The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 26 July. It had 25 stages over . It was the closest three-way finish in the Tour until the 2007 Tour de France, among the closest overall races in Tour history and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place riders each wore the Yellow jersey at some point during the race. It was won by Stephen Roche, the first and so far only Irishman to do so.
The winner of the 1986 Tour de France, Greg LeMond was unable to defend his title following a shooting accident in April.
Following Stage 1, Poland's Lech Piasecki became the first rider from the Eastern Bloc to lead the Tour de France. Of these, 62 were riding the Tour de France for the first time. The average age of riders in the race was 27.05 years, ranging from the 20-year-old Jean-Claude Colotti () to the 36-year-old Gerrie Knetemann (). The cyclists had the youngest average age while the riders on had the oldest.
The teams entering the race were: The 1987 Tour de France started on 1 July, and had one rest day, in Avignon. There were 25 stages (and a prologue), more than ever before. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 21.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Stage characteristics and winners
|-
! scope="col" | Stage
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Course
! scope="col" | Distance
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Type
! scope="col" | Winner
|-
! scope="row" | P
| style="text-align:center;" |1 July || West Berlin (West Germany) || style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" |2 July || West Berlin (West Germany) || style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| style="text-align:center;" |2 July || West Berlin (West Germany) || style="text-align:center;" | || alt=|link=Team time trial|20px || Team time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" |4 July || Karlsruhe (West Germany) to Stuttgart (West Germany)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| style="text-align:center;" |5 July || Stuttgart (West Germany) to Pforzheim (West Germany)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| style="text-align:center;" |5 July || Pforzheim (West Germany) to Strasbourg|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| style="text-align:center;" |6 July || Strasbourg to Épinal|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| style="text-align:center;" |7 July || Épinal to Troyes|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| style="text-align:center;" |8 July || Troyes to Épinay-sous-Sénart|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| style="text-align:center;" |9 July || Orléans to Renazé|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| style="text-align:center;" |10 July || Saumur to Futuroscope|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| style="text-align:center;" |11 July || Poitiers to Chaumeil|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| style="text-align:center;" |12 July || Brive to Bordeaux|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| style="text-align:center;" |13 July || Bayonne to Pau|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| style="text-align:center;" |14 July || Pau to Luz Ardiden|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" |15 July || Tarbes to Blagnac|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| style="text-align:center;" |16 July || Blagnac to Millau|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| style="text-align:center;" |17 July || Millau to Avignon|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 18 July
| colspan="2" | Avignon
|
| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| style="text-align:center;" |19 July || Carpentras to Mont Ventoux|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Mountain time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July || Valréas to Villard-de-Lans|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| style="text-align:center;" |21 July || Villard-de-Lans to Alpe d'Huez|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| style="text-align:center;" |22 July || Le Bourg-d'Oisans to La Plagne|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 22
| style="text-align:center;" |23 July || La Plagne to Morzine|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 23
| style="text-align:center;" |24 July || Saint-Julien-en-Genevois to Dijon|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 24
| style="text-align:center;" |25 July || Dijon|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 25
| style="text-align:center;" |26 July || Créteil to Paris (Champs-Élysées)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Total
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center"|
|}
Race overview
thumb|[[Stephen Roche (pictured in the Dijon time trial), winner of the general classification]]
The prologue was won by specialist Jelle Nijdam, and none of the favourites lost much time. The second place in the prologue was for Polish cyclist Lech Piasecki, and when he was part of a break-away in the first stage that won a few seconds, he became the new leader in the general classification, the first time that an Eastern-European cyclist lead the Tour de France.
Somewhat later, Delgado's teammates got back to Delgado, and together they chased Roche, and caught him just before the climb of La Plagne. Roche then anticipated that Delgado would keep attacking on the climb. Knowing Delgado was the better climber, Roche decided he would not follow Delgado's attack. Instead, he let Delgado get away until the margin was one minute, giving Delgado the impression that he could safely save energy for the next stages, and at the last part of the stage gave it everything he had to reduce the margin. Roche followed that tactic, and confused not only Delgado, but also the commentators and the Tour organisation. Roche finished a few seconds behind Delgado, and after the finish he collapsed and was given an oxygen mask in an ambulance. Being a talented time-trialist, he knew that he could easily make up for it on the penultimate stage (an individual time trial at Dijon). Indeed, Roche won almost a minute on Delgado, and this was enough to secure the overall win. This time trial was won by Jean-François Bernard finished the Tour in third place after losing four minutes after the flat tire in the nineteenth stage.
Doping
Bontempi was originally declared winner of the 7th stage, but a few days later, his doping test came back positive for testosterone. Bontempi was set back to the last place of the stage, was penalised with 10 minutes in the general classification, and received a provisional suspension of one month.
One day later, it became public that Dietrich Thurau had tested positive after the eighth stage. At that point, Thurau had already left the race. He was set back to the last place of that stage, and also received a provisional suspension of one month.
The third rider to test positive was Silvano Contini, after the thirteenth stage. He received the same penalty.
Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were several classifications in the 1987 Tour de France, six of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.
Additionally, there was a points classification, where cyclists were given points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.
There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots.
There was also a combination classification. This classification was calculated as a combination of the other classifications, its leader wore the combination jersey.
Another classification was the intermediate sprints classification. This classification had similar rules as the points classification, but only points were awarded on intermediate sprints. Its leader wore a red jersey.
The sixth individual classification was the young rider classification. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible, and the leader wore a white jersey. In 1987 the race organisers changed the rules for the young rider classification; from 1983 to 1986, this classification had been as a "debutant classification", open for cyclist that rode the Tour for the first time. In 1987, the organisers decided that the classification should be open to all cyclists less than 25 years of age at 1 January of the year.
For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that led this classification were identified by yellow caps. There was also a team points classification. Cyclists received points according to their finishing position on each stage, with the first rider receiving one point. The first three finishers of each team had their points combined, and the team with the fewest points led the classification. The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps.
In addition, there was a combativity award, in which a jury composed of journalists gave points after each mass-start stage to the cyclist they considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. At the conclusion of the Tour, Régis Clère won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Galibier on stage 21. This prize was won by Pedro Muñoz Machín Rodríguez.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; font-size:smaller;"
|+ Classification leadership table
|-
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" rowspan="2" | Stage
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Stage winner
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | General classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Points classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Mountains classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Young rider classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Combination classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Intermediate sprints classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:18%;" colspan="2" | Team classifications
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Combativity award
|-
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" | By time
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" | By points
|-
! scope="row" | P
| Jelle Nijdam
| style="background:#ffeb64;"| Jelle Nijdam
| style="background:#9ce97b;"| Jelle Nijdam
| no award
| style="background:white;" rowspan="2"| Jelle Nijdam
| style="background:lightblue;"| Lech Piasecki
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="2"| Jean-Claude Colotti
|
|
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| Nico Verhoeven
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"| Lech Piasecki
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="2"| Lech Piasecki
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="2"| Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
| style="background:lightblue;"| Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
|
| rowspan="10"|
| Giovanni Bottoia
|-
! scope="row" | 2
|
| style="background:white;"| Erik Breukink
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="3"| Dietrich Thurau
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" | Guido Bontempi
|
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| Acácio da Silva
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="7"| Erich Maechler
| style="background:#9ce97b;" rowspan="2"| Dietrich Thurau
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="3"| Frédéric Brun
| style="background:white;" rowspan="3"| Bruno Cornillet
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="12"| Jean-Claude Colotti
| rowspan="23"|
| Frédéric Brun
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| Herman Frison
| Herman Frison
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| Marc Sergeant
| style="background:#9CE97B;"| Jörg Müller
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="7"| Christophe Lavainne
| Yvon Madiot
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| Christophe Lavainne
| style="background:#9ce97b;"| Bruno Wojtinek
| style="background:#ffa8a4;"| Hendrik Devos
| style="background:white;" rowspan="4"| Christophe Lavainne
| Jean-Claude Bagot
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| Manuel Jorge Domínguez
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="15"| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="7"| Raúl Alcalá
| Régis Clère
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| Julio César Cadena
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| Adri van der Poel
| Adri van der Poel
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| Stephen Roche
| style="background:#ffeb64;"| Charly Mottet
| style="background:white;" rowspan="3"| Bruno Cornillet
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| Martial Gayant
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"| Martial Gayant
| rowspan="2"|
| Jan Nevens
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| Davis Phinney
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="14"| Jean-François Bernard
| Phil Anderson
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| Erik Breukink
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="5"| Charly Mottet
| style="background:white;"| Erik Breukink
|
| Robert Forest
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| Dag Otto Lauritzen
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="2"| Luis Herrera
| style="background:white;" rowspan="12"| Raúl Alcalá
|
| Thierry Claveyrolat
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| Rolf Gölz
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="11"| Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
|
| Roland Le Clerc
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| Régis Clère
| style="background:#ffa8a4;"| Raúl Alcalá
|
| Régis Clère
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="9"| Luis Herrera
|
| Bernard Vallet
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| Jean-François Bernard
| style="background:#ffeb64;"| Jean-François Bernard
|
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| Pedro Delgado
| style="background:#ffeb64;"| Stephen Roche
|
| Stephen Roche
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| Federico Echave
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="4"| Pedro Delgado
| rowspan="2"|
| Federico Echave
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| Laurent Fignon
| Anselmo Fuerte
|-
! scope="row" | 22
| Eduardo Chozas
| style="background:#9ce97b;"| Stephen Roche
| rowspan="4"|
| Eduardo Chozas
|-
! scope="row" | 23
| Régis Clère
| style="background:#9ce97b;"| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| Marc Gomez
|-
! scope="row" | 24
| Jean-François Bernard
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"| Stephen Roche
| style="background:#9ce97b;"| Stephen Roche
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 25
| Jeff Pierce
| style="background:#9ce97b;"| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| no award
|-
! scope="row" colspan=2 | Final
! style="background:#FFDB00;"| Stephen Roche
! style="background:#46E800;"| Jean-Paul van Poppel
! style="background:#FF3E33;"|
! style="background:white;"| Raúl Alcalá
! style="background:#B2FFFF;"| Jean-François Bernard
! style="background:#FF033E;"|
!
!
! Régis Clère
|}
- In stage 19, Stephen Roche wore the combination jersey.
Final standings
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Legend
|-
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the general classification
| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=A green jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the points classification
|-
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots.
| Denotes the winner of the mountains classification
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the young rider classification
|-
| 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the combination classification
| 20px|link=Intermediate sprints classification in the Tour de France|alt=A red jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the intermediate sprints classification
|}
General classification
{| class="wikitable" style="width:48em;margin-bottom:0;"
|+ Final general classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 115h 27' 42"
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 0' 40"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | + 2' 13"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 6' 40"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots. || || style="text-align:right;" | + 9' 32"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 16' 53"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 18' 24"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 18' 33"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | + 21' 49"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 26' 13"
|}
{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:48em;margin-top:-1px;"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Final general classification (11–135)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=A green jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 263
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 247
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 228
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 201
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 195
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots. || || style="text-align:right;" | 174
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 153
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 135
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 129
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 128
|}
Mountains classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final mountains classification (1–10) Cycling Newss Pat Malach wrote that Pierce's win was his defining win for the remainder of his career.