A prominent part of the Tour de France tradition is the “caravan”: a steady stream of vehicles from Tour sponsors that drives the entire course to vomit handfuls of promotional gifts to the eager fans. After several hours of waiting on the side of the road, it’s a welcome shot of energy. Plus, you get […]
Flat stages are a blur of motion and tire hum; mountain stages are slow enough to study each riders face; somewhere in between lies the last, largely ceremonial stage of the Tour de France as the remaining riders roll into Paris. No matter where you watch the Tour, it will always end before you want […]
If you are going to the Tour de France and want have time to see the riders faces as they defy the limits of the human body, go to a mountain stage. If you want to see little more than a Technicolor blur of brightly-colored Lycra and shaven legs, go to a flat stage. Today, […]
Let’s get one undeniable fact out of the way: watching 150 of the best cyclists – and one might argue the best athletes – in the world battle up the final climb of the three week, 3500 mile race known as the Tour de France, is exhausting work. It could have been the elevation. My […]