François Simon is a French former professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1991 to 2002. He is the brother of Régis, Pascal and Jérôme, all professional cyclists. In the 2001 Tour de France, Simon wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification for three days and finished as best French finisher in that Tour. Other career highlights include a stage win in the 1992 Giro d'Italia, two stage wins in the Tour de l'Avenir, stage wins in Circuit de la Sarthe, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and Paris–Nice as well as being road race champion of France in 1999.

The 2001 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005. The verdict was subsequently confirmed by the Union Cycliste Internationale.