The Tour de France

[Storyteller.]

The Tour de France
By Brittany (.Brittany.)

The Tour de France is an annual bike race that attracts bikers from all over the world. The race covers approximately 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles), over the course of twenty-one days. For the past ninety-seven years the race has been held, but the course changes each year. Regardless of the course, though, it always ends in Paris. The race is broken down into day long stages, or segments. In the twenty-onedays of the race, there are usually two rest days. Usually those two days are used to transport racers from one end of a race to the beginning of the next. The races change between counterclockwise and clockwise circuits of France. The first counterclockwise circuit was held in 1913. The shortest tour was held in 1904, at only 2,420 kilometres (1,500 miles), and the longest race was in 1926, which was 5,745kilometres (3,570 miles).

The number of teams varies between 20-22, with nine riders on each. The Amaury Sport Organization sends invitations to the teams that have been chosen. The team members help each other, while managers and paramedics follow in cars.

The overall winner of the race, is determined by all the times totaled together. So even if you lose a few stages, you can still win, just like Greg LeMond did in 1990. The rider with the lowest time at the end of each race wears a yellow jersey. The youngest winner of the race was Henri Cornet, age nineteen, in 1904. Next youngest was Romain Maes, age twenty-one, in 1935. The oldest winner was Firmin Lambot, age thirty-six, in 1922. The next oldest were Henri Pelissier (1923) and Gino Bartali (1948), both age thirty-four. Gino Bartali the longest time span between titles, having earned his first and last Tour victories ten years apart (in 1938 and 1948). Riders from France have won most (36), followed by Belgium (18), Spain (12), United States (10), Italy (9), Luxembourg (4), Switzerland and the Netherlands (2 each) and Ireland, Denmark and Germany (1 each).

Stage Points

In the current rules, there are five types of stages: flat stages, intermediates stages, mountain stages, individual time trial stages and team time trial stages. Points are higher for flat stages, as sprints are more likely, and less for mountain stages, where climbers usually win. The green jersey (maillot vert) is awarded for sprint points. King of the mountains wear white jerseys with red dots (maillot a pois rouges). At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders who finish first, second, third, and so on.

The number of points awarded at the end of each stage vary depending on place. For more information visit http://www.letour.fr/