Tour De France Infographic
21 July 2015
TOUR DE FRANCE
KEY DATES
1903. The first-ever tour. Contested by 60 men but only 21 finished. Riders started during the night.
1919. Lowest number of finishers. Only 10 riders finished the tour which is the lowest of all time.
1926. The longest tour in history. The tour stretched for a whopping 3,570 miles and was won by Lucien Buysse.
1954. 1st Time the tour started abroad. The race began In Amsterdam in Holland and has since started abroad 21 times..
1978. Tour leader kicked out in doping scandal Michael Pollentier is caught with a bulb of urine taped to his armpit so he could give a clean sample.
1989. Most tightly contested race ever. Greg LeMond beat rival Laurent Fignon by just 8 seconds. The smallest winning margin in the history of the tour.
1992. The tour visits multiple countries. To celebrate the birth of the EU the tour visited Spain, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Luxembourg, and Italy.
1955. 5 in a row Miguel Indurain becomes the first man to ever win the tour 5 times in a row.
2012. The 1st British Winner! Sir Bradley Wiggins becomes the first Brit to ever win the Tour De France.
2013 The 100th Tour!! Due to stoppages for the 2 Great Wars. In 2013 the tour celebrated its 100th race. The race concluded with a ceremonial stage on the Champ Elysees.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE BIKES DURING THE TOUR
1914 - Introduction of drop handlebars Lower sitting handlebars allowed Belgian star Leon Scieur to pedal to victory.
1930- Introduction of the derailleur. For the 1st time bikes had a gear system. Before cyclists had to get off their bikes and flip the wheel around to change gear!
1947 - One of the 1st riders in a helmet. Jean Robic won the tour whilst wearing a helmet after fracturing his skull in 1944.
1994 - The last time a steel bike frame won Miguel Indurain won on a steel Pinarello weighing 19.8 lb.
1998 - The last bike noncarbon fibre winner Marco Pantani won on a custom-built aluminium Bianchi.
2003 - Lightest bike to win. Lance Armstrong rode the lightest ever bike to be used in the tour weighing in at 14.5 lbs. He's since been stripped of his title.
2007 - First winner with a sloping top tube. Based on a mountain bike, Alberto Contador was the first man to win the tour with a sloping top tube.
2011 - First winner with electronic shifting Cadel Evan was the 1st man to win the tour using electronic gear shifting made by Shimano.
Fun Facts
220 Big Macs. The average cyclist will burn 4,000 5,000 calories per stage which is around 123,900 across the entire race. The equivalent of eating 220 Big Macs!
39 Times. Throughout the tour, riders will sweat enough to flush a toilet 39 times.
96 DAYS. Eddy Merckx holds the record for the most continuous days in the yellow jersey at 96. He wore the yellow jersey between 1969 and 1975.
5 WINS. Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain, have won the most tours with five each. Indurain is the only man to win five consecutive tours.
THE JERSEYS EXPLAINED
Yellow Jersey. Introduced in 1919 the Yellow Jersey is always worn by the leader of the general classification.
Green Jersey. Introduced in 1953 the Green jersey is always worn by the rider who accumulates the most points. Points are awarded to high-placed finishes in stages.
Polkadot Jersey. Introduced in 1975 the Polkadot jersey is always worn by the king of the mountains. Points are awarded to cyclists who reach the top of a mountain stage first.
White Jersey. Introduced in 1975 the white jersey is always worn by the young rider (under 25) who is placed highest in the general classification.
REFERENCES
http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2015/img/map_route.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_classification_in_the_Tour_de_France
http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/us/history/
http://felixwong.com/2010/11/tour-de-france-bicycles-historical-bike-weights/
http://gizmodo.com/100-years-of-tour-de-france-bikes-map-the-evolution-of-709973821
http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/23-fun-facts-you-didn-t-know-about-the-tour-de-france