| The Tour de France is the BIG one; it’s the | | | | chance of life; he beat the cancer and went on to |
| World cup and the Olympics all in one. It has it all, the | | | | beat all comers in the Tour de France.The course.The |
| high mountains, the wind swept northern planes and | | | | race starts in a different town every year and every |
| the heat of the south. It also has the world’s | | | | other year it starts outside France, the choice of |
| media, all the top teams and riders and millions of | | | | stage towns is a combination of money and sporting |
| cycling mad fans watching. The other “Grand | | | | considerations, the towns will pay for a start or a |
| Tours” of Italy and Spain are as exciting, | | | | finish, but they need to be near a mountain or a |
| sometimes more so, but they don’t have the | | | | cobbled road or be near other town who want to |
| thing the Tour has, that unique Tour ness, that | | | | host the Tour. The Towns pay to be the centre of |
| unique French ness.How it started.It all started in | | | | interest for a day, the Tour also brings in a lot of |
| 1903, when the French daily paper, L’Auto | | | | money in tourism and the Towns collect much more |
| wanted to sell more than its competitor, Le | | | | than they pay and the world will remember the name |
| Vélo, who at that time was the only paper | | | | of the Town, for at least a day.The riders.All the |
| reporting on cycle racing. It was suggested to the | | | | best riders want to win the Tour de France, but they |
| papers director, Henri Desgrange that they should | | | | cant, from the 200 or so starters there is a possible |
| organise a road bike race all round France. The first | | | | five or six riders who can win, the rest are either |
| race was 2,428 kilometres split into six stages and | | | | helping their team leaders or sprint or mountain |
| was run off at 25.29 kilometres per hour and out of | | | | specialists who want to win stages or points or |
| the 60 starters 21 finished and the race was lead | | | | mountain jerseys, this keeps the race active and |
| from start to finish by Maurice Garin.The Heroes.Over | | | | interesting from beginning to end.The BIG Tour.The |
| the years there has been a lot of heroes in the Tour | | | | Tour is the biggest, but that has its problems, some |
| de France, you could say all the riders are heroes, to | | | | Towns are not big enough, hotels etc., the television |
| win the race once is hard, but to win it five times is | | | | needs more space, the journalists need more phone |
| phenomenal. Only five men have done this, and one | | | | lines and computers, more and more people are |
| of these has won it seven times. French rider | | | | following the race and the riders can be forgotten |
| Jacques Anquetil was the first to win the race five | | | | about in all the razzmatazz, but its still the biggest |
| times, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and then | | | | sporting event in the world, long may in run!Alastair |
| Spaniard Miguel Indurain all equalled him. Then the | | | | Hamilton is a successful writer who offers a truly |
| American, Lance Armstrong started to win in 1999 | | | | unique depth of experience in competitive cycling, he |
| and didn’t stop until he had won it a record | | | | also contributes adding technical articles on road bikes |
| seven times in a row. This is all the more amazing as | | | | to some cycling online magazines. Please, visit to |
| he is a cancer survivor and was given a 50/50 | | | | reach further information on bike and cycling news. |