Le Tour
It's July which means that it's time for the Tour De France. I was going to post why I love watching the tour but to be honest, I'm not really sure. I quite enjoy going for a cycle myself but it's not as if I pay a great deal of attention to the sport of cycling at other times of the year.
Cycling is a very individual pursuit so by any normal rationale, watching a bunch of guys cycling round France shouldn't be that interesting. However that isn't the case and it's one of the world's great sporting events.
When I was younger, I'd barely heard of the Tour but then in the early 90's I started watching it for some reason. Channel 4 had the rights and showed highlight packages at dinner time. Perhaps there was nothing else on but for whatever reason I was hooked and have been ever since.
I have a lot of respect for those cyclists who compete in the Tour although the drug allegations do colour that a little. It can be difficult to know just how much is down to sheer power and force of will or whether it's drug assisted. If we assume that the riders are clean unless caught (a big assumption I know) then it's an impressive feat of endurance to spend 3 weeks cycling around France, doing hundreds of kilometres a day. It's certainly something I don't think I will ever be able to do even with the assistance of EPO.
The mountain stages are the best, not just for the stunning scenery. I know how hard it is to go up hills on a bike but the speed some of these guys go up steep gradients is nothing short of amazing especially when attacks are being launched. That's not to say the other stages are poor, they can be just as exciting with sprint finishes or breakaway groups.
I also quite like the Frenchness of the whole event. Quite often when watching sport in Britain, everything is shown from a British (or more accurately English) point of view. There is a slight element of this in the Tour when watching it but ultimately it's French and it always will be, makes the whole event sound more exciting. Would you rather have the Yellow Jersey or the Maillot Jaune? Last place or the Lantern Rouge?
Whatever the reasons, I love watching it and I'd recommend it to anyone. Go on, give it a chance. You know you want to......
2 comments:
Yeah - Just can't get it. I really don't understand the attraction. I mean all your doing is watching some blokes on bikes. Sure they are doing it for large distances but it's just blokes cycling bikes.
I can't understand watching it on TV and I can't undertand why people line the streets to watch a ton of cyclists pass them by.
The only two possible causes of excitment are the finish of each stage and the chance that somebody might wipe out and take several other cyclists out with them.
If paint drying had an exciting finish or for that matter had the chance of causing the walls to fall down, I'd have to say it would give the tour de France a run for it's money.
It's not just about watching blokes on bikes, the tactics employed by the teams can be fascinating.
I guess it depends on what you enjoy. I can't understand why people sit and watch cricket all day (apart from an opportunity to drink) but some people love it. It's the same with baseball, the match can go on for hours with little happening but there are millions of ardent fans in North America.
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