BMC Racing Team's Rohan Dennis won the first stage to take the general classification leader's yellow jersey.

[7] Eritrean riders Daniel Teklehaimanot and Merhawi Kudus, both of MTN–Qhubeka, became the first black Africans to compete in the Tour de France.

[13][15][17][19][20] Froome had shown his form during the season with overall victories at the Vuelta a Andalucía and the Critérium du Dauphiné,[18] a race considered to be the warm-up for the Tour.

[21] Contador had earlier in the season won the Giro d'Italia and was aiming to become the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to achieve the Giro-Tour double.

[22] Thirteen days before the start of the Tour, Contador won the Route du Sud, defeating Quintana by seventeen seconds.

[24] The defending champion Nibali was considered a contender, although his best result of the season was tenth in the Tour de Romandie, and placed thirteenth at the Dauphiné.

At the event, the race director Christian Prudhomme described it as "atypique" (English: "atypical"), adding "If you do not climb, you will not win the Tour in 2015."

The third began in Antwerp, Belgium, and concluded at the Mur de Huy,[41] a steep climb known for its inclusion in the one-day classic race La Flèche Wallonne.

[42] Stage four started in Seraing, before ending in Cambrai, France;[41] it featured seven cobbled sectors with a combined distance of 13 km (8.1 mi).

[52] On stage two, crosswinds along the coastal route to the finish in Zeeland caused the peloton (the main group) to split into echelons, resulting in time gaps between riders.

The stage ended in a bunch sprint, won by André Greipel, putting him in the green jersey as the leader of the points classification.

Cancellara finished third placed in the stage and took the race lead, profiting from a time bonus missed by Martin, who came in ninth.

[54][55] The peloton continued to the final climb, the Mur de Huy, where Joaquim Rodríguez held off Froome to take the stage by one second.

[56] The partially cobbled fourth stage saw Martin take the victory and the yellow jersey with an attack on the lead group 3 km (1.9 mi) from the finish in Cambrai.

[57] In the sixth stage, Zdeněk Štybar of Etixx–Quick-Step won after escaping on the concluding small ascent in the port city of Le Havre.

[58] A crash in the final kilometre forced Martin to abandon the Tour with a broken collarbone, the second yellow jersey wearer to surrender after Cancellara.

Froome attacked with 6.4 km (4 mi) remaining to take the win, with teammate Richie Porte and Quintana a minute in arrears.

[67] Rodríguez gained his second victory of the race on stage twelve; he was part of an early twenty-two rider breakaway that reached the final climb to Plateau de Beille.

Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team took the uphill victory ahead of the chasing Sagan.

[69] On stage fourteen, a twenty-four rider breakaway reached the final climb, the Côte de la Croix Neuve.

After the breakaway had fractured, Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet led over the summit, before Steve Cummings of MTN–Qhubeka overtook them to take the victory at Brenoux Airport on the plateau above Mende.

Over four minutes after Cummings had finished, Froome outsprinted Quintana while the other general classification favourites were slightly distanced.

[72] On the next stage, featuring the Col de Manse as the final climb, Rubén Plaza (Lampre–Merida) escaped the leading group of breakaway riders on the ascent.

[74] The stage was won by Team Giant–Alpecin's Simon Geschke, who escaped from the breakaway with under 50 km (31 mi) remaining to win in Pra-Loup.

[75] Fifth placed overall Contador crashed on the descent of the Col d'Allos, losing over two minutes to race leader Froome.

[76] On stage eighteen, Bardet attacked the breakaway close to the summit of the Col du Glandon and opened a gap on descent before riding solo to victory in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.

[82] Although he failed to win any stages during the race, Sagan won his fourth consecutive points classification with a total of 432, 66 ahead of Greipel in second.

[88] 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".

[92] There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given to the first rider to pass Goddet's memorial at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet in stage eleven, and the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Galibier in stage twenty.

[67][75] Riders from the WorldTeams competing individually, as well as for their teams and nations, for points that contributed towards the World Tour rankings.