The Tour de France

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.letour.com/us/

http://www.topendsports.com/events/tour-de-france/winners-list.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

2,614 thoughts on “The Tour de France”

  1. Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this site.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s difficult to
    get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance.
    I must say that you’ve done a superb job with this.
    Also, the blog loads very quick for me on Firefox. Outstanding Blog!

  2. Hey there this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs
    use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.

    I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I
    wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
    Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  3. Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I
    am impressed! Very useful information particularly the last
    part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this certain info for a very long time.

    Thank you and best of luck.

  4. Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
    you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is wonderful, let
    alone the content!

  5. Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out your site 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 shocked at how fast your blog
    loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G ..
    Anyhow, superb site!

  6. Wow, incredible blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
    you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is great, as well as the content!

  7. It’s appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy.
    I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you few
    interesting things or advice. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article.
    I wish to read even more things about it!

  8. I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this website.

    I’m hoping to see the same high-grade content by you later on as well.

    In fact, your creative writing abilities has motivated me
    to get my own, personal website now 😉

  9. Link exchange is nothing else however it is only placing
    the other person’s web site link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do similar for you.

  10. Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog.
    Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
    I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any points or suggestions?
    With thanks

  11. Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog.
    Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
    I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start.
    Do you have any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it

  12. I simply could not go away your website prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed
    the usual info a person provide in your guests? Is going to be back incessantly to inspect new
    posts

  13. Hey there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let
    you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly.
    I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
    I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both
    show the same results.

  14. When some one searches for his required thing, therefore he/she desires to be available that in detail, thus that
    thing is maintained over here.

  15. First of all I would like to say wonderful blog!

    I had a quick question which I’d like to ask
    if you do not mind. I was interested to find out how you
    center yourself and clear your mind before writing.
    I have had a tough time clearing my thoughts in getting
    my ideas out. I truly do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like
    the first 10 to 15 minutes are wasted just trying to figure out
    how to begin. Any suggestions or tips? Thanks!

  16. Hello there, I found your site by means of Google whilst
    searching for a related topic, your site got here up, it appears to be like great.
    I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    Hello there, simply become alert to your blog through Google, and
    found that it’s really informative. I’m gonna watch out for
    brussels. I will be grateful in the event you continue this {in future}.
    A lot of folks might be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  17. Your examination is really interesting. If
    you require which can be enjoyed agen slot online, I suggest participating in in trustworthy agen slot websites on-line.

    Since you can attain big gains all the perks and acquire guaranteed pay-out odds.
    If you require that could be played out, you can straight stick to the link below.
    The web link is truly a video slot web site that may be commonly used among Indonesian the members.

  18. I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
    Did you make this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
    Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to find out where u
    got this from. thank you

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *