The Tour de
France is the most famous cycling race in the world.
It was
first organised in 1903 by the newspaper L'Auto, with the aim of stimulating
the public and, above all, winning over its rival Le Vélo. Today, it is the 3rd
most watched sporting event in the world, after the Football World Cup and the
Olympic Games.
To
celebrate the 50th anniversary of the finish on the Champs-Elysées in style,
Monnaie de Paris is unveiling a complete two-part collection. The first part,
in € gold and silver, will be available from 27 March 2025, 100 days before the
Tour de France kicks off in Lille-Nord de France. The collector coins and
mini-medals will be available a few days before the official start on 17 June
2025.
This coin
highlights the start and finish locations of the 2025 Tour de France. The Tour
will kick off in Lille-Nord de France and finish on the Champs-Elysées in
Paris. A cyclist is depicted in the foreground, with his drawn shadow behind,
going from the LILLE marker to the PARIS marker. The ‘i’ in Lille refers to its
Belfry, and the ‘a’ in Paris to the Arc de Triomphe. The outline of the coin
and the spokes are reminiscent of a bicycle wheel.
On this common reverse, the four jerseys of the Tour are heraldically represented in markers. Also represented in the markers are the RF, the face value and the yeardate. The Tour de France logo appears at the top and the hallmarks at the bottom.
