France has the most Tour de France wins with 36, Belgium takes second with 18 wins, Spain third with 11 and the United States is fourth with 10.
The Tour de France does run through the entire country of France. It covers 3,500 km, or 2,200 miles for us Yanks, throughout France but doesn't circumnavigate the borders of the country.
There are 21 stages in the 2009 Tour de France, starting in Monaco and finishing in Paris on the Champs Élysées.
The Tour de France does not only run through France. It often has stages in other bordering countries. In 2009, the tour visited the Principality of Monaco, Spain, the Principality of Andorra and Switzerland. In 2010, the Tour will start in Rotterdam, a Dutch province of South Holland in the west of the Netherlands.
The Tour de France is not the first racing competitions. The first Tour de France was held in 1903, and the first ever bicycle race is thought to have been a 1,200-meter race held on the May 31 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris. It was won by Englishman James Moore who rode a wooden bicycle with iron tires.
Prior to 2009, Armstrong has participated in 11 Tours and won 7.
There are overall four different types of Jersey's that are awarded for different accomplishments:
Lance Armstrong is the only person to win the Tour de France seven times. The previous record was five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil.
France's Henri Cornet is the youngest Tour de France winner. He won in 1904 at age 19.
The oldest winner of the Tour de France is Firmin Lambot (Belgium), who won in 1922 at age 36.
Multi-day bicycle races, known as Tours from the French word for a "circuit", are decided by totaling the time riders take on the daily stages. It's a simple manner of adding up cumulative time from stage to stage. The rider with the lowest amount of time wins. There are no time bonuses in this year's Tour de France, and while rare, it is entirely possible to win the General Classification and not take an individual stage victory.
After a race, riders eat lots of carbohydrates and proteins. They all eat the same thing: pasta, rice, omelets, toast.
Certain limits are imposed by the international regulations when choosing the routes for the Tour de France. The total mileage of the Tour cannot exceed 3,500 km, spread over 21 days of racing (2 days of rest compulsory), during which the distance of 225 km cannot be exceeded more than twice.
Started in 1930, a parade, known as the publicity caravan, precedes the Tour de France. It includes 180 decorated vehicles, 600 caravanists and 40 brands represented.
More than 16 million gifts are given away during the 45-minute publicity caravan.
More than 130,000 calories will be burned by a rider in the Tour de France.
The Tour de France staff chooses the routes for the Tour de France. For this 2009's Tour, 252 towns applied to host a stage of the Tour de France. Each town's geographic location and its road conditions, road widths and ability to optimally host entertainment and riders safely is heavily scrutinized.
Greg Lamond had the fastest individual time trial at 54.545 kph over 24.5km in 1989.
In 1999, Lance Armstrong posted the fastest average time over the entire Tour at 40.276 kph.
In 1995, Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli died in a crash, becoming the third fatality in the Tour de France history. The other accidents occurred in 1935 and 1967.
Since 1903, the Tour de France has been held every year except from 1915 to 1918 during WWI and from 1940 through 1946 during and after WWII.
There are 180 cyclists competing in the Tour de France. Each competitor in the Tour belongs to a nine-member team. Each team has a leader, who is its best all-around cyclist. Other team members, called domestiques, help the leader by shielding the leader from wind, provide food or drink or offer support to the leader while climbing hills.
Another great site to gain a lot of insight and history of the Tour de France is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France. Yes, I know Wikipedia is not the most reliant site, but I still feel that this article covers a lot of useful information.
The Tour de France does run through the entire country of France. It covers 3,500 km, or 2,200 miles for us Yanks, throughout France but doesn't circumnavigate the borders of the country.
There are 21 stages in the 2009 Tour de France, starting in Monaco and finishing in Paris on the Champs Élysées.
The Tour de France does not only run through France. It often has stages in other bordering countries. In 2009, the tour visited the Principality of Monaco, Spain, the Principality of Andorra and Switzerland. In 2010, the Tour will start in Rotterdam, a Dutch province of South Holland in the west of the Netherlands.
The Tour de France is not the first racing competitions. The first Tour de France was held in 1903, and the first ever bicycle race is thought to have been a 1,200-meter race held on the May 31 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris. It was won by Englishman James Moore who rode a wooden bicycle with iron tires.
Prior to 2009, Armstrong has participated in 11 Tours and won 7.
There are overall four different types of Jersey's that are awarded for different accomplishments:
- Yellow Jersey: General Classificaton Leader - which means that although each stage has a winner, the yellow jersey goes to the rider who has the fastest combined times in all of the stages.
- Green Jersey: Points Standings - awarded for sprint points at the end of each stage to the rider who is the leader of the points standings. Points are awarded to the fastest riders in each stage, and points vary depending on the terrain of the stage. More points are awarded for flat road racing stages and less for mountain stages.
- Red-Polka Dotted Jersey: Is called the King of the Mountains, and is awarded to the best climber.
- White Jersey: Young Rider Standings - awarded to the best rider under 25 years of age on January 1st of that year.
- Yellow Cap: Leaders of the Teams - is given to the riders of the team who is leading the team standings.
- Red Number: Fighting Spirit Standings or Combativity Award - is awarded to the rider who displays the most effort and sportsmanship or is considered the most aggressive and "attacking" rider.
Lance Armstrong is the only person to win the Tour de France seven times. The previous record was five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil.
France's Henri Cornet is the youngest Tour de France winner. He won in 1904 at age 19.
The oldest winner of the Tour de France is Firmin Lambot (Belgium), who won in 1922 at age 36.
Multi-day bicycle races, known as Tours from the French word for a "circuit", are decided by totaling the time riders take on the daily stages. It's a simple manner of adding up cumulative time from stage to stage. The rider with the lowest amount of time wins. There are no time bonuses in this year's Tour de France, and while rare, it is entirely possible to win the General Classification and not take an individual stage victory.
After a race, riders eat lots of carbohydrates and proteins. They all eat the same thing: pasta, rice, omelets, toast.
Certain limits are imposed by the international regulations when choosing the routes for the Tour de France. The total mileage of the Tour cannot exceed 3,500 km, spread over 21 days of racing (2 days of rest compulsory), during which the distance of 225 km cannot be exceeded more than twice.
Started in 1930, a parade, known as the publicity caravan, precedes the Tour de France. It includes 180 decorated vehicles, 600 caravanists and 40 brands represented.
More than 16 million gifts are given away during the 45-minute publicity caravan.
More than 130,000 calories will be burned by a rider in the Tour de France.
The Tour de France staff chooses the routes for the Tour de France. For this 2009's Tour, 252 towns applied to host a stage of the Tour de France. Each town's geographic location and its road conditions, road widths and ability to optimally host entertainment and riders safely is heavily scrutinized.
Greg Lamond had the fastest individual time trial at 54.545 kph over 24.5km in 1989.
In 1999, Lance Armstrong posted the fastest average time over the entire Tour at 40.276 kph.
In 1995, Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli died in a crash, becoming the third fatality in the Tour de France history. The other accidents occurred in 1935 and 1967.
Since 1903, the Tour de France has been held every year except from 1915 to 1918 during WWI and from 1940 through 1946 during and after WWII.
There are 180 cyclists competing in the Tour de France. Each competitor in the Tour belongs to a nine-member team. Each team has a leader, who is its best all-around cyclist. Other team members, called domestiques, help the leader by shielding the leader from wind, provide food or drink or offer support to the leader while climbing hills.
Another great site to gain a lot of insight and history of the Tour de France is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France. Yes, I know Wikipedia is not the most reliant site, but I still feel that this article covers a lot of useful information.
No comments:
Post a Comment