The Tour De France Is One Of The Most Famous Sporting Spectacles In The World, And It Is To Be Hoped That This Summer’s Tour Will Be As Good As Previous Events

One of the toughest sporting contests in the world is the Tour De France, the yearly cycling spectacular which is held over a three week period each summer, and during which the best road racers from all over the world race in around about twenty different stages of racing and travel a distance of near enough 2,000 miles. The event is an amazing feat of endurance and has been said to be similar to completing several marathons during a similar three week period of time.

The Tour has an intriging history and was first arranged in 1903, having been organised by a newspaper editor as a means to put a rival publication out of business, by exclusively publishing coverage of this incredible event. Over the decades of the event, the style of the competition has changed, with entrants made up of all-comers, regional and national teams and commercial teams of cyclists at varying times. It has also experimented with having one stage outside of France in neighbouring European countries (including a stage in the UK in 2007). But two things are always consistent – most of the many stages take place on a roughly circular route around France, and generally alternate between a clockwise race one year and a counter-clockwise one the next. The very last stage always finishes in Paris, in front of thousands of encouraging and enthusiastic spectators, though the Tour doesn’t go in for the flashy ‘closing ceremony’ with fireworks and Laser eye light displays along the same lines as many other major sporting events.

There are generally about twenty teams participating in the event, each with nine riders. Team-mates are permitted to help each other, and all the teams have their own back-up staff of mechanics and managers who travel along behind the race in cars so that they can solve any issues which arise along the route.

As anyone who has ever witnessed the race will recall, the competitors are preceded on the course by a massive number of sponsored vehicles which plug their particular products and give out free gifts and advertising leaflets to the watching spectators. It is confirmed that there are usually around 250 vehicles driving past the parade every year and each organisation will have paid a large amount of euros in order to be able to promote their brand at such a prestigious event.

The very first company to sign up for the privilege of being involved in the Tour was a chocolate company – these days, it could be that almost any product would be acceptable – from cars to clothing, tooth whitening to Laser eye surgery, software to coffee shops, and surely food and drink (the healthy kinds anyway). As the Tour De France is the most watched annual sporting occasion in the world through the French TV footage, it’s not surprising that organisations are prepared to pay decent money to be involved.

In each individual stage of the race, every participant will have his finishing time registered, and as the Tour continues, the timings for the stages are added up, giving an aggregate score for each individual. Timing technology is now so efficient that every rider is tracked individually by a transponder affixed to their bicycle which logs each time they ride through one of the marker wires across the course and perhaps it is only a question of time before Laser eye beams are used as opposed to real wires. The rider with the quickest aggregate score is the Tour leader and gets to wear the well known yellow jersey for the next stage. Prizes are also given for winning each stage, but this way of scoring does mean that realistically a competitor could become the overall winner without needing to win an individual stage, as has happened on a few occasions. Cycling consistently throughout the three weeks can give a far better overall time than the total time for a rider who could be fast on the flatter stages of the Tour, but find the mountainous parts more difficult, for example.

The other jersey which most casual fans of the sport will have heard of is the King Of The Mountains. This is a white jersey with red dots which is worn by the rider who has gained the most points for arriving at the top of specified mountains and hills before all the other riders. Given that the route of the event could easily pass through the Alps or the Pyrenees, it’s no surprise that such a category would have been created to acknowledge those cyclists who specialise in such steep and difficult climbs.

A further competition is in place for those who finish at the front in the less hilly 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 for the next stage. By now it should be quite clear that the Tour De France does in fact include a number of different ways for participants to earn points, praise and maybe most importantly, money.

The 2011 race will start on 2nd July and it will be the 98th time that the event has taken place (the missing dates being during two World Wars) and it is anticipated that this year’s event will be every bit as exciting as those we remember from years past. It is also to be hoped that there isn’t any suggestion of the doping problems which have dominated the sport of cycling recently. There are a few legal means of enhancing performance, such as the golfers who get Laser eye surgery to increase the standard of their vision, but taking illegal drugs is wrong in all sport.