26/08/20 at 14:08pm
In 2020 Nice will host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, thus becoming the world capital of cycling.
Here you can find some interesting facts about this famous event.
- Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Eddie Merckx hold the Tour record, each winning 5 times in the general classification
- The Tour de France is more popular than the American Super Bowl and the Summer Olympics.
- In 1929, there were only 10 finishers, the least of all time.
- In the early years of the tour de France, there were 14 rest days instead of two. Stages often ran into the night and cyclists needed he following day to recover.
- The first winner was Maurice Garin. He won again in 1904, but was later disqualified for cheating. Garin was caught taking a train to victory in the Alps.
- The average cyclist will burn 123,900 calories the entire race.
- The fastest average speed of a Tour de France was 25.7 mph, set in 2005.
- During the three week challenge, the combined riders can wear a total of 792 tires.
- Until the 1960s, it was common for participants to drink alcohol during the race to numb the pain. Alcohol consumption was soon banned because it was considered a stimulant. In the 1920s riders would often share cigarettes while driving. It was believed to help “open the lungs”.
- The nickname for the Tour de France is La Grande Boucle, which means the “big loop”, and refers to the route taken around France.