Jacques Anquetil of the Saint-Raphaël–Helyett–Hutchinson team won the overall general classification, defending his title to win his third Tour de France.

Anquetil's victory in the individual time trial of stage twenty put him in the yellow jersey, which he held until the conclusion of the race.

[1][a] From the late-1950s to 1962, the Tour had seen the absence of top riders who had bowed to pressure from their teams' extra-sportif (non-cycling industry) sponsors to ride other races that better suited their brands.

[26][27][28][29] The other riders considered contenders for the general classification were Rudi Altig (Saint-Raphaël), Charly Gaul (Gazzola), Federico Bahamontes (Margnat), Gastone Nencini (Ignis), Henry Anglade (Liberia), Guido Carlesi (Philco), Tom Simpson (Gitane–Leroux), Ercole Baldini (Ignis) and Hans Junkermann (Wiel's–Groene Leeuw).

[41][43] After recovering for ten days, Anquetil went against his doctor's orders and rode the week-long stage race Critérium du Dauphiné,[44] finishing seventh overall.

[47][48] He had avoided riding the Tour because he thought he did not have the full support of the Belgium team, but with Flandria he had control over rider selection.

The final three stages took the Tour back to the north through Lyon and Nevers to finish at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.

They stayed away and came to the finish over six minutes ahead, with Rudi Altig winning the sprint, and taking the first yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.

Darrigade, second previously, took the yellow and green jerseys, with Angelino Soler of Ghigi taking the lead of the mountains classification.

The team time trial in Herentals later in the day was won by Flandria; their winning margin over second-place Gitane–Leroux was 1 min 15s, and moved four of their riders into the top ten.

[77] In the fourth stage, Mercier's Willy Vanden Berghen won the sprint finish between a group of six that went clear with around 100 km (62 mi) to go.

[78] Stage five ended in a bunch sprint won by Philco rider Emile Daems, with Gitane–Leroux's Rolf Wolfshohl taking the lead of the mountains classification.

[79] In the sixth stage, a 16-man (15 at the end) group escaped 23 km (14 mi) in and held on to the finish at Brest, with Robert Cazala of Mercier winning the sprint.

[35][82] As the chasing breakaway went through a narrow section of the finishing straight, Gastone Nencini hit a gendarme (French police officer) and fell, also bringing down Darrigade.

[35] In the first part of the eighth stage, another large group escaped, which in the final kilometres had merged with a further chasing breakaway and ended with a sprint victory for Ghigi rider Mario Minieri in Luçon's velodrome.

[84] The following stage was won by Vannitsen's teammate Eddy Pauwels, who dropped his fellow breakaway riders and soloed to victory with a four-minute advantage at Pau's motor race street circuit.

Van Looy, whose back was injured by the motorbike's handlebars, was the most notable casualty; he was able to continue for a further 30 km (19 mi), before he was advised to retire from the race by the Tour's doctor, Pierre Dumas.

[90] Bahamontes led over the first-category Col du Tourmalet, and the two other lower categorised climbs, to take the lead in the mountains classification.

[93] The final Pyrenean stage, the fourteenth, saw Saint-Raphaël rider Jean Stablinski attack his 10-strong breakaway with 25 km (16 mi) remaining and solo to the finish in Carcassonne with a margin of twelve seconds.

[94] The first of the three transitional stages, fifteen, that crossed France's southern coastline ended in a bunch sprint won by Vannitsen.

Later, some attacks took place, but they failed because of punctured tyres and the defensive tactics of the leading riders; in the end, Daems, who was a sprinter and not a climber, was able to win this mountain stage.

[102] In stage twenty, a 68 km (42 mi) individual time trial finishing in Lyon, Planckaert came in fourth place, losing 5 min 19 s to the winner, Anquetil, who took the overall lead.

[104] In the final stage, Benedetti gained his second victory of the race from a bunch sprint in front of an estimated crowd of 30,000 at Parc des Princes.

He was placed seventh in the general classification, and the following day, stage fourteen, his team requested the start be delayed, which the organisation allowed.

[111] Fourteen riders withdrew from the Tour that day, all blaming food poisoning from rotten fish at the same hotel,[112][113][114] including the former general classification leader Willy Schroeder and another pre-race contender Gastone Nencini.

[111] A communiqué released by the Pierre Dumas warned that if riders and their soigneurs did not stop "certain forms of preparation", there would be daily post-stage hotel room inspections.

[119] In the following days, Dumas began to organise the inaugural European Conference on Doping and the Biological Preparation of the Competitive Athlete, which took place in January 1963.

[111][120] There were three main individual classifications contested in the 1962 Tour de France, two of which award jerseys to their leaders, and also a team competition.

[124][135] There was also a special award with a prize of 3,000 NF, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given to the first rider to pass the summit of the 2,058 m (6,752 ft)-high Col du Lautaret on stage nineteen.

[143] The 90 points accrued by Jacques Anquetil moved him from outside the ranking to fourth place, whilst Jef Planckaert climbed from third position to take the lead from former leader Rik Van Looy.