By the time he retires Mark Cavendish may have secured for himself the greatest number of stage wins in the Tour de France -- he is joint record holder on 34 with the sport's all-time great Eddy Merckx.

While the epic 21-day battle for the 2022 Tour de France title was eventually won by Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, the buzz around the race has raised several topics.

Regional newspaper Le Progres groaned over the long wait for a home Tour de France stage winner this weekend with the scathing headline "Blue, Blanc, Lose", a play on the French tri-colour using lose instead of Rouge.

A protest by local farmers bring stage 16 of the Tour de France to a halt as French and British media says bales of hay are thrown on to the road on the route from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon.

Chris Froome and his Sky team comes under attack again on the opening weekend of the Tour de France, but not on the road.

Reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome said Tuesday he had been deliberately knocked off his bicycle by a hit-and-run driver while training in southern France.

No sooner had Chris Froome wrapped up a third Tour de France after three weeks on the road covering 3,500km, than his thoughts turn to Olympic gold.

Two-time champion Alberto Contador sensationally quit the Tour de France on Sunday after succumbing to injuries and illness.

France's parliament confirms a two-month extension of the state of emergency that has been in place since November's jihadist attacks to cover the Euro 2016 football tournament and Tour de France.

Andre Greipel sprint to his third stage win of this year's Tour de France in Valence as Britain's Chris Froome comfortably kept his overall lead.

With the Tour de France in full swing, here’s a selection of other epic bike routes around the world that include trails for everything from the novice, recreational cyclist to the daredevil who makes sport of flirting with death.