The Tour de la Provence is an early-season bicycle stage race in the

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is organized by southern French newspaper

La Provence ''La Provence'' is a French language daily newspaper published in Marseille, France. History and profile In 1997 ''La Provence'' was created in Marseille from the merger of two daily newspapers, '' Le Provençal'' of former Interior Minister Ga ...

, which serves as the race's title sponsor for its first three years. It is held in February, as a 2.1 event on the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

calendar. The race will become part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020. ''La Provence'' has entrusted the organization of the event to Serge Pascal, who also organizes the Tour du Haut Var. The inaugural edition of 2016 was won by Thomas Voeckler.

History

Organizers intend to build on the tradition of the former

Tour du Vaucluse The Tour du Vaucluse ''(Tour of the Vaucluse)'' is a former cycling race, held in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. From 1923 until 1960 it was organized as a one-day race finishing in Cavaillon Cav ...

and the Tour du Sud-Est, two races in the same region that have disappeared over time. The event is part of a series of cycling stage races being held in the

south of France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

in February, following the

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a sta ...

La Méditerranéenne La Méditerranéenne, previously known as Tour Méditerranéen, is a professional road bicycle racing event held in Spain, France and Italy, close to the Mediterranean Seaside. Run over four days, it holds a 2.1 rating on the UCI Europe Tour. The ...

and the

Tour du Haut Var The Tour du Haut Var ( en, Tour of the Haut Var) is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Var department region in the south of France. Until 2008 it was run as a one-day race, part of the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, the race transformed ...

. The Tour La Provence takes place mid-week between the Tour du Haut-Var and the

Classic Sud-Ardèche Classic Sud-Ardèche (also known as the Souvenir Francis Delpech) is a road bicycle race held annually in late-February in the Ardèche department of France. The race was a National Event from its inception in 2001 until 2007, before joining the ...

. These races are competed mainly by French teams and are considered early-season preparations for

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

, the first European World Tour event in March.

Route

The race is run over four stages in the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

department of the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...

region, in the

. The final stage finishes on the

Canebière La Canebière is a historic high street in the old quarter of Marseille, France. Location About a kilometre long, it runs from the ''Old Port of Marseille'' to the ''Réformés'' quarter.Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls, ''Provence'', New Holland Publ ...

, the historic main street in the old quarter of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, in front of the city hall.

Winners

Classifications

As of the 2022 edition, the jerseys worn by the leaders of the individual classifications are: * Jersey black

Black Jersey – Worn by the leader of the general classification. * Jersey yellow Epic Series

Yellow Jersey – Worn by the leader of the points classification. * Jersey bluedot

Polkadot Jersey – Worn by the leader of the climber classification. * Jersey green Epic Series

Green Jersey – Worn by the best rider under 23 years of age on the overall classification. * Jersey orange

Orange Jersey – Worn by the People's Favourite rider award.

References

External links

* Tour de la Provence UCI Europe Tour races Cycle races in France Recurring sporting events established in 2016 {{France-cycling-race-stub