Professional Cycling at its Greatest -- Tour De France

If you can be in France during the month of July and you can be wondering about all the two-wheeling activity going on, do not worry, it's probably the Tour de France. The race continues for 3 weeks and attracts many cyclists from all over the world.
The race is divided into segments also known as stages. Each stage is day-long. The time taken to finish each stage is totaled to determine the winner at the end of race. The course of Tour de France is changed every year but it has always ended in Paris. The climax regarding the final stage was within the direction of Champs-since 1975.
The world's most well-known bicycle race Tour de France was started in 1903 by L'Auto newspaper. The editor of L'Auto Desgrane determined the course of first race, surrounding the perimeter of France, which shall continue for 5 weeks. But he halved the distance when only sixteen riders entered and also used cash carrots to pull more competitors towards the race. This increased the many competitors to sixty. The inaugural Tour de France was won by Frenchman Cesar Garin. These sixty riders pedaled about 1550 miles in nineteen days. Sometimes there were multiple days of rest between the racing days. This first race was finished by only 21 riders. Due to Tour de France the circulation of L' Auto was doubled. Subsequent to multiple years L'Auto became L'Equipe. L'Equipe is the current daily hobbies newspaper of France. These Days, there exists 200 cyclists. Each of them competes in teams consisting of nine members and the rider with fewest accumulated time wins.








The course of Tour de France changes every year but there exists little things which are certain. For example the done length regarding the race cannot exceed 3500 KM. There exists also limitations on the many KM covered in each stage. The race includes 3 days of rest. It ends in Paris subsequent to running its impressively scenic course throughout France and bordering countries.
The rider possessing the lowest aggregate time at end of each stage wears a yellow jersey also known as "maillot jaune", riders possessing the greatest sprint points wears a lime jersey also known as maillot vert and the king of mountains wears a polka dot jersey also called "maillot pois". They can be also awarded together with the Prix de la Combativite for their chutzpah.
Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive races from 1999 to 2005 and is known as the legend of Tour de France. The prize cash provided to winner is about 750,000 US Dollars.