Eddy Merckx

The French expected a coronation for their hero on final stage of 1989 Tour de France

Irish rider will be looking for fast start around familiar roads in Nice

The 107th edition features a Grand Départ on the Riviera and eight mountain days

Part torture chamber, part music festival - the climb that can break a rider’s Tour de France

The drama of the closing stages of the 1987 race held the nation in rapture

July 4th, 1992: The Tour de France gets underway in the Basque Country

Nicolas Roche 40th and Dan Martin 112th as Thomas shrugs off big crash in Brussels

Dan Martin aiming to emulate Elliott, Roche and Kelly who all achieved Tour feat

Young Irish rider relishing cycling’s steep learning curves as he continues his rise

The team which will lose Sky as a sponsor next year made cycling more professional, yet forfeiting some of its humanity

Route for 2019 Tour de France will encourage more breakaways and attacks

Former world champion can take his time to recover for 2019 season

Chris Froome was spat at, Vincenzo Nibali forced out of race and a flare fired at peloton

With the exception of Dumoulin who also cycled the Giro, Froome’s rivals should have the benefit of freshness

British rider set to join Merckx and Hinault in completing Grand Tour wins

Breakaway began on Colle Delle Finestre and lasted more than two hours