Hola, hello, and most importantly for this Saturday Bonjour! Get on your lycra and get ready for the biggest cycling event of the year, The Tour de France. I may not be a die hard roadie but i cannot hide my excitement for the tour every year. The first stage starts this Saturday June 29th and if you are in the USA your best bet to catch all of the races live or replayed is through the Peacock App. If you have spent all of your budget on carbon components and aero socks don’t fear because the amount of free content available on youtube should keep you up to date on this years racing.

If you already weren’t planning to watch every minute of the race because the tour has not captivated you as it has for me please give me a chance to maybe change your mind. The Tour de France ratings wise is the biggest most watched cycling event of the year and its for good reason. Similar to the Olympics and the Super Bowl casual fans may not follow the sport in detail as us super fans do, throughout the year, but the Tour gives the sport an undeniable spotlight that is great for cycling. I myself was very against watching the tour as a young lad because of the whole “Lance thing” but my love for racing eventually won that battle and i’m glad it did.

For those of you in the crowd that feel the tour is nothing more than a spectacle of modern pharmaceuticals and FTP numbers i’m here to tell you there is more to road racing than that.

1. Believe it or not Road cycling is a team sport. Usually at the beginning of a race series each team selects a team leader that has the best chance of winning and all the other racers give up their chance at the top step of the podium to work for the leader. The tactics behind the team support are endless, there is truly something special about watching a support rider create a draft for the leader up a giant climb to the point of utter exhaustion only to be dropped by the peloton, all to make the leaders chances better for the overall win. The amount of dedication to the big picture goals and self sacrifice for the team is invaluable and honorable.

2. There are races within the race. All the riders and teams are not just chasing the overall general contention win, there are three other goals within the race that are characterized by different colored jerseys. The green jersey is awarded to the rider who has earned the most points in the sprint segments throughout the tour. The polka-dot jersey is awarded to the rider who has the most points earned through out the king of the mountain segments. Finally the white jersey is awarded to the general contention leader who is 26 years old or younger. Oh and of course don’t forget about the yellow jersey which is awarded to the general contention leader which has the lowest overall time at the end of each stage.

3. The variety of courses throughout the race. There are the steep mountain stages with grueling climbs followed by steep dangerous descents one day, the next day may be a long flat stage where the the peloton bides their time to set up the sprinters for a final battle and sprint finish, and don’t forget the cobbles and light gravel that plague the racers with mechanicals and sore bums. The tour has all the variety that you could ask for in road conditions but also the views are spectacular. Whether it be the small towns or the surrounding endless farmland, France is a beautiful country and the race broadcast makes sure to highlight it.

4. The convenience of following the Tour. I personally use the Peacock app to stream the race but unfortunately i cannot commit to watching 4+ hour races for a whole month. Luckily at the end of the race day you are able to watch the highlight replay that usually lasts about a half hour. With these highlights you can get all of the exciting parts of the race without having to sit through hours of the peloton pacing itself.

5. Cycling on the big screen is just plain cool. I am usually the guy at work that talks about all things bikes which leaves my peers with eyes glazed over, but come July it seems like all anyone wants to talk about is the Tour de France. I’m a big believer in more butts in bike saddles is good for humanity so if the Tour hooks someone’s interest and then motivates them to get that dusty bike out of the garage and start experimenting with lycra and chamois cream then I’m all in.

This by no means is an in depth look at the Tour de France. It is however my way to share my excitement with the race and to hopefully create ties between all the different disciplines of cycling. I went on my first road ride of the year the other day and it was great! I had a blast even though I wouldn’t consider myself a roadie, at the end of the ride as i peeled the lycra off my body I had a question for myself, “Why has it taken me so long to go out on a roadie ride if i enjoy it so much?” Well maybe it’s because the Tour de France is right around the corner?