The 2021 Tour de France starts next weekend, beginning with stage one in Brest on Saturday, June 6.
The race travels around France, climbing the Alps and Pyrenees over 21 stages before finishing in Paris on July 18.
23 teams of eight riders will start the Tour, with shock 2020 winner Tadej Pogačar looking to defend his title.
Pogačar enters the race as the favourite while fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič is looking to make amends for coming agonisingly close to winning last year.
Ineos Grenadiers will be lead by 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas, with former Giro d'Italia winners Richard Carapaz and Tao Geoghgen Hart are also in the mix. Aussie Richie Porte will also be there after his heroic third place finish in 2020.
Here's everything you need to know about the 2021 Tour de France.
WHEN DOES THE 2021 TOUR DE FRANCE START?
The 2021 Tour de France starts on Saturday, June 26 .
In Australia, the opening stage will start late on Saturday night, finishing in the early hours of Sunday morning.
HOW TO WATCH THE TOUR DE FRANCE IN AUSTRALIA
As always, SBS will broadcast every stage of the Tour de France live in HD in Australia.
The broadcast will start around 7:30pm-8:30pm each day.
A full replay of each stage will be on SBS On Demand each day, and a two hour cutdown of each stage will also be available. SBS will also have a regular half hour highglights package on its website and on TV.
TOUR DE FRANCE STREAM
The SBS ŠKODA Tour Tracker App will be your go-to if you can't get to a TV.
The app is available on IOS and Android, and you'll be able to watch every single metre of action without ad breaks.
TOUR DE FRANCE 2021 STAGES, TIMES AND HOW TO WATCH
STAGE ONE - SATURDAY JUNE 26
Brest to Landerneau 198 km - Hilly
7:30pm - 1:30am on SBS
STAGE TWO - SUNDAY JUNE 27
Perros-Guirec to Mûr-de-Bretagne (Guerlédan) 183.5 km - Medium mountain stage
8:30pm - 2:00am on SBS
STAGE THREE - MONDAY JUNE 28
Lorient to Pontivy 183 km - Flat stage
8:30pm - 1:55am on SBS
STAGE FOUR - TUESDAY JUNE 29
Redon to Fougères 150.5 km - Flat stage
9:30pm – 1:20am on SBS
STAGE FIVE - WEDNESDAY JUNE 30
Changé to Laval 27.2 km - Individual time trial
8:30pm – 1:45am on SBS
STAGE SIX - THURSDAY JULY 1
Tours to Châteauroux 161 km - Flat stage
9:30pm – 1:55am on SBS
STAGE SEVEN - FRIDAY JULY 2
Vierzon to Le Creusot 249.5 km - Medium mountain stage
8:30pm – 1:40 on SBS
STAGE EIGHT - SATURDAY JULY 3
Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand 151 km - Mountain stage
8:30pm – 1:40am on SBS
STAGE NINE - SUNDAY JULY 4
Cluses to Tignes 145 km - Mountain stage
8:30pm – 1:40am on SBS
REST DAY 1 - MONDAY JULY 5
STAGE 10 - TUESDAY JULY 6
Albertville to Valence 191 km - Flat stage
8:30pm – 1:50am on SBS
STAGE 11 - WEDNESDAY JULY 7
Sorgues to Malaucène 199 km - Mountain stage
8:30pm – 2:00am on SBS
STAGE 12 - THURSDAY JULY 8
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Nîmes 159.5 km - Flat stage
9:30pm – 1:45am on SBS
STAGE 13 - FRIDAY JULY 9
Nîmes to Carcassonne 220 km - Flat stage
8:30pm – 1:50am on SBS
STAGE 14 - SATURDAY JULY 10
Carcassonne to Quillan 184 km - Medium mountain stage
8:30pm – 1:20am on SBS
STAGE 15 - SUNDAY JULY 11
Céret to Andorra la Vella (Andorra) 191.5 km - Mountain stage
8:30pm – 2:10am on SBS
REST DAY 2 - MONDAY JULY 12
STAGE 16 - TUESDAY JULY 13
El Pas de la Casa (Andorra) to Saint-Gaudens 169 km - Medium mountain stage
8:30pm – 1:50am on SBS
STAGE 17 - WEDNESDAY JULY 14
Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan (Col de Portet) 178.5 km - Mountain stage
8:30pm – 1:30am on SBS
STAGE 18 - THURSDAY JULY 15
Pau to Luz Ardiden 130 km - Mountain stage
9:30pm – 1:50am on SBS
STAGE 19 - FRIDAY JULY 16
Mourenx to Libourne 207 km - Flat stage
8:30pm – 2:15am on SBS
STAGE 20 - SATURDAY JULY 17
Libourne to Saint-Émilion 30.8 km - Individual time trial
8:30pm – 2:15am on SBS
STAGE 21 - SUNDAY JULY 18
Chatou to Paris (Champs-Élysées) 108.5 km - Flat stage
11:00pm – 4:00am on SBS
TOUR DE FRANCE 2021 TOTAL DISTANCE
The 2021 Tour de France is 3,417.5 km long over 23 stages.
TOUR DE FRANCE 2020
In the rescheduled 2020 Tour de France, held in September instead of July due to COVID-19, Tadej Pogacar scored a shock debut win.
Pogacar came from nowhere to beat countryman Primoz Roglic by 59 seconds, with Australian Richie Porte earned his first Tour podium finish, 3:30 behind Pogacar.
Ireland's Sam Bennett won the sprinters' green jersey ahead of Peter Sagan and Matteo Trentin.
Pogacar also won the polka dot jersey as the Tour's best climber, finishing ahead of Richard Carapaz and Roglic.
In an incredible three weeks, Pogacar was also the best young rider, winning the white jersey in front of Enric Mas and Valentin Madouas.
TOUR DE FRANCE - WHAT DO THE JERSEYS MEAN?
YELLOW JERSEY - MAILLOT JAUNE
The yellow jersey is worn by the race leader. This is the rider who has the lowest accumulated time at the end of any stage.
The winner of the Tour is the rider who gets around the course the quickest.
GREEN JERSEY - MAILLOT VERT
The green jersey is worn by the Tour's best sprinter.
Also known as the sprinters' jersey, it's awarded on a points basis, with a descending number of points distributed as riders cross the finish line or intermediate sprint points midway through stages.
POLKA DOT JERSEY - MAILLOT A POIS ROUGES
The polka dot jersey is awarded to the Tour'd best climber.
It's decided by points distributed for each climb on the course, with the rider with the most cumulative points wearing the jersey.
TOUR DE FRANCE WINNERS
2010: Andy Schleck
2011: Cadel Evans
2012: Bradley Wiggins
2013: Chris Froome
2014: Vincenzo Nibali
2015: Chris Froome
2016: Chris Froome
2017: Chris Froome
2018: Geraint Thomas
2019: Egan Bernal
2020: Tadej Pogačar
HAS AN AUSTRALIAN WON THE TOUR DE FRANCE?
Yep, just once.
Cadel Evans won the 2011 Tour de France in dramatic fashion in the closing couple of days. Under heavy attack from the Schleck brother - Frank and Andy - Evans held them off in the Alps before taking the yellow jersey on the final time trial of the race.