Tour de France can be described as the major cycle race from the universal point of view. Since 1903, it’s a 21-stage, 23-day bicycle road race generally run around >3500 Kilometers, 2200 mi. Route, that tends to vary every year, goes on with tracing a circuit round majority of regions of France, apart from passing in to the neighboring countries. This race is being broken in to stages, right from a town to the other. Every stage is considered to be a race individually. The time that is taken in completing each stage gets cumulatively added with respect to every rider, in order to have decided the out-and-out winner at last.
The other 2 tours
Along with Vuelta a Espana (Spanish tour) and Giro d’Italia (Italian Tour), Tour de France can be referred to as being one amongst the 3 main stage races. Even though the other 2 Grand Tours of Europe are reputable in Europe, they’re relatively unknown out of the continent. Not only that, UCI World Cycling Championship has been known only to the cycling enthusiasts so far. On the contrary, Tour de France has been a household name in terms of sports all over the world since long, even to the people not having any sort of interest in cycling.
Rules
As with majority of cycling races, the competitors here enter in the form of team. This race comprises of 20-22 teams containing 9 riders each. Conventionally, the entry is permitted through invitation. These invitations are usually granted to the finest professional teams. Recently, organizers have made use of UCI points, i.e. points based on team results/riders for determining as to which teams are to gain an automatic entry in to tour, along with typically reserving 2 to 4 slots for huge teams or the continental teams which aren’t able to participate in this tour based on team results on the individual basis. Every team, known by its sponsor’s name, has the tendency of putting on an exclusive jersey. Team members then help each other, along with having access to the car of shared team, i.e. one of the mobile versions of the pit crews in terms of car racing.
Tour de France, in the year 2008 ran between 5th and 27th of July. It had been won by a guy called ‘Carlos Sastre’, who belonged to team ‘CSC Saxo Bank’.
Time bonuses
Riders are generally awarded the time bonuses, along with the prize for having finished. It should, however, be noted that in the year 2008, organizers had time bonuses eliminated. Riders finishing in same group get awarded with same time. 2 riders are said to have finished in same group if there’s a distance of < length of bike in between them. The rider crashing in last 3 kilometers gets time of group wherein he should have ended, till finish line continues to be on the mountain.
Riders’ ranking through accumulated time can be called as ‘General Classification’. The winner is the one who has the shortest ‘accumulated time’ at the end of the last day.
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