The Tour de France is the annual cycling race that has remained popular for over 100 years. What Wimbledon is to tennis, the Tour de France is to cycling; the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España along with the Tour de France make up the cycling Grand Tours. The Tour de France is the oldest and considered the most prestigious.
The first edition of the race was held in 1903 and, except for stoppages during the two world wars, the race has been practically uninterrupted. Its popularity and reach have spread globally since those early days and many cyclists from all over the world now compete in the race. The race is traditionally held in the month of July and is primarily in France, although the race detours through nearby countries that are linked by the mountain ranges of the Pyrenees and the Alps. It ends on the Champs Elysées in Paris.
career characteristics
This prestigious race is a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) event comprising teams that compete on a professional basis. Twenty-two teams with nine riders each compete in the event. It requires vast amounts of dedication and concentration and the highest levels of endurance and fitness.
The modern version of this multi-stage cycle race consists of 21 one-day stages spread over a period of 23 days, covering a distance of 3,200 kilometres, which is approximately 2,000 miles. Each of the stages is timed for a final distance each day and riders are added based on points; the winner of each stage receives the ‘yellow jersey’.
career origins
The roots of this prestigious career can be traced back to the controversial ‘Dreyfus Affair’, the conviction, albeit wrong, of a French soldier Alfred Dreyfus for selling military secrets to the Germans. Such “absurd political spree”, as it was called, received wide press attention in France through its sports daily, Le Velo, which had the largest circulation at the time. Le Velo editor Pierre Giffard believed that Dreyfus was innocent and the victim of a conspiracy involving Comte Jules-Albert de Deon, a French count. This resulted in a bitter rivalry between the two and De Dion retaliated by opening a rival sports newspaper called L’Auto.
At an emergency meeting that hastily agreed to discuss strategies to compensate for declining circulation, Geo Lefevre, the L’Auto team’s young chief cycling journalist, suggested a six-day cycling competition at various locations across France. Cycling races were popular in France and newspapers found a large circulation among racing lovers, but nothing of the kind had been attempted before. If successful, it would set L’Auto on the path to fame and fortune.
The first race was announced on January 19, 1903; The rest, as they say, is history.
Tour de France and doping
Doping scandals have rocked the world of sport in the recent past with many disciplines involved and great athletes blacklisted. The Tour de France has been plagued by accusations involving cyclists since its first race, when riders admitted to consuming alcohol and ether to ease aches and pains. Over the years, the UCI and many governments around the world have enacted strict regulations to deal with doping. Before the advent of modern doping substances, athletes enhanced their performance using drugs such as aspirin, chloroform, cocaine, and strychnine. A British cyclist, Tom Simpson, died climbing Mont Ventoux in 1967 as a result of amphetamine use.
In 1992, the International Olympic Committee established the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Perhaps the most famous doping scandal to rock the Tour de France is that of Lance Armstrong, the American professional cyclist who won the race a record seven times between 1999 and 2005. He was indicted by the US Anti-Doping Agency. in 2012. of taking illegal substances to enhance performance; he later admitted to the charges against him. The iconic champion, whose amazing feat earned him millions of fans around the world, was stripped of all his championship titles. However, his fight against cancer and his indomitable spirit has been an inspiration to many.
