The race included a team time trial, two individual time trials and five consecutive mountain-top finishing stages, the second of which was the Chamrousse special-category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were grouped consecutively, following the climbing time trial, with one rest day in between. France was ridden 'clockwise', so the Alps were visited before the Pyrenees. The Tour started in France but also visited Belgium in its first week. The ceremonial final stage finished at the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as is tradition. Erik Zabel won his record sixth consecutive points classification victory. This was a record for points classification victories and is still a record for most consecutive victories, however Peter Sagan now holds the record for most total green jersey wins with seven.
The race included a team time trial, two individual time trials and five consecutive mountain-top finishing stages, the second of which was the Chamrousse special-category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were grouped consecutively, following the climbing time trial with one rest day in between. France was ridden 'clockwise', so the Alps were visited before the Pyrenees. The Tour started in France but also visited Belgium in its first week. The ceremonial final stage finished at the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as is tradition. Erik Zabel won his record sixth consecutive points classification victory. This was a record for points classification victories and is still a record for most consecutive victories, however Peter Sagan now holds the record for most total green jersey wins with seven.