The Info Examiner

The Tour de France is the BIG one; it’s the World cup and the Olympics all in one. It has it all, the high mountains, the wind swept northern planes and the heat of the south. It also has the world’s media, all the top teams and riders and millions of cycling mad fans watching. The other “Grand Tours” of Italy and Spain are as exciting, sometimes more so, but they don’t have the thing the Tour has, that unique Tour ness, that unique French ness.

How it started.

It all started in 1903, when the French daily paper, L’Auto wanted to sell more than its competitor, Le Vélo, who at that time was the only paper reporting on cycle racing. It was suggested to the papers director, Henri Desgrange that they should organise a road bike race all round France. The first race was 2,428 kilometres split into six stages and was run off at 25.29 kilometres per hour and out of the 60 starters 21 finished and the race was lead from start to finish by Maurice Garin.

The Heroes.

Over the years there has been a lot of heroes in the Tour de France, you could say all the riders are heroes, to win the race once is hard, but to win it five times is phenomenal. Only five men have done this, and one of these has won it seven times. French rider Jacques Anquetil was the first to win the race five times, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and then Spaniard Miguel Indurain all equalled him. Then the American, Lance Armstrong started to win in 1999 and didn’t stop until he had won it a record seven times in a row. This is all the more amazing as he is a cancer survivor and was given a 50/50 chance of life; he beat the cancer and went on to beat all comers in the Tour de France.

The course.

The race starts in a different town every year and every other year it starts outside France, the choice of stage towns is a combination of money and sporting considerations, the towns will pay for a start or a finish, but they need to be near a mountain or a cobbled road or be near other town who want to host the Tour. The Towns pay to be the centre of interest for a day, the Tour also brings in a lot of money in tourism and the Towns collect much more than they pay and the world will remember the name of the Town, for at least a day.

The riders.

All the best riders want to win the Tour de France, but they cant, from the 200 or so starters there is a possible five or six riders who can win, the rest are either helping their team leaders or sprint or mountain specialists who want to win stages or points or mountain jerseys, this keeps the race active and interesting from beginning to end.

The BIG Tour.

The Tour is the biggest, but that has its problems, some Towns are not big enough, hotels etc., the television needs more space, the journalists need more phone lines and computers, more and more people are following the race and the riders can be forgotten about in all the razzmatazz, but its still the biggest sporting event in the world, long may in run!

Alastair Hamilton is a successful writer who offers a truly unique depth of experience in competitive cycling, he also contributes adding technical articles on road bikes to some cycling online magazines. Please, visit http://www.bike-cycling-reviews.com to reach further information on bike and cycling news.

It’s a crystal clear, calm spring morning. The air is clean and fresh, the sun is starting to warm up your body and the sky is blue. Like most mornings you are out on your bike. You have been riding for maybe an hour, but you are not exactly sure. On a day like today, who is counting the minutes anyways? You are headed towards the top of the highest mountain on today’s ride. Your body is responding well to the requirements of the climb and your mind is calm and clear. You are focused. You are not drifting away today, like you do on some days, you find a sort of inner peace. Just you, the bike and the road leading up to the top. No thinking about the bills that need to be paid, the yard-work you have been putting off for the last 2 weeks or how your toughest competitors will do this season.

At this moment, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, or do anything else. As you work your way up along the narrow, winding road, you are constantly looking for that next “nature experience”. You know this is deer and moose country. Last fall you hiked up the side of this mountain many times, hunting the “king of the forest”. When you plan training rides, you always try to find areas rich in wildlife. What if you can see a big bull, or a maybe a doe with her fawn? As you turn the corner and the forest opens up into an open alpine bog, you see them! The doe is gracing at the edge of the forest, the fawn is running around, playing. He seems to be enjoying the day as much as you are. They haven’t seen you yet. You slow down and watch them for a little while before the doe notices you and with a graceful jump she is gone, into the forest. It’s almost as if the trees swallowed her and the little one.

You increase the pace again, returning to your efficient pedal candence. The adrenaline is rushing through your body, this short encounter revitalized you, it gave you an extra boost of energy. As you reach the top of the climb, the area surrounding the mountain lays beneath you. You can see the city down there, with the commuters stuck in rush traffic. Moments like that makes you appreciate your life. That you are given the opportunity, time and resources to do this! On days like today you understand how privileged you are. Cycling is so much more than just races, victories and losses. The feeling of being in top shape, that you have the energy and strength to ride your bike 150 miles, run for hours or ski across the mountain, that is what’s all about.

I am a full-time endurance athlete, working towards the 2012 London Olympics. I maintain a blog, describing my ups and downs of training / racing.
http://roadrace1.blogspot.com