Last summer I fell in love with the Tour De France while watching the text broadcast online. This summer I’m watching again, and with the tour about half over I’ve decided to explain why I have fallen in love with the race.

Lance I might as well admit it. Although I do remember reading about Greg LeMond when I was 10, Lance is what got me interested this time around. The man was given less than a 10% chance of surviving cancer. Not only did he survive, he’s currently setting some of the toughest endurance records known to man. He is an inspiration not just to athletes or cancer victims, but to all of humanity. How can you not root for this guy.
Toughness Soccer players like to constantly remind baseball players that they play soccer in any weather – rain and snow be damned. They have nothing on the Tour. The riders ride for a month straight without rest. For 5-6 hours a day they are in constant motion, unable to stop even for a bathroom break. They ride through anything – rain, snow, and 100* heat. Every possible obstacle in consideed “in play”. If a train goes accross the road and half the people have to stop and wait for it, then that’s just their tough luck. Riders have had to content with trains, herd of cattle, and the occasional marauding fan. Somehow, they always tough it out. Last year Tyler Hamilton broke his collar bone and still finished fourth overall.
Weakness The Tour De France is cycling’s premier event. One does not make it into the race at all without being amongst the best cyclists in the world. We are constantly reminded that even the lowliest bench player in the major leagues is stil in the top .01% of players worldwide, and the same is true for the cyclists in the Tour. The race started with 188 racers, and with the race half over and the hard part yet to begin, 19 people have already been forced to drop out. Imagine that: this race is so hard that even the best .01% of the riders in the world can’t finish it. Imagine if the New Engliand Patriots came out of the locker room after half time at the super bowl to find out that 6 of their players had been forced to quit because the game was too hard. It just makes the winners that much more amazing.
Individual or team sport? Cycling is unique in that it is neither a team nor an in individual sport exclusively. Each rider is on a team, yet is also out for individual glory. Teammates protect each other, ride together for the team time trials (which was won by US Postal), and usually look out for each other’s interests – unless of course two of them are competing for a stage victory. There is also another issue – riding behind another person is easier due to lessened wind resistance. In last years tour there was a stage where 7 riders broke from the main group to try and win. They cooperated for some time, but a few miles from the end they got in trouble. 2 of them kept cooperating by alternating turns riding in front to take the wind. The other 5 had an argument over who should ride in front. Ultimately the group of 2 was well ahead of everyone else. A short distance from the finsih line the two riders stood up on their bikes, shook hands, and sprinted for the finish line.
A thinking mans game Baseball is called a thinking man’s game, but that’s only because the fans like sit around and memorize endless lists of statistics and htink about the game all the time. Bicycling on the other hand requires the athletes to think. If a rider breaks from the group too soon in a stage they will be too tired by the end to maintain their pace. Break too late and there is no advantage ot be gained. If another rider breaks from the group, then each team (especially the ones in the front) must decide wether it is worth the time and effort to try and speed up the whole group and chase down the breakaway rider or riders. This is largely dependent on who the riders are and how much of a threat to the team’s goal they are viewed as. In a breakway (called an attack), the attacking riders must decide how long to work together and when to pursue individual glory.
The French The French invented it. The French take great pride in it. The French fans love to watch it in droves. It’s being dominated by Germans and Americans. What other irony do you want?

Now keep your eye on the tour this weekend folks. Lance may be 9 minutes back but none of his major competitors are in front of him. Friday and Saturday are the first two stages in the pyrenees mountains and will serve to seperate the men from the boys. They also both finish on the peaks of mountains (at altitude), so the good climbers will really have an advantage.

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