The 1985 Tour de France was the 72nd Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

, taking place June 28 to July 21, 1985, over 4109 km in 22 stages and a prologue.

Bernard Hinault

Bernard Hinault

Bernard Hinault is a former French cyclist known for five victories in the Tour de France. He is one of only five cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours, and the only cyclist to have won each more than once. He won the Tour de France in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985...

 would attempt to equal the records of Jacques Anquetil

Jacques Anquetil

Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...

 and Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx

Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...

 who had each won the Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 five times. Hinault was unable to compete due to tendinitis in 1983. In 1984 Hinault had finished second to Laurent Fignon

Laurent Fignon

Laurent Patrick Fignon was a French professional road bicycle racer. He won the Tour de France in 1983 and in 1984. He missed winning it a third time, in 1989, by 8 seconds, the closest margin ever to decide the tour. He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1989, after having been the runner-up in 1984,...

, and was threatened by Greg LeMond

Greg LeMond

Gregory James LeMond is a former professional road bicycle racer from the United States and a three-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Lakewood, California and raised in Reno, Nevada....

 who ended in third position on the final podium. In order to ensure the best support, Hinault's La Vie Claire

La Vie Claire

La Vie Claire was a professional road bicycle racing team named after its chief sponsor La vie Claire, a chain of health food stores.-History:The La Vie Claire team was created in 1984 by Bernard Tapie and directed by Paul Koechli...

 team recruited LeMond for the 1985 tour. In return for his support, Hinault promised on television that he would support LeMond the following year in the 1986 Tour de France

1986 Tour de France

The 1986 Tour de France was the 73rd Tour de France, taking place July 4 to July 27, 1986. The total race distance was 4094 km, distributed over 23 stages and a prologue. It was won by Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour...

.

Despite crashing on a fast descent and riding with black eyes due to his injuries, Hinault won and publicly again stated his promise to help LeMond the following year.

Differences from the 1984 Tour de France

This edition of Tour de France saw the first use of clipless pedals (made by LOOK) by Bernard Hinault, among other riders. Hinault credited their use to saving him from worse injuries in his crash, and popularized them. Their use is now widespread among cyclists, on both road and mountain bikes.

This edition also saw the Combination classification contested again, after not being contested in two editions.

Stages

The 1985 Tour de France started on 28 June, and had one rest day, in Villard-de-Lans.

Stage results

Stage	Date	Route	Terrain	Length	Winner
P	28 June	Plumelec Plumelec Plumelec is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France.-References:* * -External links:* * *...	Individual time trial Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...	6 km (3.7 mi)
1	29 June	Vannes Vannes Vannes is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2000 years ago.-Geography:Vannes is located on the Gulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin. It is around 100 km northwest of Nantes and 450 km south west...  – Lanester Lanester Lanester is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany, in north-western France.It is the largest suburb of the city of Lorient, across the river Scorff to the east.-Breton language:...	Plain stage	256 km (159.1 mi)
2	30 June	Lorient Lorient Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...  – Vitre Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine Vitré is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of around 17,000 inhabitants . It lies on the edge of Brittany, near Normandy, Maine, and Anjou...	Plain stage	242 km (150.4 mi)
3	1 July	Vitre – Fougeres Fougères Fougères is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany, in north-western France.-Sights:Fougères' major monument is a medieval stronghold built atop a granite ledge, which was part of the ultimately unsuccessful defence system of the Duchy of Brittany against...	Team time trial Team time trial A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...	73 km (45.4 mi)	La Vie Claire
4	2 July	Fougeres – Pont Audemer	Plain stage	239 km (148.5 mi)
5	3 July	Neufchatel en Bray – Roubaix Roubaix Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:...	Plain stage	224 km (139.2 mi)
6	4 July	Roubaix – Reims Reims Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....	Plain stage	222 km (137.9 mi)
7	5 July	Reims – Nancy	Plain stage	217 km (134.8 mi)
8	6 July	Sarrebourg Sarrebourg Sarrebourg is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It lies in on the upper course of the river Sarre.It should not be confused with Saarburg in Germany....  – Strasbourg Strasbourg Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...	Individual time trial Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...	75 km (46.6 mi)
9	7 July	Strasbourg – Epinal Épinal Épinal is a commune in northeastern France and the capital of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.-Geography:The commune has a land area of 59.24 km²...	Hilly stage	174 km (108.1 mi)
10	8 July	Epinal – Pontarlier Pontarlier Pontarlier is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:...	Hilly stage	204 km (126.8 mi)
11	9 July	Pontarlier – Morzine Avoriaz	Stage with mountain(s)	195 km (121.2 mi)
12	10 July	Morzine Avoriaz – Lans en Vercors	Stage with mountain(s)	269 km (167.1 mi)
13	11 July	Villard de Lans	Individual time trial Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...	32 km (19.9 mi)
14	13 July	Autrans Autrans Autrans is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, it hosted the biathlon, cross country skiing, nordic combined, and the ski jumping normal hill events.-Reference:...  – St Etienne	Hilly stage	179 km (111.2 mi)
15	14 July	St Etienne – Aurillac Aurillac Aurillac is a commune in the Auvergne region in south-central France, capital of the Cantal department.Aurillac's inhabitants are called Aurillacois, and are also Cantaliens or Cantalous in Occitan....	Plain stage	238 km (147.9 mi)
16	15 July	Aurillac – Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...	Plain stage	247 km (153.5 mi)
17	16 July	Toulouse – Luz Ardiden Luz Ardiden Luz Ardiden is a ski resort in the Pyrenees. It is situated in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in the Midi-Pyrénées. The ski resort, which lies at a height of 1720 meters, opened on January 16, 1975...	Stage with mountain(s)	209 km (129.9 mi)
18A	17 July	Luz St Sauveur – Aubisque	Stage with mountain(s)	53 km (32.9 mi)
18B		Laruns Laruns Laruns is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It is situated at the confluence of two mountain streams, the Gave d'Ossau and its tributary, the Valentin....  – Pau	Stage with mountain(s)	83 km (51.6 mi)
19	18 July	Pau – Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...	Plain stage	203 km (126.1 mi)
20	19 July	Montpon Menesterol – Limoges Limoges Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....	Plain stage	225 km (139.8 mi)
21	20 July	Lac de Vassiviere Lac de Vassivière The lac de Vassivière or Vassivière Lake is one of France's largest lakes, in fact a large reservoir, about 10 square kilometres in area, situated on the Plateau de Millevaches, in the départements of Creuse and Haute-Vienne. It is the largest area of water in the Limousin region of France...	Individual time trial Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...	46 km (28.6 mi)
22	21 July	Orleans Orléans -Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...  – Parijs	Plain stage	196 km (121.8 mi)

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1		La Vie Claire	113h 24' 23"
2		La Vie Claire	+1' 42"
3		La Redoute	+4' 29"
4		Skil-Sem-Kas	+6' 26"
5		Panasonic	+7' 44"
6		Orbea	+11' 53"
7		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+12' 53"
8		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+13' 35"
9		Reynolds-T.S Batteries	+13' 56"
10		La Vie Claire	+14' 57"

Final general classification (11–144)
Rank	Name	Team	Time
11		Peugeot	+15' 10"
12		Kwantum	+15' 24"
13		La Vie Claire	+16' 02"
14		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+16' 13"
15		Panasonic	+17' 35"
16		Peugeot	+17' 45"
17		Reynolds-T.S Batteries	+19' 48"
18		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+21' 12"
19		Zor	+21' 35"
20		Peugeot	+23' 30"
21		Fagor	+23' 36"
22		La Vie Claire	+26' 28"
23		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+29' 42"
24		La Redoute	+32' 52"
25		Panasonic	+33' 21"
26		Renault	+33' 58"
27		Santini	+34' 16"
28		Panasonic	+35' 44"
29		La Redoute	+39' 16"
30		Zor	+39' 38"
31		Skil-Sem-Kas	+40' 02"
32		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+40' 20"
33		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+40' 37"
34		Skil-Sem-Kas	+41' 53"
35		Skil-Sem-Kas	+42' 26"
36		Renault	+42' 57"
37		Skil-Sem-Kas	+45' 10"
38		Reynolds-T.S Batteries	+45' 53"
39		Zor	+46' 12"
40		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+48' 36"
41		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+48' 46"
42		Renault	+53' 41"
43		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+54' 12"
44		La Vie Claire	+55' 45"
45		Orbea	+55' 54"
46		La Vie Claire	+59' 50"
47		La Vie Claire	+1h 00' 32"
48		Kwantum	+1h 01' 55"
49		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+1h 03' 08"
50		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+1h 05' 42"
51		Kwantum	+1h 07' 29"
52		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+1h 08' 23"
53		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+1h 08' 37"
54		Orbea	+1h 12' 06"
55		Skil-Sem-Kas	+1h 12' 41"
56		Renault	+1h 14' 26"
57		Renault	+1h 15' 19"
58		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+1h 16' 32"
59		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+1h 19' 10"
60		Fagor	+1h 20' 36"
61		Peugeot	+1h 20' 56"
62		Reynolds-T.S Batteries	+1h 24' 23"
63		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+1h 24' 36"
64		Zor	+1h 25' 07"
65		Fagor	+1h 25' 37"
66		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+1h 26' 42"
67		Renault	+1h 27' 50"
68		Peugeot	+1h 30' 51"
69		La Redoute	+1h 31' 08"
70		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+1h 33' 38"
71		La Vie Claire	+1h 34' 31"
72		Renault	+1h 35' 55"
73		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+1h 38' 52"
74		Kwantum	+1h 39' 34"
75		Panasonic	+1h 40' 12"
76		Reynolds-T.S Batteries	+1h 40' 27"
77		Skil-Sem-Kas	+1h 40' 32"
78		Skil-Sem-Kas	+1h 43' 33"
79		Kwantum	+1h 44' 10"
80		Panasonic	+1h 48' 22"
81		Fagor	+1h 50' 40"
82		Panasonic	+1h 51' 48"
83		Orbea	+1h 53' 27"
84		Kwantum	+1h 53' 57"
85		Reynolds-T.S Batteries	+1h 54' 13"
86		Peugeot	+1h 56' 54"
87		Panasonic	+1h 58' 36"
88		Verandalux-Nissan-Dries	+1h 59' 32"
89		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+2h 00' 49"
90		Skil-Sem-Kas	+2h 00' 50"
91		Kwantum	+2h 01' 41"
92		La Redoute	+2h 01' 53"
93		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+2h 01' 55"
94		Orbea	+2h 02' 13"
95		Santini	+2h 02' 21"
96		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+2h 05' 54"
97		Santini	+2h 05' 55"
98		Peugeot	+2h 06' 57"
99		La Vie Claire	+2h 07' 06"
100		La Redoute	+2h 09' 03"
101		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+2h 09' 23"
102		Skil-Sem-Kas	+2h 09' 23"
103		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+2h 09' 36"
104		Verandalux-Nissan-Dries	+2h 10' 30"
105		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+2h 10' 40"
106		Kwantum	+2h 11' 08"
107		Orbea	+2h 12' 00"
108		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+2h 12' 21"
109		Zor	+2h 12' 22"
110		Kwantum	+2h 12' 32"
111		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+2h 16' 46"
112		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+2h 17' 15"
113		Panasonic	+2h 19' 40"
114		Carrera Jeans-Inoxpran	+2h 20' 15"
115		Kwantum	+2h 21' 39"
116		Renault	+2h 23' 23"
117		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+2h 24' 59"
118		Cafe de Colombia-Varta-Mavic	+2h 28' 21"
119		La Redoute	+2h 28' 54"
120		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+2h 36' 25"
121		La Redoute	+2h 37' 06"
122		Peugeot	+2h 37' 36"
123		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+2h 38' 04"
124		Verandalux-Nissan-Dries	+2h 38' 54"
125		Orbea	+2h 39' 40"
126		Panasonic	+2h 39' 52"
127		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+2h 40' 41"
128		Orbea	+2h 41' 38"
129		Tonissteiner-Torhoutwerchter-BASF-Mavic	+2h 48' 15"
130		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+2h 48' 15"
131		Verandalux-Nissan-Dries	+2h 51' 18"
132		Peugeot	+2h 57' 08"
133		Fagor	+3h 00' 29"
134		Peugeot	+3h 01' 30"
135		Hitachi-Sunair-Splendor	+3h 03' 13"
136		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+3h 09' 36"
137		Verandalux-Nissan-Dries	+3h 11' 35"
138		Fagor	+3h 15' 00"
139		Santini	+3h 16' 40"
140		Zor	+3h 25' 44"
141		La Redoute	+3h 28' 13"
142		Lotto-Eddy Merckx-Campagnolo	+3h 29' 25"
143		Santini	+3h 45' 20"
144		Santini	+4h 13' 48"