most important preparation races for the Tour. Among the other favourites, there were mainly riders who were considered climbers, who ascended well up high mountains, but were inferior in time trials. These included Luis Herrera (), Robert Millar (), Peter Winnen (), and Pedro Delgado (). Other favourites included Ángel Arroyo (), Pedro Muñoz (), Claude Criquielion (), Stephen Roche (), and Sean Kelly (). Kelly was ranked number one in the UCI Road World Rankings, after taking victory at Paris–Nice and winning three stages of the Vuelta a España. His Irish compatriot Roche had displayed good form earlier in the year by winning the Critérium International and the Tour Midi-Pyrénées. Charly Mottet (), winner of the Tour de l'Avenir, considered the junior Tour de France, in 1984, was considered an outside bet for his team in the absence of team leader Fignon, given his young age. Route and stages The 1985 Tour de France started on 28 June, and had one rest day, in Villard-de-Lans. The race started in Brittany in North-West France, Hinault's home region, with a prologue time trial in Plumelec. The route then headed north towards Roubaix, then south-east to Lorraine, then south through the Vosges and Jura mountains into the Alps for stages 11 through 13. From there, the Tour passed through the Massif Central en route to the Pyrenees for three high-mountain stages. After leaving the high mountains, the route moved north to Bordeaux, before travelling inland, with a time trial at Lac de Vassivière on the penultimate day, followed by a train transfer to Orléans for the final, ceremonial stage into Paris. It was the first time since 1981 that the Tour was run clockwise around France. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 17. The 1985 Tour was the last one to contain split stages, where two stages on the same day had the same number and were distinguished by an "a" and "b". Until 1991, there were still two stages held on the same day, but given separate stage numbers. It was also the first time that two mountain stages were held on the same day, stages 18a and 18b in the Pyrenees. Classification leadership and minor prizes There were several classifications in the 1985 Tour de France, six of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The