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30 mini-curiosities of the Tour de France that you can not miss! Did you know….?
482 kilometers of stage, 100,000 calories in 21 days, three deaths, 3 red lanterns, a jellyfish bite, newspaper…
A few days ago I brought you the Tour de France guide. An indispensable prerequisite for all those fans who want to follow the round gala in detail with the route, the stages, the teams and the detailed analysis of the favorites.
Now it's time to savor 30 mini-curiosities of the most famous stages of the world.
You know what….?
-It is estimated that between all the teams are shared 40,000 drums of water and mineral salts.
-The first edition had 6 stages and one 405 kilometers average distance per stage!
-The word doping lands in the race in 1966 when the first controls appear and the runners went on strike to avoid submitting to them. Raymond Pouildor was the first runner to pass a control.
-The longest stage in history came in 1920 with 482 kilometers. The winner needs almost 20 hours to complete the course.
-The longest Tour in history was the one in 1926 with 5745 kilometers.
-It is estimated that a cyclist consumes a minimum 100,000 calories over the 21 days of competition.
-Marco Pantani holds the record in the climb to the legendary Alpe D'huez with a time of 37 minutes and 35 seconds at a chilling average of 23 kilometers per hour!
-Single ten cyclists managed to finish the test in 1919 in one of the hardest editions that are remembered.
-Burdeos is the second city the Tour de France has passed the longest.
-The organization awards a little more than 2 million euros in prizes. Nothing compared to what it distributes for example Roland Garros (37 million). How much money can be won in the Tour de France?
-Three cyclists have died in the race. Francisco Cepeda who had a collision going down the Galibier in 1935, the British Tom Simpson who died after taking amphetamines near the top of Mont Ventoux and the unfortunate Fabio Casartelli who in 1995 left one of the saddest images in the history of this sport. Adolphe Héliere also died during the race, but his death occurred during the rest day and apparently the result of the bite of a jellyfish.
-The yellow color of the jersey is due to the sports newspaper l'Auto that was the driver of the race in 1903 by the hand of its director Henri Desgrange. l'Auto is the predecessor of the current and famous French newspaper l'Equipe.
-San Sebastián welcomed the departure of the Tour in 1992 with a prologue in which Miguel Induráin prevailed.
-Sylvain Chavanel is the cyclist with the most participation in the Tour with a total of 19.
-Fabian Cancellara is the cyclist who has worn the most days in yellow without winning the race (29 days)
-Wim Vansevenant the only cyclist who has managed to be a red lantern (as the last one is known) in 3 editions... that were also consecutive!
-Greg Lemond won the tightest victory in history after beating Laurent Fignon by just 8 seconds
-The Tour has ALWAYS ended in Paris.
-It is calculated that throughout the entire race they are divided More than 8,000 bags of food (organization and volunteers included).
-The first prologue was disputed in 1967 and was organized with the idea that the spectators could meet the runners.
-The stages of the first editions were mainly nocturnal and urban!
-In the first edition a single cyclist participated with freewheeling system. The rest of the participants competed with fixed gear.
-The youngest winner is Henri Comet who in 1904 got the win with only 19 years.
- Those who climb on more than one occasion to the podium but never get the final victory are affectionately called "Poulidor" in reference to the great Raymond Poulidor who got 8 podiums but no victory.
-Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Jacques Anquetil are tied with 5 wins as the men with the most wins in the Tour de France after Lance Armstrong was deprived of his 7 tours of France for doping.
-The first Tour de France had 60 registered of which only were able to finish the race 21.
- The first stage against the clock was held in 1934. Its distance was 90 kilometers and the time spent by the winner was just over two and a half hours.
-Up to the middle of the last century the change of wheel was not allowed in case of puncture or breakdown.
-Bradley Wiggins is one of the five cyclists who after winning the Tour did not participate in it again.
-Eddy Merckx is the cyclist with the most stage triumphs (34).
- No one knows exactly who is attributed the first yellow jersey. Eugene Christope was according to the newspapers of the time the first cyclist to do so in 1919 but the Belgian Phillipe Thijs claimed to dress him in 1914.