Hey guys! I know I said I was only going to post articles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so already I’m straying from my word. I’m sorry, and this is not going to replace Monday’s post. However, the 104th Tour de France begins today! The Tour de France is a multi-stage bicycle race held in France (though they occasionally pass through neighboring countries). Over 12 million spectators come to see the Tour de France each year, making it the largest sporting event in the world. 3.5 billion people watch it on TV each year. Typically, the race is held every year in July. The race has been held every year since 1903, except for the years 1915-1918 and 1940-1946 because of World Wars I and II.
In 1903, the year of the first ever Tour de France, long distance bicycle races were a popular way to sell newspapers. Some of the employees at the newspaper L’Auto decided the best way to promote their newspaper was by hosting a bicycle race. And so, it was announced on January 19th, 1903. The original plan for the race was to start and end in Paris, and stop in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes on the way. They had planned the race would last from May 31st to July 5th (making it the longest cycle race ever attempted). However, this didn’t generate a lot of excitement. They only had 15 people enter to compete, while everyone else found the race too daunting. They shortened the race to only 19 days, switched those days to July 1st – July 19th, offered to pay for those who averaged at least 20 km/h (12.43 m/h) on all the stages (equivalent to what a rider would have expected to earn each day had he worked in a factory), lowered the entry fee from 20 francs to 10, and offered 12,000 francs to whoever wins first place. The number of competitors entering the race jumped from 15 to somewhere between 60-80. After the race, L’Auto doubled in circulation, and the Tour de France was started!
The format of the race has changed significantly over time. Night-time riding was dropped after the 1904 race due to excessive cheating since the judges had a hard time seeing. When it first started, there were no teams like in today’s race. They’ve since added more classifications to the race: mountains, points, and young rider. Doping eventually became an issue. Lance Armstrong is the most famous athlete that used drugs in the Tour de France, and as a result has had his seven consecutive victories stripped from him.
Fun facts about the Tour de France:
http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/23-fun-facts-you-didn-t-know-about-the-tour-de-france
The route of this year’s race:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/29/tour-de-france-2017-stage-by-stage-guide
Additional Reading:
http://www.topendsports.com/events/tour-de-france/winners-list.htm
fantastic issues altogether, you simply won a new reader.
What would you suggest about your post that you just made some days in the past?
Any positive?
Incredible points. Solid arguments. Keep up the
good spirit.
Good web site you have here.. It’s hard to find excellent writing like yours nowadays.
I really appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
Hey very interesting blog!
First of all I would like to say excellent
blog! I had a quick question that I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your
head prior to writing. I have had trouble clearing
my mind in getting my thoughts out there. I do take pleasure in writing however
it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
recommendations or hints? Many thanks!
In fact when someone doesn’t know then its up to other people that they will help, so
here it takes place.
Appreciation to my father who told me concerning this
website, this webpage is in fact remarkable.
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist
with SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank
for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results.
If you know of any please share. Thank you!
You can definitely see your skills in the article you write.
The world hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe.
All the time follow your heart.
Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it
but, I’d like to send you an e-mail. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog
you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
Hiya very nice website!! Guy .. Excellent ..
Amazing .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally?
I am satisfied to find so many helpful information here in the publish, we
want work out extra techniques in this regard, thank you for sharing.
. . . . .
It’s nearly impossible to find knowledgeable people in this
particular topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking
about! Thanks
Your style is unique compared to other people I’ve read
stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess
I’ll just bookmark this blog.
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to death
at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break.
I really like the knowledge you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my cell phone
.. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, fantastic blog!
This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something that helped me.
Kudos!
Thanks very nice blog!
These are really great ideas in regarding blogging. You have
touched some good points here. Any way keep up wrinting.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point.
You obviously know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be
giving us something informative to read?
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site so i came to “return the favorâ€.I’m trying to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
Link exchange is nothing else but it is simply placing the other person’s weblog link on your page at proper
place and other person will also do same for you.
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here.
The sketch is attractive, your authored material stylish.
nonetheless, you command get got an impatience over that you wish be delivering the following.
unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly a
lot often inside case you shield this hike.
I’m really inspired along with your writing skills and also with the
layout for your blog. Is this a paid topic or did you modify it yourself?
Either way keep up the excellent high quality
writing, it’s rare to peer a great blog like this one today..
We are a gaggle of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
Your site offered us with useful info to work on. You have done a formidable task and
our entire community shall be thankful to you.
Wow, fantastic weblog format! How long have you ever been running a
blog for? you make blogging look easy. The total glance of your site is wonderful, let alone the content material!
certainly like your web site however you have to test the spelling on several
of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it very troublesome to tell the truth however I’ll definitely come back again.
Hey would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?
I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a
hard time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and
Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems
different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique.
P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time
a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Bless you!
I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but good topic.
I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding
more. Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this
information for my mission.
Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, great blog!
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and check again here frequently.
I am quite certain I’ll learn a lot of new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the next!
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after
I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again.
Regardless, just wanted to say great blog!
Hey! I just wanted to ask if you ever have
any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I
ended up losing several weeks of hard work due to no
backup. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?
Asking questions are actually fastidious thing if you are not understanding anything totally,
however this post gives fastidious understanding yet.
Hi there excellent website! Does running a blog similar to this require a great deal
of work? I’ve virtually no knowledge of computer programming but I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyway, should you have any recommendations or tips for new
blog owners please share. I know this is off subject however I just wanted to ask.
Thank you!
Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I
am impressed! Very useful info specially the last part 🙂 I care for such info
much. I was looking for this certain info for a very long time.
Thank you and good luck.
I don’t know if it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing issues with your
blog. It appears like some of the text within your
posts are running off the screen. Can someone
else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too?
This might be a problem with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
Cheers
My family all the time say that I am wasting my time here at
web, except I know I am getting experience all the time
by reading thes good content.
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this site.
I’m hoping to see the same high-grade content from you in the future as well.
In truth, your creative writing abilities has encouraged
me to get my own, personal site now 😉
Hi would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m
having a difficult time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design and style seems
different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique.
P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if
you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some
time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly
enjoy reading your blog and I look forward
to your new updates.
Acquire every one of the most recent bandar casino online game titles just on the internet site.
It is possible to play live casino online within a peaceful
fashion as there is many choices of firms.
Hey would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re working with?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different
browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot
faster then most. Can you suggest a good internet hosting provider at a reasonable
price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you
knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you
would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look
forward to your new updates.
It’s going to be end of mine day, however before end I am reading this wonderful article to increase my knowledge.
I think the admin of this web page is actually working hard in favor of
his web site, as here every data is quality based information.
always i used to read smaller articles which also clear their motive, and that is also happening with this paragraph which I am reading at this place.
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely fantastic.
I really like what you have acquired here, really like what you’re
saying and the way in which you say it. You make it
enjoyable and you still care for to keep it wise. I cant wait
to read much more from you. This is actually a wonderful web site.
The research is exceedingly interesting. If you require
to have slot online pulsa, I would suggest starting in trustworthy
slot deposit pulsa tanpa potongan sites. Because you can gain big rewards
and obtain several affiliate marketer affiliate marketer payouts.
If you would like to have, you might instantly click the link below.
The web link might be a slot web site that is certainly frequently employed amidst Indonesian players.
Right here is the right blog for everyone who hopes to understand this topic.
You know so much its almost hard to argue with
you (not that I actually would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a fresh spin on a
topic that has been written about for many years. Wonderful stuff, just great!
It’s really very complex in this full of activity life to listen news on Television, therefore I just use world wide web for
that purpose, and take the latest news.