Tour de France 2010 in Pictures

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in in France that covers more than 3,600 kilometers (2,200 mi) and lasts three weeks. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages. Individual times to finish each stage are aggregated to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The course changes every year, but the race has always finished in Paris. This year, the 97th anniversary of the legendary cycle race started in Rotterdam, with 198 participants consisting of 22 teams of nine men each, and was completed in Paris on the Champs Elysees on July 25. A distance of over 3642 km was covered.

1. Cyclists passes under a bridge on the third stage of the Tour de France 2010 Vanzie - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut July 6. (Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)

2. Lance Armstrong finishes on July 3 at the individual race at the time around Rotterdam. (PASCAL PAVANI / AFP / Getty Images)

3. Tour de France Riders on the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam in the first stage of the race on July 4. (REUTERS / Toussaint Kluiters / United Photos)

4. A fan of seen at the start of the third stage. (REUTERS / Bogdan Cristel)

5. The wounds and abrasions on the hands cyclist Andy Schleck of Luxembourg during a stop in the beginning of the teams at the 97th Tour de France in Rotterdam. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

6. The yellow shirt leader Swiss Fabian Kanchelarra (center) at the beginning of the second phase of 201 km between Brussels and Spa. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

7. Lance Armstrong rides in the dust on the site of cobblestones on the third stage of the Tour de France. (AP Photo / Fred Mons)

8. Dirt on the face of Lance Armstrong. (REUTERS / Joel Saget)

9. Cyclists passes sunflowers fields on the 11th stage of 184.5 kilometers between Sisteron and Bourg-les-Valence, south-east France, on July 15. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

10. Shadow of a cyclist, drinking water, during the fourth stage in Reims on July 7. (AP Photo / Christophe Ena)

11. American Tyler Farrar of Team waiting for doctors after a fall of the second stage between Brussels and Spa. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

12. Riders on the second stage to the town of Spa. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

13. Christian Vuandevelde from the U.S. continues to race after a fall during the second stage on July 5. (REUTERS / Bogdan Cristel)

14. Cyclists passes a flower field on July 5. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

15. A medical care team applying bandage on rider's arm after a fall at Spa, Belgium. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

16. The gears and wheel of a bicycle (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

17. Frenchman Silvian Shavanel trying to catch up with the group at the second stage on July 5. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

18. Australian Cadel Evans rides in the rain at the second stage of the Tour de France. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

19. Riders going past a field to Montargis, France, on the fifth stage of 1,987.5 km on July 8. (LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP / Getty Images)

20. Briton Mark Cavendish (center) rushes to the finish line and his victory in the fifth stage of Tour de France. (LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP / Getty Images)

21. Briton Mark Cavendish cries after winning the fifth stage of cycling. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

22. Rui Costa (left) of Portugal fights with Carlos Barredo of Spain at the end of the sixth stage on July 9. (Daniel Sannum Lauten / AFP / Getty Images)

23. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is poured water on the eighth stage on July 11. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

24. Silveyn Shavanel of France crosses the finish line at the seventh stage on July 10. (AP Photo / Laurent Rebours)

25. Italian Paolo Tiralongo carries bananas for his team leader Spaniard Alberto Contador (not pictured) (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

26. A medallion hangs on the neck of Belgian cyclist Francis De Griff on July 13, before the 9th stage of 204.5 kilometers. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

27. Fans welcome the Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez in the ninth stage of the race. (LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP / Getty Images)

28. French cyclist Damien Monier crosses the finish line with his team after the ninth stage on July 13. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

29. The mountains around Morzine-Avoriaz hinges rise in the background before the 9th stage. (AP Photo / Christophe Ena)

30. Christopher Sea from France goes to the ninth stage on July 13. (REUTERS / Francois Lenoir)

31. Australian Cadel Evans (foreground) crying on the shoulder of Italian Mauro Santambrodzhio at the end of the ninth stage of Tour de France, after he lost the yellow shirt leader. (PASCAL PAVANI / AFP / Getty Images)

32. Riders on the 179-km 10th stage at Chambery-Gap, France, July 14. (LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP / Getty Images)

33. A fan dressed as a devil on the 10th stage of Tour de France. (REUTERS / Bogdan Cristel)

34. Winner of the Tour de France in 2009 the Spaniard Alberto Contador (left) on the 10th stage. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

35. Riders on Transition Noyer on the 10th stage. (AP Photo / Bas Czerwinski)

36. Riders leaving a tunnel on the 10th stage. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

37. Cyclist taking a sharp bend on the road during the 10th stage of the race on July 14. (REUTERS / Bogdan Cristel)

38. Miss France 2010 Malick Menard kisses Belgian Mario Aertsa after he received the prize for "Fight of quality" at the end of the 10th stage. (LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP / Getty Images)

39. Andy Shleek from Luxembourg in the yellow shirt leader is reflected in the glasses Spaniard Alberto Contador on the 11th stage. (JOEL SAGET / AFP / Getty Images)

40. The Spaniard Joaquín Rodriguez celebrates his victory after crossing the finish line in the face of a Spaniard Alberto Contador on the 12th stage on July 16. (PASCAL PAVANI / AFP / Getty Images)