1989 Tour de France - Race Format

Race Format

3285.3 km of racing was scheduled to start on July 1 and divided into 1 prologue followed by 21 stages. The race would last 23 days with 21 racing days and 2 rest days. One day, July 2, was scheduled to host 2 stages. These were a plain stage followed later in the day by the team time trial.

There were two transfers. The first was from Wasquehal to Dinard on a rest day in between stages 4 and 5. The second was between L'Isle d'Abeau and Versailles after the finish of the penultimate stage. The second rest day was after the mountain time trial stage 15. The race ended on July 23.

The race started outside of France, specifically in Luxembourg before then transiting through the Wallonia region of Belgium. The route then took an anti clockwise circuit through France visiting the Pyrenees prior to the Alps. The race consisted of 7 mountain stages, 2 Pyrenean and 5 Alpine. In total there was 5 time trials including the prologue, 1 team time trial, 1 mountain time trial and 2 individual flat stage time trials. Unusually the last of the time trials was held on the last stage of the race as opposed to the usual penultimate stage of the race. This was the race's first last day time trial since the 1972 Tour de France.

The white jersey was not awarded to the leader of the Young rider classification, although the classification was still held.