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The elephant in the room. Photograph: ERIC GAILLARD/REUTERS
Unfortunately in professional cycling generally, and in the Tour de France specifically, there is always a performance enhancing elephant in the room. I am talking of course about drugs! It seems these days that you can’t have a conversation about the Tour without someone scoffing arrogantly saying something like: “but you know they’re all on drugs”.
People who say such things are the intellectual equivalent of men and women whose understanding of the complexities of immigration can be boiled down to: “Stop the Boats!”
Personally I find it beneficial to avoid these people, but seeing as they are everywhere and these views are so common it would be worth investing a post on this issue. So let me make three general points here and then in a later post I will talk about Alberto Contador and that infamous contaminated steak!
Alberto Contador going to a random drug test. Photo: Reuters
1/ The Tour has probably the strictest most regular and most punitive policies around performance enhancing drugs! Every rider in the Tour is tested for banned substances prior to the race. Various cyclists are tested after every stage, according to a selection process determined before the race. Under current rules, at least 180 urine drug tests are given, including daily drug tests for the race leader and stage winner and six to eight cyclists selected at random throughout the field (though I imagine Alberto Contador will be about as ‘randomly selected’ as a guy at the airport wearing a turban).
Tour drug tests are administered in accordance with the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale and the French Federation of Cycling or Federation Françoise de Cyclisme. The Tour conducts banned substance testing under secure and strictly monitored conditions. A specially equipped caravan is established near the finish line of every stage to transport drug samples to a private location following the race. Drug test samples are then transported by private plane for analysis, and results are quickly reported to Tour officials.
The clearest example of this strict attitude towards drug cheating came in the 1998 Tour de France! There was widespread drug cheating and the French police literally busted into hotel rooms and team caravans to arrest riders and team officials who they knew to be using drugs! Cyclists and coaches and team doctors were put into prison cells and it caused a huge outrage in the international cycling community. Six teams left the Tour midway through in protest to the tactics of the French authorities; but since then the Tour has been a lot cleaner and the amount of drug cheating has dramatically dropped.
2/ Even though the Tour has been cleaner for over a decade, there still remain riders who think they need to take drugs to keep up with the peloton. Although the number of cheaters is incredibly small; each drug story is sensationalised by the mass media; each scandal is used to question the integrity of the Tour; and each disgraced cyclist is shown to be a model of all cyclists! This creates the false image that the Tour is simply full of drug cheats!
3/ Cheating exists in every sport, and doping exist in every endurance sport, denying that is just being silly, thus if you want to write off the Tour because of cheating then you are holding double standards. In fact the Tour has been strict on cheating since the very beginning! The winner of the second Tour de France was disqualified when the officials found out that he had been cheating… he took shortcuts and literally caught the train for some sections! It was a big scandal at the time, but the disqualification of the rider gave a precedent that has helped ensure the integrity of the Tour, an integrity that I believe still exists today!
I would like to end with this Nike commercial. It was made when Lance Armstrong was in the height of his career and was under heavy fire from the French press stating he was a drug cheat! Lance is still under constant accusation from various press and former team mates and so I think to finish with this video will sum up what I have been saying nicely. Enjoy
Well the Tour is well and truly underway – it is hard to believe it has been a whole year since Alberto ‘el pistolero’ Contador showed us what he and some ‘special steak’ can accomplish.
As we look forward to three weeks of the world’s toughest sporting event it is only right to ask this one important question:
Who do I want to win?
Alberto Contador (Associated Press)
Please take note that I am not asking another similar question: “who do I think will win?” That is not really a fun question to answer. Anyone who has seen Alberto Contador ride in the past few weeks, months and years will know that he is all but unbeatable. Providing he does not crash or suffers a chain derailment (like Andy did last year) he should cross the finish line to take out his fourth Tour title.
But again, that is not the question I want to ask. I want to ask who does Jeremy want to win.
So please bear with me while I indulge.
Initially I would have said Andy Schleck. Andy is essentially a younger version of Alberto Contador – except that he is less of a jerk. Andy is to Alberto what Alberto was to Lance Armstrong 5 years ago, that is, the next Tour champion in waiting. Andy is the only person in the peloton who can stick with Contador on heart breaking climbs. Throughout the Tour Andy will fight and fight in the Alps and Pyrenees, he will attack at the steepest points and pray for slippery rain so that he can have a chance to get away from Alberto. Unfortunately for Andy, Alberto is more machine than man and will not be shaken. Thus I don’t think I want Andy to win. Give it one or two more years and Andy will win 4 or 5 consecutive Tours, but this year I don’t want him to win.
Ivan Basso - Pretty in Pink - winning the 2010 Giro. Photograph: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
Maybe Ivan Basso should win? The vibrant Italian who has won two Giros (2010 and 2006). Ivan is a great cyclist to watch and is the quintessential Italian cyclist. They call him ‘Ivan the Terrible’ and he is one of the most strategic stage riders in the peloton, but of course we did say that he was the quintessential Italian cyclist – and that means that he has a chequered history with drugs *cough* Operation Puerto *cough* – and we don’t want someone like that to win something as special as the Tour.
What about the Englishman Mark Cavendish? The fast man on a bike (over short distances). Sure he is English but he has also won 15 Tour de France stages – an impressive effort. Now I know that he will never win the maillot jaune (he climbs like a sprinter) but still, he is a wonderful athlete to watch sprint!
Frank Schleck? Not even his parents want him to win, so neither do I.
What about ‘The Boss’ – Lance Armstrong? Well of course I would like Lance Armstrong to win, who wouldn’t? Lance is awesome, I have blogged more about Lance than I have my wife Jesus or Kevin Rudd. But unfortunately Lance is not riding in this Tour. Probably the right decision after his disappointing result last year.
Who who does that leave us with?
Cadel Lee Evans! My computer doesn’t even accept that Cadel is a real name. It has placed a red squiggle beneath it, fair enough, it is weird but so is Cadel. Often thought of as the winger of professional cycling – or worse, the eternal bridesmaid but never the bride. Both of these labels are not true. Rather Cadel is a true cycling champion. In the past 12 months he has won La Fleche Wallonne, Tirreno–Adriatico and Tour de Romandie. None of these are major races but they are all tough! Cadel was also the UCI Road Race world champion last year and came 5th overall in the Giro in 2010. So we know he has it in him to ride well. Cadel has often been plagued by issues and discord in his own team, but this year that will not be the case, Cadel has good men around him – and they will help him get on a podium in Paris.
Cadel Evans winning the Fleche Wallonne. Photo: © Bettini
Cadel indicated that there were three races that he wanted to demonstrate his form in – he won two of them (already mentioned) and came second in the third - Critérium du Dauphiné – so there is no reason why Cadel can’t get to the top spot on the podium in Paris.
Sure Alberto is unbeatable – but that doesn’t mean we can’t secretly hope that he suffers a horrific turn of food poisoning due to contaminated steak.
Sure Andy is a better climber – but that doesn’t mean we can’t secretly hope that Frank lets his jealousy and repressed childhood inadequacy issues force him to (again) sabotage Andy’s bike.
That would be sweet justice.
Go Cadel!
But of course here at Micaiah Sells Out we are always interested in what you have to say, so, who do you want to win?
Ok, so it has been a little while since I decided to take a break from blogging; and by ‘little while’ I mean 102 days or roughly 1/3 of a calendar year.
Anyway I am making a come back. I like come backs. Who doesn’t? We like comebacks to the point where we as a society tolerated three mighty ducks movies and a fourth version in animated form! We celebrated the comeback of tight jeans and denim jackets into popular fashion (that’s right yeah?) … and I don’t even know how many Rocky movies there are.. I’m guessing 6?
I am going to start blogging again on three things
1/ Cycling and more specifically the Tour de France
2/ Mental Health and other social issues
3/ Youtube gold, cool cartoons and anything else that gets my fancy.
So why don’t I start – not with a bang – but with a simple share of a video that I think is cool. I have started running regularly – working up the city to surf – so here is a cool running video.
Contador taking jersey while many in the crowd shouted their boos
Alberto Contador is a big fat jerk!
Yeah, that’s right, I said it!
You may be asking why?
Fair enough, let me tell you.
Cycling is a gentleman’s sport. It is about finding out who is the best cyclist. Who deserves to win, not who gets lucky on the day! It is about winning outright because you are the strongest, smartest and most skilful.
It is not about winning because of another rider’s bad luck. That is just poor form. And that is exactly what Alberto Contador did in tonight’s stage to win the yellow jersey.
This year’s tour is really all about two cyclists: Contador and Schleck. They are inseparable as they race each other with their legs and their minds. The two greatest cyclists in the world battling it out in the high mountains of the Pyrenees. The whole world watching, cheering loudly for the best man to win.
But then Contador had to go and break the cardinal rule of cycling:
“If you want to win the tour than you want to beat everyone outright, not take advantage of situations.”
Essentially the principal is saying that winning by exploiting another rider’s bad luck is hollow and shallow. Think about it, you are riding with the same group of people for a whole month, in extreme heat and torrential rain, up steep mountains and then down extremely dangerous descents, through 4 or 5 different countries! If you win because your competitor’s chain comes off his bike then you’re not really a better cyclist, just luckier!
Andy Schleck looks down at his chain. Contador (2nd from Left) exploits his bad fortune to secure the yellow jersey (Photo: AFP)
That is what happened tonight. Schleck attacked Contador and caught him by surprise, he opened up a few seconds, but then lady luck fly kicked him in the face. His chain fell off, grinding him to a holt.
What did Contador do? Did he slow down to allow Schleck to get back on his bike? No! He saw Schleck’s bad luck and he attacked! Speeding away while Schleck was left to deal with his mechanical issues.
I think Paul Sherwen has it right when he said that the move shows how nervous Contador is about Schleck, how worried he is about his form and strength!
And he is right to be worried; as soon as Schleck got his bike sorted he rode like lighting after Contador, fuelled by anger and frustration, blood and adrenaline surging through his body. He made Armstrong, Leipheimer, Vinokourov and a range of other top cyclists look like kids on BMX bikes as he flew straight past them with Contador in his sights. He closed the gap to 12 seconds at the top of the climb but then lost time on the descent as some other strong cyclists aided Contador.
At the end of the stage he had lost over 30 seconds to Contador, losing the yellow jersey and the much-needed time buffer for the penultimate time trial stage.
You may be saying: “so what, I’m sure all Tour winners do this, you got to be a bit dirty to win!” Well, you would be wrong! This is not the way that Lance Armstrong won his seven consecutive tour de France titles.
Jan Ullrich after his crash. Armstrong waited for him.
During Lance Armstrong’s peak only one man, Jan Ullrich, threatened him in a very similar way to Contador and Schleck. During the race Jan Ullrich had a crash (he literally flew off the side of the road and fell down a hill), up to that point him and Armstrong were incredibly close, if Armstrong wanted to seal up a race victory he could have done it there and then – just kept cycling and claim a good few minutes on Ullrich. But he didn’t, he slowed down and waited, allowing Ullrich to join him. Armstrong went on to win the Tour, but it wasn’t because he exploited Ullrich’s bad luck. Well two years later Armstrong had a nasty fall during one of the mountain stages. Ullrich was just 15 seconds behind him in the race for the overall leader, Ullrich could have taken advantage of the situation, but he didn’t. Later on he told the French press:
“If I would have won this race by taking advantage of someone’s bad luck, then the race was not worth winning.”
Or as another cyclist put it:
“There’s always been a predictable code of honor, when you ride with the same people for three weeks of a Tour or a whole season, it is a matter of respect. You don’t take advantage of someone’s bad luck.”
Amen! Here is a video of the incident:
Contador climbed the podium and was greeted by a wall of boos from the crowd, understandably so. You could see that it was hard for him to smile.
Schleck receiving the white jersey as the best young rider. the crowd were cheering for him! (photo: AFP)
After him, Schleck climbed the podium to claim the white ‘youth classification’ jersey. It was also hard for him to smile – he is full of anger.
I for one am eager to see where that anger takes him as they go deeper into the Pyrenees and climb the dreaded Tourmalet… twice! If you want to see some great cycling then make sure you tune in for the next two stages! No one knows how his race will pan out, but one thing is for sure, Contador has made a powerful enemy today in Andy Schleck!
Well, after a tumultuous week of cycling we have entered our first – well earned – rest day. Crashes, crashes and more crashes have been the staple of this weeks late night watching. Cyclists bearing flesh and blood through torn holes in their jerseys have been a common sight.
Frustration and anger have been boiling away with some harsh words being directed at the race organisers after the cobble stone chaos of stage 3, which saw the departure of Christian Vande Velde and Frank Schleck with injuries.
Photo: Fotoreporter Sirotti.
(Though on a side note, a SMH.com poll I found today has 2% of readers thinking that Frank Schleck will win the Tour!) Robbie McEwen got slapped in the face by lady luck when he crashed into a race official after the race had finished and last night saw Armstrong kicked in the groin by Ms Luck as his chances of winning the Tour slip away after a run of nasty crashes. Armstrong’s race director Johan Bruyneel tweeted this after the stage:
“johanbruyneel Bad day 4 us 2day. More bad luck 4 @lancearmstrong in 1 week than in the other 7 years all together… But we’ll stand up again and be back.”
And Armstrong, more upbeat that one would expect after a stage like that, tweeted this:
“lancearmstrong When it rains it pours I guess.. Today was not my day needless to say. Quite banged but gonna hang in here and enjoy my last 2 weeks.”
as well as this:
“lancearmstrong Congrats to @andy_schleck and @CadelOfficial. Great rides by both from what I hear!”
Crashes are just a part of professional road cycling and especially the Tour de France. But that doesn’t mean it is fun, in fact it’s not even fun for us at home watching from the cheap seats!
So I thought I would take it upon myself to cheer everyone up –cyclists and spectators alike – by sharing some good fun cycling humour! So kick back, have a laugh and enjoy this wonderful rest day.
This is an ad that has been showing on SBS during the coverage. The two cyclists are Contador and Schleck, the two favourites to win this year’s Tour.
Here is a great sed of ads for a bike on ebay. Thanks to a friend of mine at work for sending them to me! NOTE: You will probably have to click on it to see the full description, it is worth it!
Armstrong: battered and bruised (Photo: Getty)
It was a surreal experience watching the Tour slowly slip out of the Boss’ hands. After a horrific run of bad luck including crashes and bike failures, he just couldn’t match the strength and speed of the other race leaders including Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso and of course Australian Cadel Evans. His jersey was ripped and torn, blood was coming out of his elbows and knees as he rode across the line 12 minutes behind the other leaders.
Andy Schleck. Roar of victory (Source Action Images)
He is all but out of contention. But the great thing about Armstrong is that he never says die. He will continue to fight this with every fibre of his being until they reach Paris!
What is really strange is that Armstrong never crashed in the 7 years he dominated the Tour, but this year he has repeatedly crashed in numerous stages! Bad luck + old age.
The stand out performer tonight was from the stage winner Andy Schleck, who attacked in the last kilometre and left the other riders eating his dust. Schleck is in the white jersey for the best placed rider under 25 years of age and has the yellow clearly in his sights.
Which brings us to the good news.
Nay, the great news! Australian Cadel Evans has rode his way into the coveted yellow jersey. He started the stage as the best placed climber and all he needed to do was stay in the winners group. A feat he accomplished with apparent ease. His face betrayed no pain as he rode, while around him cyclists were grimacing from the anguish. He is now well placed with 20 seconds in front of Schleck and 1:01 in front of Contador.
Cadel Evans, the man in yellow (Source: Sunday Telegraph)
But will Evans be able to hold onto the jersey till Paris? He certainly is strong and experienced enough, but during the climb he was the only BMC cyclist in sight. Contador, Schleck and Basso all had at least one team mate who was able to help them out, Evans however, was all alone. Cadel Evans knows all too well from last year that no man is strong enough to win the tour by himself.
But for now Evans gets to enjoy the rest day in the knowledge that he is currently winning the world’s greatest race. And thousands of us get to go to bed before 2:30am and have a good night sleep!
Speaking of which, it is 2am and I have work in the morning! Good night
Photo: Anne-marie-ros
Well it has finally arrived, the greatest annual sporting event kicked off last night in style with a 8km individual time trial in Rotterdam. The crowd was still buzzing from their impressive comeback against Brazil in the world cup and they were in the mood to see some impressive cycling!
Well impressive cycling is what they saw!
Tony Martin, a German time trial champion was dancing on the pedals as he set the benchmark at 10 minutes and 10 seconds, a time that no rider could beat except for undeniable world time trial champion, Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara.
Fabian Cancellara - lightning in lycra!
They call Cancellara Spartacus and rightly so for he simply demolished the rest of the cyclists. Not only was he the only cyclist to beat Marin’s incredible time but he did it with more than 10 seconds in hand!
He is lighting in lycra!
Cancellara has won the prologue time trial four times in the Tour de France.
The other impressive rider on the day was ‘The Boss’ – no, not Bruce Springsteen, he is lame! I mean the big Texan Lance Armstrong, who rode a fantastic time trial to place 4th, 22 seconds behind Cancellara, beating his nemesis, arch-rival and mega jerk Alberto Contador. Contador is the clear favourite to wear yellow in Paris this year, but Armstrong has drawn first blood and shown that he is still someone to contend with! Contador is 6th, 27 seconds behind Cancellara and 5 seconds behind Armstrong.
Tonight the Tour will head to Brussels and will cover a testing 225km. It will be a long flat stage with a few small bumps along the way, Cancellara should be able to hold onto the yellow if his team rides well, supports him and close down any breakaways.
Expect lots of attacking tonight, lots of cyclists will be keen to get into jerseys early on for the glory, money and reputation! Should be an exciting stage.
In other news, my wife baked me this cake as a delicious surprise Tour celebration! Isn’t it fantastic!!
They call him ‘The Boss’ for a reason.
The Boss
And no, it is not because he is ‘boss’ in the 1980s adjective sense of the word, as in: “hey dude, wasn’t back to the future way boss!” “Totally, it was wicked rad! That Michael J Fox certainly has a very promising future as an accomplished actor!”
Boss!
“Yeah, and like the special effects of the lighting strike hitting the clock tower and transporting them back to the future… way Boss”
No no no, that is not why they call Lance Armstrong the Boss.
They called him the boss because for so long he was simply untouchable. He was strategically, tactically and physically above every other cyclist. During his reign he won 7 consecutive Tours with a whopping 22 individual stage wins before deciding to end his career and head on home to Texas to live the rest of his days campaigning for the Livestrong charity!
Unlike John Howard, Julio Iglesias and The Rocky Movies Lance Armstrong knew that it was best to quit while you were ahead.
But that was then, this is now.
It made international headlines when Armstrong announced that he would be returning to compete for an astonishing 8th Tour de France victory, could he actually do it? “He is so old! He is so out of shape! He hasn’t raced in years! Why is he doing this?”
The cycling world had their doubts.
Those doubts, however, were answered when he stood on the podium in Paris, securing a very, very impressive third place behind Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. No, it wasn’t first place, but it was amazing all things considered. He had only been preparing for 6 months and he was riding in a team where his team leader hated him.
Now fast forward 11 months.
“He is so old! He is so out of shape! He hasn’t done well in the last few races” The cycling world has their doubts. He is older than what he was last year, but he is also fitter, stronger and has a much better team around him.
This year he has paid big bucks to get the best cyclists in the world to cycle their hearts out with the sole aim of getting Armstrong to Paris in yellow. These shiny Lieutenants include Andreas Kloden, Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popyvich and Gregory Rast – all cycling champions in their own right! With so many talented riders under the strategic guidance of Armstrong and the experience of Coach Johan Bruyneel, you would be a fool to dismiss his chances this year!
Of course if you were watching last year’s Tour you would have seen the strength gap between Contador and Armstrong as they climbed mountains. Armstrong just does not have the legs that Contador does, he simply can’t rely on brute force and an inhuman ability to cope with pain. This year, if Armstrong is going to win, he is going to need to out smart, out play and out last Contador. He will need to be a survivor!
Photo: Shaw/Getty
But the beauty of the Tour is that brute strength isn’t the only variable at play. Armstrong is still the most strategic thinker in the peloton and will use that to his advantage. But can he win?
Well, he has said that this year will be his last attempt so he will be hungry for it, and with a new team and 18 months of racing since he came out of retirement he is in a much stronger position to reclaim his title as ‘The Boss’*
* Lance Armstrong also has a few other nickanmes including “The Texan, Mellow Yellow and recently ‘The one testicled bandit!’
It is now time for a regular(ish) segment here at Micaiah Sells Out called:
“4 Quick Questions and 1 Strange One with…”
Well it has been a while but I thought it would be good to get these back on the agenda and what better way to get back into it than with an interview with Ryan Smartt. Ryan spends his days as a teacher and is Head of Christian Studies at my old high school. About six years ago he married my sister Fiona and I finally had a brother! Ryan loves running, goes to CCIW in Ashfield, regularly eats handmade dumplings, is colour blind, writes his own bio blurbs and had recently started a terrific blog about youth and schools ministry at A Light on A Hill.
Ryan Smartt
1. So, Ryan, You’re a teacher at a school in the East of Sydney. Tell us a bit about your job.
In a nutshell I teach high school boys about Jesus.
As Head of Christian Studies I lead a team of Chaplains and other Christian Studies teachers in developing curriculum and teaching classes in a way that tries to communicate the gospel with as much clarity, engagement and relevance as possible.
There are other bits and pieces that I do as well, such as teach a year 12 Geography class, and co-ordinate and teach the Studies of Religion HSC subject. I also look after the community service of the school and see that as a real opportunity to get boys serving and seeing Christianity in action.
I also coach a rugby team that has fluctuating results. One week we won by 50 points, the next week we lost by 50 points.
2. What are the best things about your job?
I love so many things about my job and I find it incredibly rewarding Specifically there are five reasons I really enjoy coming to work each day:
i) COUNTLESS OPPORTUNITIES: The best thing about the job would have to be the constant opportunities to read the Bible with students and be a witness in a community. Answering boys’ questions about life and God is a constant challenge and real joy.
ii) FABULOUS TEAM: I work within a team of committed and like-minded colleagues and I am daily humbled by their wisdom, skills and love for the boys. They are a real encouragement as is the support we receive to conduct Christian ministry from the school council and executive of the school.
iii) STRATEGIC: 70% of all Christians make a decision to follow Jesus before the age of 20 (National Church Life Survey 2001). Ministry in schools is incredibly strategic and important!
iv) FAR REACHING: I really believe the Christian Studies faculty can be a light not just to the school, but also to the local area. My prayer is that through this ministry many will come to Christ and that students will continuously flow into local youth groups and play a key role in strengthening the witness of many churches and ministries. You can read more about this vision here
v) GOING SOMEWHERE: My position is new and is part of the school investing more resources and staff in chaplaincy and Christian studies. The team has grown from two chaplains in 2008 to a team of five in 2010 that includes chaplains, Christian studies teachers and youthworkers. This year we are teaching Year 11 Christian Studies for the first time ever and next year will extend that to include Year 12. It is exciting to be a part of this growth and development that I pray will bear much fruit for God’s glory.
3. What are some of the challenges?
The school I’m at is a very very busy place. Sometimes the pace of things can take its toll. More significantly, the spiritual ambivalence and hard-heartedness of some of the students can be really frustrating. Some of them believe in cheap grace. That is, if they generally do good things they are saved. If they stuff up occasionally, that is ok, because God needs to forgive them. There is no real fruit of their faith and they don’t see this as a problem. May God soften their hearts!
4. You’re a big cycling fan. What is your prediction for this years Tour?
My heart says go the Aussies! Cadel to dominate.
But my head says he doesn’t have much of a chance. I can’t see anyone apart from Contador or Armstrong getting the glory in Paris.
5. What is the best trick/excuse a kid has ever tried to pull on you to get out of something or get out of trouble?
“I was stuck on my island resort in Fiji due to a cyclone!” Rich kids – got to love them!
The Tour de France is without a doubt the world’s greatest sporting event but for all its glory it would be easy to say that it is also a monumental inconsequential undertaking: 190 odd men on bikes intentionally putting themselves through extremes of pain, heat, cold, mountains, crashes and spectators.
And to an extent it is a contest in pointless suffering! But to leave it at this would fail to recognise the Tour for what it truly is. The Tour is a potent cocktail of brute strength, tactics, beautiful scenery, chivalry, teamwork, endurance and, yes, a ridiculous amount of pain that punishes you all day every day for a whole month! Australians however are widely uneducated in the Tour and so constantly miss important subtleties. It is very similar to the way that American’s (such as Jed Bartlett) don’t like 5 day Test matches in Cricket, they don’t understand the subtleties and therefore can’t appreciate the sport fro all it is! It’s the same with Australian’s and the Tour!
Now I am not a Tour expert by any stretch, but I have come to understand more and more of the complexities of the Tour and I thought that I would try to communicate these to you in the hope that you will come to appreciate and therefore enjoy the Tour (and thus I could have more people to have Tour talk with). Well, what better place to start understanding the Tour than to look at its history!
The route of the First Tour.
Each stage was around 400km long and only a third of the cyclists finished. The first Tour started in 1903 as the result of a Newspaper publicity stunt. Before the invention of SBS if you wanted to follow a sporting event you would read the newspaper, thus L’Auto magazine invented the race to increase sales. The first few tours were long, very long. Often a single stage woulld take 35 hours to complete and it wasn’t uncommon for riders to get completely lost and ride for hours in the wrong direction! Of the 60 riders who started only 21 finished! But right from the beginning the race captivated the nation – that year 100,000 people lined the streets into Paris to watch the final stage.
Now these early years were pretty dodgy and there was a fair bit of ‘creative cycling’, for example riders would frequently throw tacks and broken glass onto the road behind them to try and pop another rider’s tyre. A big problem in those days as you had to do all bike repairs yourself! There were no team cars or support vehicles, so if you broke down you had to carry your bike to the nearest town – which could take you several hours! The bikes themselves only had two gears and riders used their feet as brakes! When brakes were invented in 1910 the Tour started going through the Swiss Alps, which in those days meant that riders were in real danger of wild animal attacks!
Yes, that’s right, wild animal attacks!!
I personally can’t think of a worse form of death than being 1 km from the summit of a massive mountain climb in the Alps only to be eaten by a wild animal! I mean, I know Stuart O’Grady was stung twice by bees in the 2008 tour, but wild animal attacks is a whole new level.
Over the years a lot of the rules have changed (for example each team now have mechanics and support cars that go with them) and the course has changed – its now longer, but you do it over more days; It is also much more of a team sport now. The technology has also changed dramatically; the bikes these guys ride are more advanced and more expensive than your car… it can probably go faster too! But the essentials of the race remain unchanged: who can best endure the continual suffering, hardship and pain, and still find the strength to keep going! Even to this day, for most riders, the aim is not to win, it’s simply to make Paris.
Well that is a very very brief history. I hope to post in the future about specific riders who dominated at different stages of the Tour’s long history, riders like five time winners Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain and of course 7 time Tour winner Lance Armstrong (will he get his 8th win this year?). But for now this will do as a bit of introductory history.
This article first appeared in August 2009 in the Beginners guide to the Tour series
