TOUR DE FRANCE
Date: 4 July - 26 July
Coverage: BBC Sport website: text commentary of each stage and streamed BBC commentary of the last 90 minutes of each stage available; commentary on selected stages on BBC 5 Live sports extra Mark Cavendish's successful sprint in St Fargeau on stage 11 of the Tour de France brought him his eighth stage victory, tying Barry Hoban's record for the most by a British rider in the world's most famous cycle race. Having won the first of two world Madison titles on the track in 2005, at the age of 19, the 'Manx Missile' switched to the road the following year and has surged through the ranks just as he does through the peloton. Cavendish was a bright prospect on his Tour de France debut, when the race started in London in 2007, and cemented his reputation last year, when he won a British record four stages before dropping out early to train for the Olympics. This year he is without rival as the fastest sprinter in the event, and has his eyes on victory on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, although many expect him also to win the green points jersey, often won by the best sprinter. BBC Sport takes a look at the select company of British greats he has joined. BARRY HOBAN Hoban, from Wakefield, set the current record of eight Tour de France stage wins by a Briton between 1967 and 1975 - taking eight years to do what Cavendish has managed in two. Even if Cavendish passes his mark, though, Hoban's mark of 11 completed Tours will remain a British record for a good while yet. Initially a strong climber, Hoban later established himself a sprinter, moving to Europe to turn professional in 1964. The first of his stage victories came in 1967, when the rest of the field allowed him to cross the line first, the day after the death of Tom Simpson, whose widow he later married. TOM SIMPSON Simpson, from Haswell, County Durham, was one of a group of British pioneers who rode in Europe in the 1960s. In 1962, after stage 12 of the Tour de France, he became first Brit to wear the yellow jersey as race leader and finished sixth overall, losing third spot after a crash. He became the first British world road race champion in 1965 and went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award - the only cyclist to do so until Sir Chris Hoy took the honour in 2008. Simpson is arguably one of only two British riders - the other being Robert Millar - to have ridden with a chance of overall victory in the Tour, rather than aiming for individual stages or secondary jerseys. Simpson died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the Tour in 1967, a post-mortem blaming amphetamines and alcohol as well as extreme heat. Cavendish is set to pass a memorial to Simpson on the slopes of the mountain during Saturday's penultimate stage. CHRIS BOARDMAN After winning individual pursuit gold at the 1992 Olympics, Boardman turned professional and took to the road but was unable to live up to hype that billed him as a future Tour winner. His three stage successes all came in the Tour prologue - the short time trial at the beginning of each race - each of which brought a chance to wear the yellow jersey. He won the 1994 prologue in the fastest time ever recorded, suffered a crash the following year as favourite but returned to win again in 1997 and '98. Boardman always struggled to recover from his exertions quickly enough to mount a sustained challenge in stage races, which he has blamed on a low hormone profile and others on the doping culture prevalent among his rivals at the time. He retired after a successful attempt at breaking the hour record on a traditional bike in 2000 and now works as technical director for British Cycling, as well as being involved in media work. ROBERT MILLAR Scotsman Millar - who is no relation to current rider David - recorded the highest ever overall finish by a Brit in the Tour when he was fourth in 1984. A specialist climber with a wiry physique, he also won the King of the Mountains competition that year, the only time a British competitor has won a major Tour jersey. 606: DEBATE Who do you think is Britain's best Tour de France rider of all time?
BBC Sport's Martin Gough Millar won three Tour stages between his debut in 1983 and 1993, and missed out on another in Guzet-Neige in 1988, when he a fellow breakaway rider mistook a policeman's signal in the run-in to the finish and took a wrong turn. After a spell in team management and journalism, he cut ties with the sport and has not been seen in public for over five years. Author Richard Moore wrote a book, In Search of Robert Millar, without ever having more than email contact. SEAN YATES Yates was known as a top domestique - a rider who supports the big names, as he did with a young Lance Armstrong on the Motorola team from 1992-96. He completed nine Tours over 12 years between 1982 and '96, with his best overall placing 45th. He was particularly good at sitting on the front of a peloton, setting a consistently high speed during the middle of a stage to prevent attacks on his team leader. Yates had his own occasional day in the sun, though, winning a Tour de France time trial stage in 1988 and wearing the yellow jersey in 1994, on the day after the race went through his native Sussex. He has since moved into team management, was an assistant on the Discovery Team - at Armstrong's invitation - from 2005 and has recently been working with Astana, although he is missing this year's race because of ill health.
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Alberto Contador at the time trial of the 2007 Tour which he also won.
Spaniard Alberto Contador of team Astana has won the 2009 Tour de France after crossing the line in a final time of 85:48:35 for the 21-stage grand tour. Andy Schleck from Luxembourg came in second place. Schleck, riding for Team Saxo Bank also won the ''maillot blanc'' for the young riders' classification.

American Lance Armstrong of Astana claimed the final podium spot, 5:24 behind Contador. The seven-time Tour-winner returned from retirement after winning the 2005 Tour de France. 
Course of the 2009 Tour
Winning the final stage at Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, was Mark Cavendish in a time of 4:02:18. The British cyclist won six stages this year, topping his achievement of four stage wins last year.

The points classification was won by Thor Hushovd of Norway with 280. The Cervélo TestTeam rider finished ahead of Team Columbia-HTC's Cavendish, despite the latter's multiple stage wins.

The King of the Mountains winner is Italian Franco Pellizotti, riding for Liquigas, who also got the additional honor of being the most aggressive rider. Team Astana, with two men on the podium, won the team classification.