Making it to Paris is for every rider, from the maillot jaune to the lanterne rouge, an emotional experience that transcends racing
The Tour de France is big, really big. That’s the first thing that hits you, 4,500 people working on it, and only 176 of those are riding. There is no other bike race that even comes close to this scale. Yes, there are two other Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España, yet they are family affairs in comparison.
The nature of the course doesn’t vary massively: it’s approximately 3,500km long, made up of 21 stages, mixing from flat transitional days to battles of epic proportions over some of the highest mountain passes in Europe. The rider with the least accumulated time over the 21 stages wins the overall and the coveted yellow jersey, of course, but winning only one of those stages can be career defining.
Related: Tour de France 2019: full team-by-team guide
Continue reading...