Tour de France

The tour de France is one of the most popular bicycle races held all over the world. The event enjoys a great popularity among road cycling fans and not only. It is broadcasted by most TV sport channels in the world and it is the largest cycling event held in France. The tour takes place every year ever since 1903, meaning for more than a century. The most part of it is held in France but some sections are also held in neighboring countries. The entire tour lasts for 3 weeks and its stages cover in total more than 3,600 km. it is by far the best known and prestigious of the Grand Tours, and it attracts more riders and teams even than the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta A Espagna. The tour is divided into day long stages and the winner of the entire tour is the rider who managed to get the lowest combined time from all the stages. The rider with the best time at the end of each day receives a yellow jersey. The course changes every year but it has become a tradition for the race to end in Paris, and since 1975 the tour’s final stage was along the most famous boulevard in France and in Europe, Champs-Elysees.

The tour de France has in total 21 days of racing and it covers little more than 3,200 km. The shortest tour in its history was held in 1904 when the course covered only 2,420 km. however, there has been a time when the tour exceeded 5,500 km in length and that was in 1926. Along the three weeks, there are two days of race which are normally used to transport the riders from a finish in one town to a start in another. Traditionally, the race alternates between clockwise and anticlockwise circuits in various areas of France. The effort that riders put into this sporting event has been compared with a running marathon several days a week for about three weeks. The difficulty of the tour is also given by its climbs, which have been compared to climbing three Everests.

There are usually at least 20 teams and sometimes up to 22, and each team has nine riders. The race organizer, Amaury Sport Organization, invites professional teams from all over the world. As in any road cycling race, team members help each other and the peloton is followed by managers and mechanics in cars. In case of emergency, they can help and provide them with what the riders need.

Another important aspect of the Tour de France is the fact that it is the cycling race with the highest awards all over the world and this is the reason why it attracts the best riders in the world. The tour was won most often by Louis Armstrong.