The Tour

What if the success of the Tour were only a matter of season? “The first edition, in 1903, was organized in July. Years later, founder Henri Desgrange recognized how fortunate they were to have set the race in summer, when so many of the French are on vacation,” says Samuel Abt, the legendary cycling specialist for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, with a humorous glint in his eye. “It is always so impressive to see these enormous crowds along the roads. Nowhere else will you see such hype.”

Indeed, every year some 10 to 15 million people pack the sides of French roads to watch the riders whizz past for a few seconds. Hundreds of millions follow the race on television, in almost every country of the planet. Over the years, the Tour de France has become the third most popular sports event, behind the soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games—a tremendous feat for a local competition, unmatched by any other cycling race. “It is the biggest cycling event by far, the one that attracts all the best teams and the best riders,” says Jean-Paul Brouchon, a famous French radio journalist who has covered 44 Tours and written several books about it. “Cycling might not be the most popular sport in the world, but the Tour de France is something different, the closest thing to a modern epic.”

Looking back on its history, the Tour does appear like a giant battle of men against the road, with its glorious heroes, its major struggles and its tireless efforts. “When the race was created, it was utterly monstrous,” says Brouchon. “The organizers were inspired by the six-day races, which were then popular throughout Europe and America. So they planned a course with lengthy stages, run overnight, on unpaved roads. The riders had to wear lanterns, and even bells to avoid being bitten by dogs!”

It got even worse when, a few years later, mountain stages were added. In 1910, for the first time the riders climbed the Tourmalet, an extremely steep pass in the Pyrenees. Arriving at the top covered in mud, on foot and pushing his bike, a rider name Octave Lapiz shouted at race officials: “Assassins, you are all assassins!” Since then, the Pyrenean giant Tourmalet pass has been included in the race more often than any other mountain, including this 2010 edition, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of that terrible first climb with not one but two separate stages of the race, two days apart.

Riding the Tour in its early years really was a true adventure, popularized by charismatic heroes and talented storytellers. “Without any television or even radio, the public could follow the Tour only through the newspaper articles of Henri Desgrange, to whom every stage was like the Iliad and the Odyssey,” explains Brouchon. “After him, many of the best journalists in France kept writing about the race, from Colette to Antoine Blondin or Jean d’Ormesson.”

The Tour was also a way to popularize and unify the country through a huge national event. “Even today, many people watch it on TV just for the landscapes,” adds Brouchon. “The last stage in Paris for example is quite extraordinary: one of the rare times viewers can see the capital from a helicopter. It is forbidden for any other civil event, except the Tour! That’s why it is such a great show, as well as a major sports event.”

But the Tour would be nothing without its heroes. More than anything else, it is the riders who have constructed their own legends, and the history of the Tour is filled with the small anecdotes and spectacular highlights of their careers. In 1913, a Frenchman named Eugène Christophe had to repair his own bike in a local forge, after being hit by a car. Roger Lapébie won the Tour in 1937 despite the sabotage of his handlebars. In 1964 rival riders Raymond Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil climbed the Puy-de-Dôme, a volcanic peak in the Auvergne, side-by-side. And in 1989, Greg LeMond snatched the victory from Laurent Fignon at the very last stage, a climactic time trial on the Champs-Elysées—winning by eight seconds.

It’s stories like those that have long made the success of the Tour, because they show the determination of the riders, but also their pain and suffering. In a recent article in the New York Times about the spectacular endurance of migratory birds in their long distance flights, science writer Carl Zimmer makes a comparison to “what might be the ultimate test of human endurance in sports, the Tour de France: Every day, bicyclists pedal up and down mountains for hours. In the process, they raise their metabolism to about five times their resting rate.” Several other studies have shown that riding in the Tour is like running a marathon every day for almost three weeks, during which you climb a vertical distance equal to three Mount Everests!

The 97th edition this year will be no less difficult for its courageous participants. Starting in Rotterdam and zigzagging briefly in the Netherlands and Belgium before heading through France to the Pyrenees and the Alps, this year’s course already looks pretty exciting. “On paper, the Pyrenees should be decisive,” says Sam Abt. “The arrival at the summit of the Tourmalet especially might make very big differences. But the riders will also have to be careful during the first week, when they ride over the same roads as the Paris-Roubaix race, with their famous pavés. Those could be very tricky for a few riders like Alberto Contador, who are small, thin and not accustomed to the cobblestone sectors. You can easily crash and lose all your hopes in such a stage. The last time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac should also be important in deciding who gets to the winners’ podium. But all in all, the Tour always remains unpredictable. You have to remember that it’s not the course, but the riders who make the race.”

 

Can Armstrong Win Again?

Record holder for the number of victories on the Tour, Lance Armstrong is back this year, hoping to win an eighth yellow jersey, just a year after finishing third behind Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. “It was a real surprise for everybody to see him come out of his retirement, three years after his last victory in Paris,” recalls Sam Abt. “He was determined to do well, and he rode a great race—although I’m sure he himself wasn’t satisfied at all. He wanted to win and this third place meant nothing to him.” Jean-Paul Brouchon seems less convinced by the comeback: “Armstrong only finished third last year because he was the boss of his team, and asked Contador not to attack too much. Otherwise, he would never have had a spot on the final podium.”

Both journalists agree that it might be even more difficult for him this year. “Remember that he’s getting really old now,” says Brouchon. “He will be almost 39 in July, and will have trouble competing with younger riders like Contador and Schleck.” A longtime follower of Armstrong’s exploits, Samuel Abt is also pessimistic about his chances. “I’d be very surprised if he does better than last year. He’s had a very bad spring, he’s been sick and missed a lot of days of training. I’m not sure he will have enough time to get back in the right shape.” Add to that the undocumented accusations made by his ex-team mate Floyd Landis on the systematic doping system by the old U.S. Postal team, and it’s understandable why Armstrong might not be among the natural favorites this year. But the man has already survived worse prognoses. And he will surely be one of the main attractions of the Tour 2010.

Originally published in the July 2010 issue of France Today