Stephen roche, dublin 1987

E ddy Merckx won the Tour de France ...

The first women’s Tour de France ran in 1955 – and then vanished. Stephanie Boland charts the long, winding road to its modern revival

Naysayers silenced as crowds roar for the Tour

Mauritian becomes first woman from the continent to wear yellow and win a stage

Slovenian wins fourth Tour, but hints at not going on forever, writes Chris Marshall-Bell in Paris

Around 60km remained on Stage 11 of the 1985 Tour de France when Bernard Hinault decided to go to the front of the race. Hinault, who had taken yellow three days earlier after winning the 75km time-tr