One of the toughest sporting contests in the world is the Tour De France, the annual cycling spectacular which takes place over a three week period each summer, and during which the greatest road racers from all over the world compete in roughly twenty different stages of racing and cycle a distance of about 2,000 miles. The event is a fantastic feat of endurance and has been compared to completing several marathons during a similar three week period.
The Tour has an intriging history and was first arranged in 1903, having been organised by a newspaper editor as a way of putting a rival publication out of business, by exclusively publishing coverage of this amazing event. Over the decades of the event, the format of the competition has altered, with entrants made up of all-comers, regional and national teams and commercial teams of cyclists at varying times. It has also diversified by organising one stage somewhere other than France in neighbouring European countries (including a stage in the UK in 2007). But two aspects are always the same – most of the various stages take place on a roughly circular route around France, and always alternate between a clockwise journey one year and a counter-clockwise one the next year. The very last stage always finishes in Paris, in front of many cheering and enthusiastic spectators, though the Tour doesn’t go in for the expensive ‘closing ceremony’ with fireworks and Laser eye light displays like many other large sporting events.
There are generally approximately twenty teams competing in the event, each with nine riders. Team-mates are able to help each other, and all the teams have their own back-up staff of mechanics and managers who drive along behind the race in cars so that they can resolve any diificulties which crop up along the route.
As anyone who has ever witnessed the race will know, the participants are preceded on the course by a massive number of sponsored vehicles which plug their specific products and give out free gifts and advertising brochures to the many spectators. It is estimated that there are usually around 250 vehicles driving past the parade every year and each company will have paid a hefty amount of euros so that they are able to advertise their product at such a world famous event.
The very first business to pay for the privilege of appearing at the Tour was a chocolate manufacturer – these days, it is probably true that almost any product would be acceptable – from cars to watches, tooth whitening to Laser eye surgery, computer games to hotel chains, and surely food and drink (the healthy options anyway). As the Tour De France is the most viewed annual sporting spectacle in the world via the French TV broadcasts, it isn’t surprising that organisations are prepared to pay a lot of money to be involved.
In each of the individual stages of the race, every cyclist will have his finishing time registered, and as the Tour progresses, the recorded times for the stages are added to those for previous stages, giving an overall score for each individual. Timing technology is now so scientific that every rider is tracked individually by a transponder affixed to their bicycle which registers each time they ride through one of the marker wires along the course and possibly it is only a question of time before Laser eye beams are used rather than actual wires. The rider with the lowest aggregate score is the Tour leader and goes on to wear the leader’s yellow jersey for the next stage. Prizes are also earned for winning each stage, but the scoring system does mean that potentially a rider could be the overall winner without actually winning an individual stage, as has been the case on a few occasions. Just being consistent throughout the three weeks can give a far superior overall time than the total time for a rider who could be fast on the flatter stages of the Tour, but find the mountainous stages more difficult, for example.
The other jersey which most casual fans of the sport will know about is the King Of The Mountains. This is a white jersey with red dots which is allocated to the rider who has gained the most points for arriving at the top of specified mountains and hills before all the other riders. Since the route of the event could often pass through the Alps or the Pyrenees, it’s no surprise that a specific category would be in place to acknowledge those cyclists who are the field leaders in such steep and difficult climbs.
A similar competition recognises those who finish near the front in the less undulating stages and again points are awarded based on the rider’s finishing position when crossing the finish line. The leader of this competition then wears a green jersey during the next stage. By now it is quite obvious that the Tour De France does in fact include several different ways for contestants to gain points, praise and possibly most importantly, money.
The 2011 event will start on 2nd July and it will be the 98th occasion on which the event has taken place (the missing years being during both World Wars) and it is hoped that this year’s event will be equally as exciting as previous ones. It is also to be hoped that there will not be suspicion of the doping problems which have dominated the sport of cycling over recent years. There are a handful of legal means of enhancing performance, like the golfers who have Laser eye surgery to increase the standard of their vision, but taking illegal preparations is wrong in any sport.