le tour

I don't enjoy watching sport on TV, but for some reason I love watching Le Tour de France. Perhaps it's because I fancy myself as a bit of a cyclist. I'm not sure why this is since I've only ridden in one real ride. It was quite a long one (London to Paris), but still, I only spent two months on the bike training for it and I haven't really ridden since (it was two years ago). So what is it about Le Tour that draws me in? My husband's and father-in-law's passion for the sport is definitely part of it, but I think it's mostly my absolute awe of the cyclists. The Tour must be one of, if not, the hardest sporting events around. This year's Tour is 3,497 km long and consists of 20 stages (9 of them are in the mountains). The cyclists ride an average of 175 km a day and last year's winner of the Maillot Jaune, Cadel Evans, had an average speed of 39.8 km/hr. How anyone cycles that fast for that long is beyond me. I love the strategy, the teamwork, the sheer grit and determination of the cyclists, and of course the drama (the crashes! the head butting and shoulder barging! the crazy spectators! the drug scandals!). The beautiful French scenery doesn't hurt either. This year British cyclist Bradley Wiggins is a favourite to win. I'm a fan of his team mate, Mark Cavendish, so this year's Tour has been especially exciting to watch. We keep saying we should go to France to watch the Tour in person. Maybe next year... 

(All photos via Google images)