Changes From The 1987 Tour
Months before the start of the Tour, director Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet was replaced by Xavier Louy.
The Union Cycliste International (UCI) introduced the rule that a cycling race could not span three weekends. The Tour de France could therefore only start on Monday 4 July, and the prologue was removed. The Tour organisers were not happy with this, and they extended the Tour by adding a 'prelude' or 'preface' to the race, circumventing the rule by making it unofficial. Each team would ride for 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi), and one cyclist per team would then finish one kilometer on his own. The recorded times were not used for the rest of the Tour, but the cyclist with the fastest time would wear the yellow jersey in the next stage.
Read more about this topic: 1988 Tour De France
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“Left Washington, September 6, on a tour through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.... Absent nineteen days. Received every where heartily. The country is again one and united! I am very happy to be able to feel that the course taken has turned out so well.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)