Cycling
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Tour de France

The sport the French are truly mad about is cycling, and the biggest event of the French sporting year is the grand finale of the Tour de France, which ends in a sweep along the Champs-Élysées in the third week of July with the French president himself presenting the maillot jaune (the winner's yellow jersey).

It was, after all, in Paris's Palais Royal gardens in 1791 that the precursor of the modern bicycle, the célérifère, was presented, and seventy years later that the Parisian father-and-son team of Pierre and Ernest Michaux constructed the vélocipède (hence the modern French term vélo for bicycle), the first really efficient bicycle. The French can also legitimately claim the sport of cycle racing as their own, with the first event, a 1200-metre sprint, held in Paris's Parc St Cloud in 1868 – sadly for national pride, however, the first champion was an Englishman.

The Tour de France was inaugurated in 1903; France, though, hasn't had a victory since Bernard Hinault in 1985. In theory, the last day of the 4000-odd-kilometre, 25-stage, three-week race is a competitive time trial, but most years this amounts to a triumphal procession, the overall winner of the Tour having long since been determined. Only very rarely does Paris witness memorable scenes such as those of 1989, when American Greg Lemond snatched the coveted maillot jaune on the final day. Requiring what seems like superhuman endurance – and there are persistent drug scandals – around two hundred riders usually start the race, but sometimes less than 150 finish.

Other classic long-distance bike races that begin or end in Paris include the 600-kilometre Bordeaux–Paris, the world's longest single-stage race, first held in 1891; the Paris–Roubaix, instigated in 1896, which is reputed to be the most exacting one-day race in the world; the Paris–Brussels held since 1893; and the rugged six-day Paris–Nice event, covering more than 1100km.

The Palais Omnisports de Bercy holds cycling events including time trials.