's Costa grabbed his stage second win of the 100th edition of the Tour de France on Friday after leading a solo charge to the line during the 204 km race. Yellow jersey leader Chris Froome survived the relatively smooth stage with his lead in tact.
British race-leader Chris Froome is favourite to come out on top in Wednesday's stage 17 time-trial, but could well be caught out by a strong challenger or a rainy afternoon. See this video preview of the sprint from Embrun to Chorges
Omega-Pharma's Matteo Trentin handed Italy its maiden win of the 100th Tour de France when he beat Swiss Michael Albasini and American Andrew Talansky in a sprint finish at the end of an entertaining 14th stage on Saturday.
Saturday's 14th stage of the Tour de France, the last before the much anticipated ride to the legendary Mont Ventoux, sees the race return to Lyon for the first time in a decade.
