The Tour De France is a spectacle in itself. Cycling is not a sport which lends itself to television viewing. It is only the hardcore enthusiasts or bored channel hopping couch potatoes who will give it a view.
There are many more races that are probably the ultra races, like the Paris Roubaix ( read more about it here),The Cape Epic, the Mallorca 312 , but the Tour De France has a charm of it's own.
Having watched the Tour De France live for more than 15 years now, I am sure that the I am not in any of the above groups who watch cycling. Amongst all the cycling events the Tour De France is the one I love to watch the most. It is the photographic allure of the route that holds me to it. The commentary adds to the flow of it and it is often a great watch.
However, do not believe that it is all about camera and commentary. The cyclists are what makes the sport a great one. The Tour De France is easily one of the toughest sport events in the world.
Welcome to the charm of the Le Tour.
It has been around since 1903 and has never had a dull year. The communes, the vineyards, the snaking countryside roads, the killing climbs and the treacherous descents, have been for more than 120 years watching legends being created by sheer human effort and reputations sullied by doping scandals.
Let me take you to a race in the Tour De France 2022. One of the many races which encapsulates the sweat, charm, and the thrill that the Tour is all about.
It is the stage 10 of the 2022 event. The Tour De France is in South Eastern France for this stage. The stage is all of 148 kms and it starts from Morzine, a picturesque little commune along a river gorge. The cyclists then have to descend and climb three mountains before a steep climb takes them to the finish at Megreve , home to one of the most famous and affluent ski resorts in the world.
It is just about riding across a few unassuming mountains you would think. Just three mountains to climb before the finish line at the top of the fourth. It is back breaking stuff, by every stretch of imagination, a super human task.
Pause a bit, run these numbers through your mind and imagine what it takes to do it, and do remember they do it for more than 20 days across various stages during the Le Tour.
The teams set off from Morzine with a benevolent sun playing lightly on the course. It would seem like a moisture sucking monster after a few hours on the road. For the first 60 odd km’s the cyclists kept pace with the team members protecting their leaders by taking turns in leading the group thus reducing the effect of wind on the star cyclists.
As the race settled into a rhythm, the jostling for positions began. A group of about 25 broke and drew away from the main peloton (the main group of cyclists...in French it means a small ball). With about 100 km’s done, Italian Albert Bettiol launched an attack and was a minute and a half ahead of the group. As the leading groups descended the third mountain, the field scattered further. Bettiol still lead and kept pushing, however with about 10 km’s to go and as the final steep climb to the summit finish began, he was caught by a chasing group of 10 riders.
The last stretch : the Tour de France comes alive
The climb was getting tougher , and the men responded in their own ways, some gave up and slowed down, some attacked aggressively for the final push. 6 kms to go and another attacking sprint from the Spaniard Luis Sanchez sent him into lead. The mountain slopes were witnessing a mad sprint. Leads got exchanged, taken, lost and all in a blinding flurry.
Into the last kilometer after 147 km’s of racing, with the summit in view, it was now more about the the mind than the body.
With 250 meters to go, Sánchez started his sprint but he was passed by Schultz and Magnus Cort. They went on hunched, off their seats , drawing the last ounce of energy from deep within and sending it into those frozen legs. As they pushed the cycles seem to wobble and then it finished….. Cort in pink below, a few inches ahead.
It was exciting to watch all the way , 148 kms, including the snaking and painful mountain climbs in about 3 hours and 18 minutes and almost nothing separating the first two. ( that is an average of around 45 km/s, it’s a bicycle remember!!!)
It looks all great on the screen but the camera does little justice to what these athletes do….
It is a great watch have a go....