Cyclists Make Records at Tour de France 2015

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Hilmar Buschow/Pixabay

The Tour de France is one of the most highly anticipated cycling races of the year.

Cavan Wilson, Sports Editor

Twenty-three days, 21 stages, 198 cyclists, seven mountain stages, four jerseys, one winner and 2088 miles of riding made up the 102nd edition of the most difficult multi-day bicycle tour in the world. Widely held, across multiple sports, as the most challenging sporting event ever, the Tour de France brings the best road bikers from around the world to compete head-on against each other. Over the course of the race, different riders competed for different jerseys. This year, there were three Americans in the race: Tejay Van Garderen, Tyler Farrar and Andrew Talansky.

Each jersey holds a different purpose. The yellow jersey is for the rider with the lowest cumulative time over the course of the whole race. The white jersey is for the rider with the lowest cumulative time that is under 26 years of age. The green jersey is for the rider who earns the most points by playing high in sprint finishes and intermediate sprint banners. Lastly, the polka-dot jersey is for the rider who earns the most points by being one of the first to cross over the summits of mountains, or the finish line.  Without further ado, here are the winners of each stage and the four jersey winners at the end of the tour:

Stage 1 (Individual Time Trial): Rohan Dennis

Stage 2 (Flat Stage): Andre Greipel

Stage 3 (Medium-Mountain Stage): Joaquim Rodriguez

Stage 4 (Flat Stage with Cobblestones): Tony Martin

Stage 5 (Flat Stage): Andre Greipel

Stage 6 (Flat Stage): Zdenek Stybar

Stage 7 (Flat Stage): Mark Cavendish

Stage 8 (Medium-Mountain Stage): Alexander Vuillermoz

Stage 9 (Team Time Trial): Team BMC

Stage 10 (Mountain Stage): Chris Froome

Stage 11 (Mountain Stage): Rafal Majka

Stage 12 (Mountain Stage): Joaquim Rodriguez

Stage 13 (Medium-Mountain Stage): Greg Van Avermaet

Stage 14 (Medium-Mountain Stage): Steve Cummings

Stage 15 (Hilly Stage): Andre Greipel

Stage 16 (Medium-Mountain Stage): Ruben Plaza

Stage 17 (Mountain Stage): Simon Geschke

Stage 18 (Mountain Stage): Romain Bardet

Stage 19 (Mountain Stage): Vincenzo Nibali

 Stage 20 (Mountain Stage): Thibaut Pinot

Stage 21 (Flat Stage): Andre Greipel

(Yellow Jersey/ General Classification Winner): Chris Froome

(White Jersey/ Best Young Rider): Nairo Quintana

(Green Jersey/ Points Winner): Peter Sagan

(Polka-Dot Jersey/ King of the Mountains Winner): Chris Froome

(Most Aggressive Rider): Romaine Bardet

(Team Classification Winners): Team Movistar

The 2015 Tour de France was incredibly exciting and saw many impressive performances. Rohan Dennis set the record for the fastest ever average speed in a time trial at the Tour, going  34.5 mph for almost nine miles. Daniel Teklehaimanot also became the first African rider to wear the polka-dot jersey, which he wore for stages six through nine. The race for the yellow jersey also became interesting in the final days with runner-up Nairo Quintana attacking leader Chris Froome, making this tour one of the most closely contested in years. From the Netherlands to the final meters on the Champs Elysees, the tour was an amazing race showing off the best cycling has to offer. Many hopes and dreams were dashed, but even more were made.