Tour de France cycle race

The Tour de France has to be one of the most gruelling competitive sporting events in the world. It relies on sheer physical exertion and willpower. This year will be the 97^th race and will by all accounts be the most difficult. It commences on Saturday 3^rd July in Rotterdam with the Prologue and finishes on Sunday 25^th July in Paris with the mad dash around the Champs Elysees.  The race is so well known in France that it is known simply as 'le tour'.

This years route was planned probably a couple of years ago by the organisers of the race and as said earlier will start in Rotterdam. This will be the 5^th time the race has started in the Netherlands. It kicks off with the Prologue in Rotterdam. Stage 1 passes from Rotterdam to Brussels in Belgium. Stage 2 is within Belgium and stage 3 sees the race pass from Belgium into France. From this point the race will proceed down the Eastern side of France. After this they will go Southerly and eventually end up in Bordeaux where the time trial will take place. From Bordeaux there will be a train journey to Paris for the final stage. There are 20 stages in all and the distance covered will be approximately 3600 kms. Of the 20 stages 9 are described as flat. There are 6 mountain stages, 4 medium mountain stages and 1 time trial stage in Bordeaux.

The route the tour will take is determined a couple of years in advance. This is done primarily to give places on route plenty of time to prepare. There are certain limits imposed by international regulators such as the total distance covered should not exceed around 3500 kms and 225 kms in a day. The race is over 21 days and 2 days are compulsory rest days. Several hundred towns throughout France apply to be included along the route. It is a huge opportunity if a place is chosen because it can find itself well and truly in the spotlight for a day. It is a massive boost for local economies as there are approximately 4500 people plus spectators all looking for food, drink and accommodation.

The publicity caravan which comes with the tour was created in 1930 and will celebrate its 80^th year this tour. It was the brainchild of Henri Desgrange, because of the ever increasing costs of trying to stage something like this year after year. It is a huge procession of highly decorated vehicles publicising the products made by some of the leading brand names throughout France. One of the first to advertise in this manner  was ‘Le Vache qui rit`, (The laughing cow), who produce dairy products. In this procession which precedes the race there are approximately 160 decorated vehicles representing 33 brands, 16 million gifts handed out and takes about 45 minutes to pass.

The first tour de France started on 1^st July 1903. Geo Lefevre, a journalist with L’ Auto magazine decided to organize a 2500 km cycle race across France. His editor, Henri Desgrange decided to back him and ‘le Tour de France was born. 60 cyclists set off from Montgeron. One of the 6 stages was from Nantes to Paris covering 471 km. At the finish only 21 cyclists remained. The French people were filled with admiration and each year thereafter it grew and grew into what we know today. The winner that year was Maurice Garin. It covered 2428 kms and took 94 hrs 33 mins. The average speed was 25.6 kms per hr. By comparison the 2009 race was over 21 stages, covered 3459 kms. It took 84 hrs 48 mins and the average speed was about 40.4kms per hr. When you consider the technology available today the earliest tour in 1903 must have felt like 10,000 kms.

The longest race was over a distance of 5745 kms. It took place in 1926, was over 17 stages and took 238hrs 44 mins. 126 cyclists started and only 41 finished. The average speed was 24.27 kms per hr. It was won by 34 year old Lucien Buysse of Belgium.

There were no tours between 1939 and 1947 for obvious reasons, hence the fact that although it has been around for 107 years this is the 97th race.

There are some amazing statistics to come out of the tour.
Greatest number of wins:
Lance Armstrong, U.S.A. 7
Jaques Anquetil, France, 5
Eddy Merckx,  Belgium, 5
Bernard Hinault, France, 5
Miguel Indurain, Spain, 5

Greatest number of days in yellow jersey.
Eddy  Merckx, Belgium, 111
Lance Armstrong, U.S.A, 83
Bernard Hinault, France,79

Greatest number of stage wins.
Eddy Merckx, Belgium, 34
Bernard Hinault, France,28
Andre Leducq, France, 25

Greatest number of stage wins on one tour
Charles Pelissier, France 1930, 8
Eddy Merckx, Belgium,1970 & 1974, 8
Freddy Maertens, Belgium 1976, 8
Mark Cavendish, Great Britain, 6

Greatest number of podiums
Raymond Poulidor, France 8
Lance Armstrong, U.S.A, 8

Number of wins per Nation
France, 36
Belgium, 18
Spain, 12
United States, 10
Italy, 9
Luxembourg, 4
Netherlands and Switzerland, 2
Germany, Denmark and Ireland, 1

The oldest and the youngest
Firmin Lambot, Belgium, 36 in 1922
Henri Comet, France, 20 in 1904

Spectators

12 to 15 million, 70% men,30% women
85% spectators are French
130 kms  travelled on average to see the tour

Media

118 T V channels, 75 radios, 398 newspapers, 61 Internet sites, representing 41 nationalities,i.e.2477 journalists.
T V coverage in 186 countries including live coverage in 60.
Internet:  155 million pages viewed and 11.6 million visits.

The Tour de France must be one of the greatest publicity machines for France and generates millions of euros. It is one of the most visited countries in the World due largely to this event. If you watch this on television the amazing beauty of France becomes apparent. There is some stunning  countryside and beautiful scenery. Literally thousands of magnificent historic buildings, chateaux, castles etc, and monuments are dotted all over. The sheer diversity of France from gorgeous coastlines to snow capped mountains is shown with everything you could wish for in between. The televised aerial photography following the tour is particularly amazing. It has led to several other countries around the world to follow suit and organize similar events but the tour will always remain the greatest. I suppose the French just have that  ‘je ne sais quoi’.

Close to where we live in Brittany there is the small town of Callac (population 2,459). Each year in June there is a huge charity cycle race called La Pierre le Bigaut. It is the 3rd largest cycle race in Europe and is in aid cystic fibrosis.  There are normally about 6,500 entrants for the race.  You can imagine what it must be like for a small town to be completely taken over by this number of cyclists and their entourages. It is an amazing sight to see. It is named after a former professional cyclists who won stages in the Tour de France and has raised some 500,000 €.  The course is over three different distances from 25kms to 160kms depending on one's ability. It came through our village last year and took about 45 minutes for the cylists and entourage to pass by.

Cycling is a huge pastime in Brittany. In the springtime various cycle clubs start to train along the highways and it is nothing to see groups of 30 to 40 cyclists at weekends training for cycle races.

The Official Tour de France site has masses of info aobut this years race as well as previous races.

The site for the La Pierre le Bigaut cycle race is in French but worth a look.