It was the only Tour de France to include a mid-stage climb to the Alpe d'Huez ski resort.

The race was eventually won by Jacques Anquetil following an epic shoulder-to-shoulder battle with Raymond Poulidor during stage 20.

[1] The teams entering the race were:[1] The main favourite was defending champion Jacques Anquetil.

He had won the 1964 Giro d'Italia earlier that year, and was trying to win a Tour-Giro double, which at that moment had only been done by Fausto Coppi.

[3] The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,802 m (9,193 ft) at the Cime de la Bonette loop road on stage 9.

His team director gave him a bottle of champagne, which washed away the indigestion, and then Anquetil was able to get back to Poulidor.

[10] Poulidor then broke a spoke, the repair cost him some time, even more because a team mechanic, trying to help him gain speed, made him fall.

[12] The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage.

[17] At the conclusion of the Tour, Henry Anglade won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists.