The Route de France was a multi-day road cycling race held in France between 1951 and 1990.[1][circular reference] The race was considered an amateur version of the Tour de France and competed with the Tour de l'Avenir after its creation in 1961. Its route traveled through Auvergne, around Vichy, and climbed in particular the Puy de Dôme.[2] It was organized by the newspaper Route et piste, directed by Jean Leulliot, which also organized at the time Paris–Nice and the Étoile des Espoirs.