Vincenzo Nibali of the Astana team won the overall general classification by more than seven minutes, the biggest winning margin since 1997.

Marcel Kittel of Giant–Shimano was the first rider to wear the general classification leader's yellow jersey after winning stage one.

The team classification was won by Ag2r–La Mondiale and Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) was given the award for the most combative rider.

[16] Voigt, riding in his final year as a professional, equalled Stuart O'Grady's record for most appearances in the Tour with 17.

[18][19][20][21][22] Their closest rivals were thought to have been Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team).

[24] Andy Schleck (Trek Factory Racing), who was retroactively awarded the 2010 Tour title, was selected by his team as a domestique, and was not considered a possible favourite.

[22] The sprinters considered favourites for the points classification and wins on the flat or hilly bunch sprint finishes were Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step), André Greipel (Lotto–Belisol), Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) and Giant–Shimano riders Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb.

[29][30] Greipel had amassed a total of twelve wins during the season prior to the Tour, but his team would have to share support for him and Van den Broeck.

[30] On 14 December 2012, the ASO announced that the English historic county of Yorkshire would host the 2014 edition's early stages (known as the Grand Départ).

[34] The entire route was announced by the ASO on 23 October 2013 at the official presentation at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

The Tour transferred across the English Channel to the start of stage four Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, with the finish in Lille.

[38][1] The highest point of elevation in the race was the 2,360 m (7,740 ft)-high Col d'Izoard mountain pass on stage fourteen.

A crash in the sprint caused Mark Cavendish, a favourite for the win, to fall; he did not start stage two.

[46] Crashes in stages four and five forced pre-race favourite Chris Froome to abandon the race; his injuries were later revealed to be fractures to his left wrist and right hand.

The fractured ending was won by an attack in the final 5 km (3.1 mi) by Lars Boom of Belkin Pro Cycling.

[51] Another solo victory came the following day, when Tony Martin of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step dropped fellow breakaway rider Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) with 60 km (37.3 mi) remaining.

On the final climb to the finish at La Planche des Belles Filles, Nibali attacked from the group of overall contenders with 3 km (1.9 mi) remaining, passed two surviving riders from the day's early breakaway, and claimed his second stage win, which put him back in the yellow jersey.

[53] Contador crashed during the descent of the Petit Ballon, 95 km (59.0 mi) into the stage, forcing him to quit the race;[54] it was later revealed that he had fractured his right tibia.

[1] Stage eleven's rolling terrain resulted in a final peloton that included mainly puncheurs; Gallopin won the stage after an attack 13 km (8.1 mi) from the finish in Oyonnax split the peloton and a second with 2.7 km (1.7 mi) remaining that successfully held off the chasers.

He extended his lead over the second-placed overall rider Alejandro Valverde to 3 min 37 s. Richie Porte, who was second overall before the stage and the new leader of Team Sky, lost around nine minutes and dropped to sixteenth.

[58] In stage fourteen, Rafał Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo) attacked from a reduced breakaway on the climb to the finish in Risoul with 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining and managed to hold off chasing the group of overall favourites and soloed to victory.

Nibali, second in the stage, extended his lead further by one minute as Valverde lost time and Rodríguez regained the polka dot jersey.

An early nine-strong breakaway was pulled back before the first climb by Team Katusha for their rider Rodríguez to take the mountains classification points and the temporary lead of the competition.

On the final climb, a group of four that had escaped were caught by Majka, who had dropped Rodríguez, and he soloed to claim his second stage win and the large number of points for the summit finish.

He finished 1 min 10 s ahead of a group which were four of his nearest general classification rivals, with the exception of Valverde, who lost further time and dropped to fourth overall, displaced by Thibaut Pinot and Jean-Christophe Péraud, respectively.

The team classification was won by Ag2r–La Mondiale, 34 min 46 s ahead of second-placed Belkin Pro Cycling.

[74] In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the greatest effort and who has demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship".

[74] At the conclusion of the Tour, Alessandro De Marchi won the overall super-combativity award,[70] again, decided by a jury.

[77] There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given to first rider to pass the summit of the highest climb in the Tour, the Col d'Izoard in stage fourteen, and the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given to the first rider to pass Goddet's memorial at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet in stage eighteen.

[78][79] Riders from the ProTeams competing individually, as well as for their teams and nations, for points that contributed towards the World Tour rankings.