The Tour de France first introduced its prologue in 1967.
The opening prologue of the 1967 Tour was a short individual time trial in Angers, held on 29 June. José María Errandonea of Spain won the 5.775-kilometre effort and became the first rider to wear that edition’s yellow jersey. The event preceded the first full road stage and gave the race an immediate competitive opening.
A prologue is shorter than a standard time-trial stage and is traditionally used to establish early time gaps and award the first leader’s jersey. It also creates a compact public presentation of the riders before the long stage racing begins. The format became a recurring Tour feature, although it was not held in every edition.
The Tour’s last officially classified prologue was in 2012. Later short opening time trials were generally labelled Stage 1 rather than a prologue, partly because they exceeded the distance traditionally associated with the format. The 1967 introduction should not be confused with earlier opening time trials or with non-official pre-race events.