Boston, MA
I made sure I was in France in July when the Tour De France was happening in 2010 but was I able to go see the race in person? You will find out soon. But first what Tour De France means to me?
I first saw the prestigious annual cycling race "Tour De France" on TV in 2002 when I lived in Washington DC metro area. At first I saw bits and pieces of the race and read headlines here and there. The more I learned about the race the more I got hooked to the sport and I don't even own a bike to this day. The idea of cycling your way around the beautiful country side and unforgiving mountains of France in 3 weeks may not be everyone's cup of tea but it fascinated me. I was blown away by the live pictures of peloton(main pack of riders) gracefully gliding through the villages of France against the backdrop of bright yellow daisy fields and also aerial shots of castles and historic sites where the race passes through.
When I started following the race, a brash sensational young cycling star from Texas had already won his 3rd Tour De France race and was making big splashes across the world. His name as you may have guessed is Lance Armstrong - who was stricken by advanced-stage cancer almost given up for dead just a few years earlier. He not only beat the odds in surviving brain surgery but also fully recovered and went on to win an unprecedented 7 consecutive Tour De France races from 1999-2006. In the 100 plus years history of the race only one other American out of California, Greg LeMond won the race before.
The following summer I moved across the country to San Francisco for a job. Was in the middle of finding a place to live when I learned some bad news and some good news. Bad : I had to spend my entire salary to cover the apartment rent; Good : Lance had won another Tour De France race. My interest in the sport grew only stronger that led me to read everything I could find on the sport and learn all the intricacies, strategies, nuances of the race. By the time next race rolled around I was full-blown addict to the sport. When the itinerary was published for the next year I would obsessively study the course and I would plot the starts and finishes of each stage on google maps. I would get up early in the wee hours and watch the race live on TV only to show up for work bleary eyed. Few years later Lance Armstrong won his 7th race and by now it was evident to me that I had to go see the race live in person in France. Lance in the meantime went from a cancer-survivor to one of the greatest sporting heroes ever. He started "Livestrong" cancer foundation to raise money and gave hope to millions of cancer patients across the globe.
Finally let me give you some basic facts about the race. Simply called "Le Tour" in France the race usually kicks off annually around July 4th weekend and goes on for 3 weeks with 2 rest days.The race has 21 stages in total; logs in about 2,500 kilometers; the course changes each year; about 20 teams; about 200 riders participate. Each stage consists of anywhere from 40 kilometers to 250 kilometers and must be completed on the same day. The rider who has the best overall time after 21 stages is the winner of the race. Contrary to popular belief a champion rider does not race all by himself. He rides with a team of 8 other cyclists called "domistiques" who help him along the way. The members of a team are experts at different skills and assist their leader as needed in various stages of the race. For example: an expert in climbing the mountains would ride ahead in front of the team and sets the pace and the rest of the members form a barrier around the leader to protect him from crashes. When the team reaches 2/3rd of the stage the leader breaks out of the cocoon and dashes for the summit/finish. In my opinion champions are made during these mountain stages since they are so grueling to finish. Another myth around the race is Tour stays within the borders of France. Wrong - each year organizers run a stage or two in neighboring countries like Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain or sometimes even England in order to sustain the level of interest among fans. How do you know who the overall leader is at any given point in the race - simple - look for the rider who wears yellow jersey. The yellow jersey changes hands several times during the course of the race until it rests on the final winner. The winner of the race does not have to win all the stages and typically wins only about 3 or 4 stages out of 21. As per tradition the final stage is mere ceremonial and it also a celebration of the race itself; riders still compete for other awards though. The race comes to close when the peloton descends on the flanks of "Champs-Elysees(SHAWNZALEEZ)" in Paris and it culminates at "Arc de Triomphe" where an elated champion is crowned.
Did I go see the race? Please see my next story...
==Thank You==
PS: Most of the people know this already but for those very few that have not been following Lance there is surprising twist in his saga. You may not want to miss next story.
No comments:
Post a Comment