subject: Professional Cycling at its Best -- Tour De France [print this page] Professional Cycling at its Best -- Tour De France
If you are in France during the month of July and you are wondering about all the two-wheeling activity going on, don't worry, it's probably the Tour de France. The race continues for three weeks and attracts many cyclists from all over the world.
The race is divided into segments also known as stages. Each stage is day-long. The time taken to finish each stage is totaled to determine the winner at the end of race. The course of Tour de France is changed every year but it has always ended in Paris. The climax of the final stage has been in the direction of Champs-since 1975.
The world's most famous bicycle race Tour de France was started in 1903 by L'Auto newspaper. The editor of L'Auto Desgrane determined the course of first race, surrounding the perimeter of France, which will continue for five weeks. But he halved the distance when only sixteen riders entered and also used cash carrots to pull more competitors towards the race. This increased the number of competitors to sixty. The inaugural Tour de France was won by Frenchman Cesar Garin. These sixty riders pedaled about 1550 miles in nineteen days. Sometimes there were several days of rest between the racing days. This first race was finished by only 21 riders. Due to Tour de France the circulation of L' Auto was doubled. After several years L'Auto became L'Equipe. L'Equipe is the current daily sports newspaper of France. These Days, there are 200 cyclists. Each of them competes in teams consisting of nine members and the rider with least accumulated time wins.
The course of Tour de France changes every year but there are few things which are certain. Such as the complete length of the race cannot exceed 3500 KM. There are also limitations on the number of KM covered in each stage. The race includes two days of rest. It ends in Paris after running its impressively scenic course throughout France and bordering countries.
The rider having the lowest aggregate time at end of each stage wears a yellow jersey also known as "maillot jaune", riders having the most sprint points wears a green jersey also known as maillot vert and the king of mountains wears a polka dot jersey also called "maillot pois". They are also awarded with the Prix de la Combativite for their chutzpah.
Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive races from 1999 to 2005 and is known as the legend of Tour de France. The prize money given to the winner is about 750,000 US Dollars.
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