Tour de France
(Laurent Cipriani/AP)
It's 1:30am and the middle of July, i'm sitting at my desk looking towards my computer screen, this can only mean one thing, it's Tour de France time.
The TdF, an annual bike race held in and around France, has been running since 1903, with it's 98th edition being held this year.
There is a lot going on in this race, it is merely not just cyclists individually trying to get to the finish line each day as fast as possible. It is a complex system of teams and tactics, extreme athleticism, cutting edge bike design and so much more.
Competing in the TdF demands an insane level of training. Riding 3600km over three weeks takes a massive toll on the system. So far we are two thirds of the way through the race, of the 3 weeks riding they only have two days off.
The shot of the leg to the right shows the results of riding the TdF for many years and the stress your body is under. It looks like some kind of alien worm inside the leg but it's concentrated varicose veins (veins with abnormal collection of blood).
I started watching the TdF from start to finish last year and have really been enjoying it, learning more and more about it each stage. It runs from 10pm till early morning 1am - 2am. It's impossible to stay up every single night with just 5-6 hours sleep so there are times where I just can't help but fall asleep.
There are many things I love about the tour:
- Intense competition between the riders and teams of each stage, seeing them react to wins and losses.
- The scenery of France, beautiful villages, towns and farms with fields of flowers, churches and chateaus.
- Learning the history of each region and towns along the way, including race history.
- Spectator enthusiasm, dressing up, creating enormous representations of bikes using things like hay bales in the fields.
- Climbing the Pyrenees and the Alps, tough climbs that are hard to fathom how steep they really are unless you are there in person.
- Behind the scenes and logistics, seeing what technology is used to bring the race to the viewing public, from multiple helicopters and planes, many cameras, motorbikes, cars and buses.
- Listening to the legendary commentary of Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett every night.
- Stunning photos from many amazing photographers covering the entire race.
The race is complicated and I still have much to learn, but from all the things listed above and just being a spectator in general it's pretty exciting.
One of the coolest things of this years race is SBS's improved coverage, this year they bring an awesome race tracker that you can view online. It has a live video stream of every stage, positions and times of all the riders, average speeds, text commentary, map and GPS positioning. Very impressive stuff.
One day I hope to visit France again, this time for the Tour de France, travelling with the race and experiencing all the different locations.
Photos and descriptions taken from The Atlantic - In Focus and Boston.com - The Big Picture.