ahead of the last of his fellow breakaway riders (1995)
The Tour de France came to England for the first time in 1974, with a stage in Plymouth (1. Poppe). Twenty years later, in 1994, the caravan this time took the Chunnel to reach Dover for a stage to Brighton (1. Cabello), then Portsmouth (1. Minali)
The Tour will be crossing the Channel for the third time in 2007 where it will be taking to the roads in the south of England and featuring a historic, first-time start from Great Britain: Prologue in London, first stage London-Canterbury.
Britains who have marked the Tour
Bill Burl and Charles Holland were the first British riders to take part in the Tour de France, in 1937. The first UK team to take part did so in 1955 and the experience was repeated in 1960, 1961, 1967 and 1968.
Tom Simpson, who succumbed to a heart collapse in 1967 on the slopes of the Ventoux, had been the first English rider to have worn the yellow jersey (in 1962).
Chris Boardman after his success
in the prologue (1994)
Other Britains to have worn the yellow jersey: Chris Boardman (1994, 1997, 1998), Sean Yates (1994) and David Millar (2000). The best classifications were achieved by Robert Millar (4th in 1984) and Tom Simpson (6th in 1962). Robert Millar is the only British winner of the Grand Prix de la Montagne which he won in 1984.
Barry Hoban holds the record number of stage victories (8 between 1967 and 1975). Other stage winners include Wright, R. Millar, D. Millar (3), Robinson (2), Yates, Sciandri, Italian by birth, naturalized British (1) and Boardman (3 prologues).
Chris Boardman holds the record for the average prologue speed: 55.152 kph on Lille-Euralille in 1994.