The winner of the previous two years, Miguel Induráin, successfully defended his title.

The organisers of the Tour, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), felt that it was no longer safe to have 198 cyclists in the race, as more and more traffic islands had been made, so the total number of teams was reduced from 22 to 20,[1] composing of 9 cyclists each.

[1] 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 11.

After the second stage, sprinter Wilfried Nelissen had collected enough time bonuses to become leader in the general classification.

[6] The contenders for the overall victory saved their energy in the next few stages, and cyclists who would not be a threat in the mountains were allowed to break away, with only the sprinters' teams trying to get them back.

[6] In the ninth stage, an individual time trial, the general classification changed.

Indurain was a lot faster than the other cyclists, winning the stage with a margin of more than two minutes, and became the new leader in the general classification.

Rominger did jump to fourth place in the general classification, because Erik Breukink lost almost ten minutes.

[6] In the sixteenth stage, again in the Pyrenées, Rominger was finally able to get away from Indurain, but the margin was only three seconds.

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

The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots.