After completing all 21 stages, the riders have traveled 3,529 km through Switzerland, France, Spain, and Andorra to complete the 103rd Tour de France this year – these are the data stories from the Tour de France 2016.

1. Vive le teamwork!
After completing all 21 stages of the greatest cycling race
in the world, the riders have travelled 3,529 km through
Switzerland, France, Spain, and Andorra to complete the
103rd Tour de France this year.
Here’s a look at some of the stories powered by data
we’ve collected on their dramatic journey to the finish line in
Paris and … why it takes a team to win the Tour.
Stages 1-21
Individual team members beat the clock
Journey of the Yellow Jersey
Our team’s mobile office
The big data truck is parked in the Tour de France technical zone and is
where our technical and social media teams worked every day of the event.
Teams can conquer mountains
Surviving the Alps
average climbing speed of all
riders in the Alps
Froome’s (SKY) average
climbing speed in the Alps
average climbing speed of
slowest rider in the Alps
59’ 23” slower than
Froome (SKY)
Working together, the 22 teams representing
13 nationalities and 5 continents have conquered:
Slowest stage
(stage 18)
29.58 km/h
Fastest stage
(stage 11)
46.65 km/h
highest average speed of all riders
on a stage
average speed of all riders
Teamwork beats the rest
Average speed on each stage
by classification
8,500 m total elevation of categorised
climbs in the Alps
24.05 km/h
26.35 km/h
21.59 km
Stage 13 Stage 18
Froome (SKY) outperformed
Dumoulin (TGA) by 1.13%
39.87 km/h
17 km
fastest average speed
of winner
distance travelled
(mountain)
Christopher Froome (SKY)
37.5 km
44.78 km/h
distance travelled
(flat)
Dumoulin (TGA) outperformed
Froome (SKY) by 3.92%
fastest average speed
of winner
Tom Dumoulin (TGA)
38.23 km/h
average time-trial speed of
Romain Bardet (ALM)
Teams face danger together…
the dreaded descents
The stragglers are faster than the peloton – they generally descend faster than the
other groups, who have more to lose.
Danger of descents = crashes
Teams go faster, together
Michael Matthews, Daryl Impey and Luc de Bridge
from Orica-BikeExchange (OBE)
Matthews (OBE)
won the stage
Sprint finishes
The final sprint to Paris
3photo finishes
Best young rider
@letourdata
powered by Dimension Data
Top 3 posts
data visualisations on @letourdata
3.1. 2.
12,1 million
impressions
15,900
likes
9,450
retweets
For more information
Watch this video to meet the global team who made it all
happen on this year’s Tour de France.
How the elements affect the speed on a stage
38.5% of stages ending in bunch sprint
Peloton 4% faster on
average than the breakaway
in previous 50 km
15 km from
finish line –
average point
where the
break is caught
on flat stages
total distance
travelled
total hours spent
on the road
4,892.5 km 80 hours
22 people
12 collaboration tools
10 TV screens
10 desks
20 chairs
12,600 m of cables rolled
out over 21 stages
1 kitchenette
127,8 million
total data records
processed in the cloud
24-hour testing and
development cycle so
the solution kept up
with the race
1 hail storm3 rain-drenched finishes80 km/h winds 1 sweltering day of 35˚C
175
riders still in the race
(a new Tour de France
record for highest number
of finishers)
38.34 km/h
average speed of riders
across 21 stages
39.6 km/h average speed
39.586 km/h average speed
faster than runner-up
Christopher Froome (SKY) 89h 06’ 01’’
Romain Bardet (ALM)
Fastest and slowest teams
There are other ways to achieve glory in the Tour de France.
Team Dimension Data is ranked 22 overall but has won 5 stages.
Slow and steady wins in this race
Teams Time Gap
Average
speed km/h
1 Movistar Team 267h 20’ 45’ 39.60
2 Team Sky 267h 28’ 59’’ + 08’ 14’’ 39.58
3 BMC Racing Team 268h 08’ 56’’ + 48’ 11’’ 39.48
20 Fortuneo-Vital Concept 273h 34’ 03’’ + 06h 13’ 18’’ 38.70
21 Lotto Soudal 274h 16' 50'' + 06h 56’ 05’’ 38.60
22 Team Dimension Data 274h 38’ 57’’ + 07h 18’ 12’’ 38.55
Distance riders have climbed over
3 days in the Alps versus the rest of the Tour
03’ 31”
time gained by Yellow Jersey just in
individual time trials versus runner up, in
the General Classification, Bardet (ALM)
Froome’s show on the Col de Peyresourde
% time spent in Yellow Jersey group
Preparing the sprint
On every flat stage, the peloton caught the
breakaway to make sure the stage finished
in a bunch sprint.
When the break gets away with it Stage 10: Peloton tried to catch
break but didn’t succeed
Averagespeedkm/h
Stage 14 16 17 18 19 20 21
20.00
25.00
30.00
35.00
40.00
45.00
50.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 1512 137 8
Flat Hilly Mountain Individual time trial
9 10 11
Hail on the
final climb
43.5 km
downhill
Strong
headwinds
High
crosswind
speeds
Very high
temperaturesVery high
temperatures
the equivalent of
26Eiffel Towers
11 cm
59 km/h
speed across the
finish line
between Mark Cavendish (DDD)
and Andre Greipel (LTS)
Stage 3
4 cm
52 km/h
speed across the
finish line
between Marcel Kittel (EQS)
and Bryan Coquard (DEN)
Stage 4
9 cm
65 km/h
speed across the
finish line
between Peter Sagan (TNK) and
Alexander Kristoff (KAT)
Stage 16
If the peloton only had 30 riders, on average 7 would be from Team Sky.
Stage 8
Sets Froome up for
his downhill attack
on the descent of
Col de Peyresourde.
Stage 9
Dominates with
7 riders out of 34
in the lead at the
penultimate climb.
Stage 12
Keeps control on
Mont Ventoux.
Stage 16
Tackles final week
of the race with all
9 riders remaining.
Stage 11
Positions Froome
perfectly to react to
Sagan’s (TNK) attack
on the last 12 km.
Stage 17
Poels (SKY) responds
and controls every attack
on the Finhaut-Emosson.
Stage 15
Annihilates
every attack.
Stage 21
Froome cruises to
Yellow Jersey victory
with the support of
his team.
Stages 19 and 20
Sets Froome up for Paris
finalé despite crash.
14.88 km/h
average speed on the climb
Toughest mountain climb in the Alps
Finhaut-Emosson | stage 17 | 10.4 km at 8.4% gradient
Final km hardest at 12.3% gradient
53 C recorded at one point on the climb˚
Individual time trials
Stage 12
Gerrans (OBE)
Speed of the rider
56 km/h
Broken collarbone
Col des Trois Termes
Stage 17
Bozic (COF)
Speed of the rider
74 km/h
Multiple wounds
and abrasions
Col des Mosses
Stage 19
Froome (SKY)
Speed of the rider
45 km/h
Abrasions and cuts
Domancy
Stage 19
Navarro (COF)
Speed of the rider
47 km/h
Broken shoulder
Domancy
Alps Rest of the Tour
267 km 118 km
Highest recorded average speed on a descent
69.31 km/h Kittel (EQS)
Col du Tourmalet (stage 8) 51.54 km/h
Average speed of riders
on all descents
Fastest overall descents by rider group
Col de la Forclaz – 5.4% (stage 17)
68.21 km/h | Breakaway
63.94 km/h | Yellow Jersey group
66.43 km/h | Stragglers
Horquette d’Ancizan – 7.5% (stage 8)
60.98 km/h | Breakaway
58.67 km/h | Yellow Jersey group
59.05 km/h | Stragglers
Col du Tourmalet – 6.8% (stage 8)
62.41 km/h | Breakaway
62.71 km/h | Yellow Jersey group
65.15 km/h | Stragglers
Adam Yates (OBE) Emanuel Buchmann (BOA)Louis Meintjies (LAM)
Percentagetimespent
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
30
20
10
0
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59 categorised
climbs with
4summit finishes
3photo finishes
(stages 3, 4, and 16)
individual
time trials
05h 59’ 54’’
longest time in
the saddle
(stage 3)
168 km
average distance
travelled each day
(stages 1-21)
Froome (SKY) hit a top speed of 91 km/h and gained 13"
Riding through the Alps
(distance versus % time spent)
Climbing FlatsDescents
118 km
106 km
270 km
55%
12%
33%
Stage winner: Andre Greipel (LTS)
64.5 km/h
top speed in sprint
to the finish line
1 André Greipel (LTS)
2 Peter Sagan (TNK)
3 Alexander Kristoff (KAT)