1992 Tour de France

The 1992 Tour de France was the 79th edition, held from 4 to 26 July over 21 stages and a prologue, 3,978 km in all. In honour of the Maastricht Treaty that created the European Union the race visited a record seven countries: France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and Italy. Miguel Induráin, the defending champion and an easy winner of that year's Giro d'Italia, was the clear favourite against Gianni Bugno and Claudio Chiappucci, and he won the general classification. The race opened near his home with a prologue in San Sebastián, which he won from the debutant Alex Zülle; a bonus sprint on the first stage put Zülle in yellow. The highest point was the Col de l'Iseran at 2,770 m on stage 13. Twenty-two teams of nine rode, sixteen by ranking and six by wildcard.