Summer of Sports: The Most Epic Race of Them All

BY DC CUEVA

> @DC408dxtr / @DC408dxnow

In this Summer of Sports, we have crowned champions in the NBA, NHL and European club soccer, saw our first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, saw a young golfer from Dallas win his 2nd straight major, and have just seen the U.S. win the FIFA Women's World Cup, among others. Now, with more trophies and medals still to be awarded in the next two months, an event unlike any other in a time-honored summer tradition is underway in Europe.

   For those who live for those sports where endurance is paramount, this is a favorite event for endurance sports fans. For those who take for granted the feeling of riding a bicycle, then this is the race those who love cycling look forward to more than other every year. And for those in a country that's as vast & as beautiful as France, the Tour de France is a national treasure. And in a time where U.S. sports fans' attention is on baseball, NBA free agency and NFL training camp, one of sports' most enduring events is taking place right now across the Atlantic.
   For 21 days of cycling spread out over the entire month of July, the Tour de France is perhaps the ultimate test in all of sports, testing will, strength, endurance and stamina against the backdrop of the beauty of France and its surrounding countries. From the streets and towns throughout the country, through fields of sunflowers and vineyards, into the majestic mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees, and culminating with a ride into one of the world's greatest cities, it's one of sports' most-compelling events and arguably the toughest test in all of sports.
   First organized by a local sports daily as a way to help increase sales in 1903, 101 editions later the event has become the grandest event in cycling. It reaches a worldwide television audience that, for three weeks, becomes gripped by the human drama of the sport's best all competing for their greatest prize: possession of the yellow jersey as the winner of the Tour when its last act plays out on one of the world's greatest streets in one of the world's greatest cities: the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

A BRIEF HISTORY

The origins of the Tour de France go back to the end of the 20th century, when a rivalry between two of France's sports daily newspapers led to one of them, L'Auto, poaching away cycling writer Géo Lefèvre from the rival Le Vélo and, along with fellow former cyclist Henri Desgrange, came up with an idea. Their plan was to create a 6-day cycling race around France, during a time when long-distance cycling race was a popular form of selling papers, and perhaps gain an edge on their rival, who also created the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic as well. It not only succeeded, but also put their rival out of business too; and was the first of two major moves for what would become the L'Équipe paper as they would also have a hand in helping create what would become the UEFA Champions League.

   It was in 1903 that the Tour began to take route, and plans were that it was going to be a five-stage race taking place during the month of June with it beginning and ending in Paris with stops in other cities. But due to cost and a demanding course, it was changed to July, shortened to 19 days, made the entry fee more affordable, increased the prize money and attracted as many as 80 riders. Frenchman Maurice Garin would be the first to lay claim to TDF champion, but the next year saw the race being marred by cheating by the riders and hooliganism among fans on the course in them beating up certain riders. Many saw that this would end this race in only two years, but in 1905, things changed as the number of stages were increased to 11 and all were held in daylight.
   Rules in the early days saw the race experiment with elapsed time, placement points, pacers for certain stages and restrictions on bikes, and even as many as 3 stages in one day. By the mid-'40s as WWII gripped the world, the organizer keys changed hands: L'Auto was closed and L'Equipe was awarded the bid to host the '47 Tour due to better organization of a similar race; and eventually its parent company Amaury Group and subsidiary Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) would become the race organizers by the 1990's. Also, with doping scandals and the 1967 death of British rider Tom Simpson taking the headlines, led to limits in both the daily & overall distances of the Tour, and the introduction of rest days to allow all riders more time to recover & prepare for upcoming stages.

   Over time, the Tour has grown from those humble beginnings to where it is now: one of the year's most-anticipated sporting events. By the '70s, satellites made it possible for those around the world to watch the action on television, and in 1982 Irishman Sean Kelly and Australian Phil Anderson became the first from outside cycling's traditional hotbed of Continental Europe to win a Tour classification jersey. A year later, Eastern Bloc countries were first allowed to compete, and in 1986 American Greg LeMond became the Tour's first non-European champion. Riders from Ireland, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Great Britain have all followed suit in donning the maillot jaune in Paris.
   What has happened in the last two decades in not just the Tour, but in cycling, has been eventful and also rather unfortunate. This has to do with what happened with Lance Armstrong, who has an inspiring story of coming back from cancer and his death bed to become great, only for that to come crashing down in a solemn fall from grace when his seven Tour titles were taken away because of doping and him leading a systematic doping program among his teammates. That, along with other winners being stripped of their placings in recent years and before that, has put the legitimacy of the sport into question, just as is the case with some other Olympic sports and in baseball.

   As mentioned earlier, doping has long plagued the Tour since its beginning, and has seen both teams and riders becoming embroiled in scandal and have put their sport in a negative light on their biggest annual stage. But since 2011 - a year after Alberto Cantador's 3rd Tour win was scratched away, the sport and its governing body, UCI (International Cycling Union), has enacted a pledge for all cyclists to race naturally without resorting to PED's. Following in the lead of fellow Olympic sports and baseball, cycling has taken a leadership role in now making sure that every rider who compete are riding without taking substances that can enhance their performance artificially at the expense of others.

ROAD CYCLING

As the pioneer of bicycle stage racing, the Tour de France is, after all, the pinnacle of road cycling, and it's one of the most demanding sports there are in the world. It's historically been the domain of France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland among others; but the sport has grown its reach in modern times to the United States, the British Isles, Australia, Russia and more of greater Europe.
   Though there are numerous types of road racing, three of them are commonplace in this sport: 

- Stage races are several races ridden on consecutive days over multiple days, with the cyclist clocking the lowest cumulative time over all stages after finishing the entire race being declared the overall winner of the general classification, with other awards for other classifications as well.

- Time trials are as simple as cycling gets: cyclists race either alone or as a team against the clock. It's often called "the race of truth," and for good reason; often, the championship battle can come down to a time trial near the end of the Tour to see who has the guts of being able to ride their very best.
- And single-day races are those run in only one day, from European classics that run for over 200 km to small races in large cities which are also known as "criteriums." The most famous one-day classic is the Tour's sister event, the Paris-Roubaix Bike Race, which features cobblestones along the route.

There are numerous tactics employed by the riders in their effort to win, or at least contend, in any road race. Drafting is where a rider can reduce pedaling and closely follow in the slipstream of a rider in front of him. Breaks are where a group of riders decide to break away from the main group of riders known as the peloton with more space and added freedom. Like golfers who have to figure out undulation on the course and the greens, cyclists have to also deal with terrain and the weather, from the difficult climbs becoming a popular place for breaks, to encountering the crosswinds that take place on course. And of course, cycling is a sport of speed, and along with being in great, fit shape, cyclists must also be adept to strong bike handing skills to reach as much as 68 mph (or 110 km/h) down a mountain descent or 35-50 mph in the big final sprint.

NEED TO KNOW

For me who's a fan of MTV's The Challenge, Season 25 - Free Agents last year saw the format for the various missions vary from one to another, which meant competitors had to adjust accordingly, and of course it was an individual game. For the cyclists, it's almost about the same thing as what happened in Uruguay: yes, it's an individual race but there's also various aspects that also constitutes team aspects as well.

   All the cyclists who participate are part of a team who represent corporations and companies rather than national colors. Teams can be as many as 12, and include a climber, puncheur, a time trial specialist, a sprinter, domestique and an all-arounder. And there's a team leader who's likely the one with the best chance of winning the Tour. It's those members who can best decide among themselves of who has a great chance at winning depending upon which race is planned for the next stage. And on the pro circuit, team coordination is often directed by radio communication between riders and their team director, who's situated in a team car behind the race and keeps an eye on what's happening on course at any one time. A total of 18 teams took part in the 2014 season.

   The route for each year's race changes each year, but the format for the race as a whole is essentially the same every year. There's at least one time trial scheduled during the race, flat stages designed for the sprinters, the passage through the Pyrenees and Alps for the mountain riders, and culminating on the final Sunday with a ride into Paris and a finish on the Champs-Élysées. They'll finish their days with bursts of speed on the streets of France, tests against altitude in the mountains, and as many as threes tests against the clock. And by the time the riders finish on the most famous avenue in Europe, they will have endured 3,500 kilometers, or 2,200 miles, over 21 stages.

   The Tour de France is one of three Grand Tours that takes place during the cycling season, which are all scheduled for 23 days, including two rest days. The other two are the Giro D'Italia, which is based in Italy and held in May; and the Vuelta a España, based in Spain and runs in August. There are also other large stage races like the Tour Down Under in Australia, the Tour de Suisse in Switzerland, Paris-Nice, the Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour of California. They, along with other mini torus and the one-day races, are part of the UCI World Tour
   Most of the stages in each year's Tour are mass-start races, where all riders begin without racing in the first few kilometers, then it begins for real when the race director waves a white flag to begin matters. All riders in a group will finish with the same time as the lead rider, which avoids dangerous mass sprints that could lead to a huge crash. And since 2005, safety has been offered to all riders if a crash takes place within the last 3 km of a stage with a flat finish where all those are given the same time as the group they were in, with nothing to lose.

   For stages that take place in the mountains, it's even more chaotic when it comes to the battle for the maillot jaune. Often times, the general classification rankings will shift drastically in the hills, while most riders ordinarily stay in the peloton the whole way through. But sow times riders can lose big time, or even be elimininated if they don't finish within the time limit. And when riders reach the final kilometer, regardless of what race it is, a red triangle above the road at the 1km mark lets them know they're almost at the end.

   Time trials were introduced to the Tour in 1934, and since 1967, a short time trial known as the prologue has begun the Tour to determine its first stage winner on that first day. Team time trials date back to 1939, and has become a regular feature in spite of putting strong teams at a huge advantage at the expense of strong riders in weak teams. And as mentioned, individual time trials are "the race of truth," where the fortunes of would-be contenders have come down to a race by themselves, most often taking place on the Tour's penultimate day.

   The most-notable mountains in the Alps that are popular tourist destinations are also regular fixtures of the Tour. First, the Pyrenees was first part of the tour in 1910, and the climb of Alpe d'Huez has provided not only spectacular aerial scenics for television but also a terrific atmosphere as the riders maneuver their way through the spectators on that narrow road. The Tour's most-visited mountain is also the most-visited one in the Alps: nearby Col du Tourmalet has been in the Tour since 1911, and 100 years later was site to the highest finish altitude ever at 2,645 mi. Mount Ventoux has also been site to hard climbs due to its harsh conditions, and a 1996 stage was even shortened by to a rare summer snowstorm.
   Since 1975, the Tour has reached its climax on one of the greatest days in all of sports with the peloton riding into Paris and concluding with laps of the Champs-Élysées, and a finish on that famed street with the final sprint points up for grabs. There's rarely any challenges for the leader due to the flat surface and a usual insurmountable margin, and often we see the rider ride into the City of Lights with champagne glass in hand. But 1989 was a different story, as a time trial decided matters on the final day, and a dramatic sprint by Greg LeMond saw the American overtake Laurent Fignon to win by eight seconds, the closest margin in TDF history as the only American to win the yellow jersey won his 2nd title.

   And as an undercard to the men's main event on that final Sunday in Paris, and recognizing the increased interest in women's cycling, last year the ASO reintroduced, after a 25-year absence, a women's stage to the Tour in the form of La Course by Le Tour de France, a one-day race on the same 13-lap circuit on the Champs-Élysées as the men's Tour. The most dominant women's cyclist of her generation, Marianne Vos from the Netherlands, added to her illustrious resume winning the first edition of La Course last July 27th.

THE CARAVAN, CULTURE, CROWDS AND MEDIA COVERAGE

Of course, any town in France or surrounding countries covets the task of hosting a stage start or finish because of the event's prestige, worldwide exposure, free publicity and tourism & business dollars headed their way. Obviously, there's money involved when it comes to financing the teams and the Tour, and founder Henri Desgrange found a way to raise money early on for organizers who had to foot the bill for bringing all the riders to the event. His solution: allowing advertisers to precede the race with a never ending procession of colorfully-decorated trucks and cars known as the caravan. Companies coveted the chance to attach their name to the Tour in riding along the roads in advance of the cyclists arriving, including a chocolate company who gave out candy and even 500,000 hats to the spectators.
   Caravans became an integral part of the race beginning the 1930's and right into the '60s, and until TV and commercials became part of French life, this was the French equivalent of a Super Bowl commercial: getting the sponsor's best chance at getting much needed exposure on the country's biggest annual sporting event; not to mention a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere of doing plenty of passing things out. These days, advertisers pay ASO a mere discount on a :30 SB XLIX ad - €450,000 - to place three vehicles in the caravan, and those lucky sponsors get to pass out as much as 11 million items to the fans during the three weeks. That's an average of 3,000-5,000 items a day and as many as a few hours starting two hours before the start, ending just 90 minutes before the riders arrive.
   A sight unique to the Tour is the fact that those who watch this event live can get as close to the riders than any other sport, outside of sitting court side at an NBA game. Millions line the route to cheer on their favorite riders, and even some do a black Friday and camp out for as much as a week to get the best position along the road. For British sprinter Mark Cavendish, the most dominant sprinter of recent years in the Tour with nearly 30 stage wins (including 4 in Paris), it's a familiar sight: his native Isle of Man hosts a time trial and just about everyone there gathers along the roads to see him and other riders race there.
   Fitting for an event whose first organizers was a sports daily, media coverage of the Tour first began with newspapers, and only those of L'Auto (it wasn't until 1921 that other media first covered it). Newsreels brought moving pictures into movie theaters shortly thereafter, and 1929 saw the event first be broadcast on radio. Soon thereafter, television coverage began with next-day delayed film footage of stages, followed by the first live TV images: the finish in Paris in 1948.
   Today, rights holders France Televisions, with channels France 2 and France 3, deploy 300 staffers, six aircraft, nearly 40 automobiles and dozens of cameras to bring the action and emotion to a worldwide TV audience. And for the last few years now, I've had a tradition for three weeks to tune into the network that was Versus that ultimately became NBCSN and hear the British duo of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen call all the action on the roads, in the mountains and in Paris.

   And since this is the biggest sports event in France, it's also a sense of national identity as well, with numerous books, films and forms of art having something related to when the sports spotlight is turned on their country every July. It's also the case for fellow European countries too, as the heartland of cycling sees criteriums in proud cycling countries take place following the Tour to see those racers cycle their way in the same way they saw them on television.

CASH AND COLORS

The rewards for those who survive every day of the Tour and when it all concludes are aplenty. Prize money has always been awarded, starting at 20,000 francs in 1903, but there has also been extra gifts too: winners in the '70s and '80s received an apartment offered by a race sponsor, cars and works of art in addition to 500,000 francs. Now, the overall winner receives €450,000, while stage winners receive €8,000, team time-trial members €10,000, points and mountains classification winners each win $25,000, young rider & most aggressive rider €20,000 and €50,000 to the team classification winner. And as in other sports events, there's a black trophy cup going to the man who wins the Tour.

   But, the honors any rider dreams of winning are not only one, but six of them in all. Four colored jerseys are at stake each day of the Tour, which brings an element of the Power Rangers to cycling but is something that's more coveted than getting hands on that PR shirt. 

- First, there's the polka dot jersey which is awarded to the King of the Mountains - the one who reaches the top first of any categorized climb during the race, whose points vary on the steepness & length of the hills. It might resemble a horse racing jockey's outfit (a candy sponsor from when it began in '75 had red dots on their wrappings), but it rewards the man who best maneuvers the tough hills and undulation of the mountains when the race reaches overdrive in the alps and .

- Second, there's the green jersey which goes to the man who leads the points classification for those who amasses the most points from the sprints that take place on course - both immediate sprints and the finish. Only those who place in the top 15 earn points, and the maximum awarded is 50 for the man who crosses the finish of a flat stage (30 for 2nd & 1st in a medium mountain stage, 20 for 3rd & 1st in a intermediate sprint, high mountain finish or individual time trial).

- There's the white jersey for the Young Rider classification whose winner goes to the top rider (least cumulative time) under the age of 26. It's determined in much the same way as the GC - lowest cumulative time over the 21 stages wins - and offers a glimpse into the future of the sport: Jan Ullrich, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck all won the white jersey and went on to wear yellow.

And the most important one of all is the oldest and the most-coveted: the general classification and the yellow jersey. It's the oldest and most sought-after classification, and it's as simple as sports can get: riders' times are combined with previous stage times, and the man who has the lowest aggregate time is the race leader, which is determined when each stage concludes. Of course, the leader will don the "maillot jaune" at the podium when all the awards are given out at the end of each stage, and given that the race is unpredictable at times the lead can change after every stage of the Tour. Should the rider lead more than one jersey classification, the yellow one takes precedent and those who are 2nd in the standings are given that jersey honor.
   Yellow has been the symbol of the Tour since its beginning, starting when the Tour's first leader in 1903 was awarded a yellow armband. It's symbolic of L'Auto printing its papers on yellow paper, and it ultimately became the yellow jersey in 1919. Like any Olympic organizing committee making sure to have a copy of every national anthem in case a small country wins gold, each team brings multiple yellow jerseys to the Tour in case one of their riders becomes the overall leader; likewise for other colors too. And riders always make sure to try and make more effort to keep the jersey as long as they can to help grab more publicity, both for the team and their sponsors' bottom line. And of course, don't forget about beautiful ladies kissing the winners on the cheeks with teddy bears in tow.

There's also minor classifications that don't award a colored jersey but nonetheless are still of great importance to those in the TDF...
- The Most Aggressive rider of the day, or prix de la combativite, is awarded to the rider who is the most animated during a stage and is awarded a white-on-red number for the next stage, with a similar award for most aggressive rider of the Tour given in Paris.
- The Team Classification is determined by adding the time of each team's best three riders each day, and the team is awarded black-on-yellow numbers and yellow helmets for the next day's stage.

And there's also a rainbow jersey worn during the Tour, but it's only given if you win the road race at the UCI World Cycling Championships. It's a white jersey with the five colors of both cycling's governing body and the Olympics - blue, red, black, yellow and green that's worn for one full year from one WC's to the next and in all other races aside from the TDF. In cycling circles, it ranks second only to the TDF yellow jersey in terms of its prestige.

As the sport of cycling leaves behind its dark, drug-ridden past and begins writing a new chapter with faces both familiar and fresh, the appeal of watching cyclists give everything they got every July never gets old as the Tour de France holds its 102nd edition this summer. It's the ultimate test of when man and bicycle take on endurance, strength, will and emotion over three weeks. It's the only time in a given year that cycling is on the same level of great prominence as golf, tennis and the bat & ball sports during when most team sports are in their summer offseasons.
   And for the man who will don that yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées on that final Sunday of the Tour, the feeling will get to him that he has beaten the year's deepest field of cyclists to claim the most coveted prize in his sport, and one of sports' greatest accolades: Tour de France champion. Along the way, he will have also survived three weeks of guts, strength and endurance for that moment of glory. The answer of who that person will be will be answered in no short order.


For a more detailed look at the Tour de France, check out the book Tour de France For Dummies. The book takes a look at every aspect surrounding the most prestigious race in cycling, the sport itself and everything you want to know about this great event. Yes, the book I used as reference for this article is a bit dated because its foreword is from Lance Armstrong, but it is co-written by the voice of cycling, Phil Liggett. So, be sure to check it out when you have a chance while you watch this year's race unfold from France.
   Be sure to follow the DC Social Network as I'm staying busy both here on DCBLOG and across my social media platforms this summer. And again, the focus, for right now, is on the Summer of Sports.

- First, follow my dedicated live tweet hub, DCNOW at Twitter @DC408DxNow. So far this summer, we've witnessed the Warriors and Blackhawks triumph, FC Barcelona's 2nd European treble, American Pharoah win the Triple Crown, the U.S. win the Women's World Cup and Serena Williams winning her 3rd 'Slam of the year, among other things. And there's more sports ahead including golf's British Open and PGA Championships, UFC and boxing, CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer, the Pan Am Games in Toronto and NFL preseason action, among others.
- DCBLOG is complementing those live tweets with extensive and unique blog coverage of all things sports right here, taking you beyond the headlines and highlights for a unique look at sports from my press box. We've covered soccer, golf, boxing and Wimbledon here so far this summer and if you haven't checked out those posts check them out here when you got a chance. Next up here, with its $10,000 Main Event ongoing in Las Vegas, we'll be looking at the World Series of Poker, and plenty more sports articles still to come as the summer rolls on.
- For MTV fans, my live show tweets are back with new seasons of Catfish and Teen Mom, plus the return of America's Best Dance Crew in two weeks and next month's VMA's. That's only a warm-up for the fall as we'll be covering a new cycle of the MTV Trifecta starting with Season 3 of Are You The One? from Hawaii once the buzz for it begins shortly. Watch for a special edition of DC SocialPulse in the coming weeks to cover the final act of season 2 and Team 21's comeback, and a full cast preview. They could be the one featured in my IG teaser pic I posted yesterday, stay tuned.

- Also ahead, my fellow sports/MTV fan and webcast host Andrew Kirk will have a special Big Time Reality TV webcast on his YouTube where he'll offering his thoughts on the recent Trifecta cycle, answering questions submitted by yours truly. Be sure to follow the both of us, Brian Cohen, Ali Lasher and Reality Radio as we'll be covering the MTV Trifecta both on our respective blogs and on their webcasts when the buzz for AYTO3 begins later this summer, plus Big Brother 17 as well.

- And as always, don't forget to follow my primary Twitter handle @DC408Dxtr, my Instagram account also at the same handle, and at Tumblr at dc408dxtr.tumblr.com. I'm open for you to chat with me anytime on Twitter, so if you want to talk sports, MTV or pop culture, I'm here for you.

Thanks for checking out this look at the most epic event in sports, cycling's Tour de France, part of the Summer of Sports. Again, make sure to join me on DCNOW for your live tweets of sports and all things MTV, and back here on the blog next week as we turn to the fun of poker. Until then, thanks for reading, see you then and Au Revoir.

- I AM DC

Acknowledgements: Wikipedia: Tour de France and road cycling, Tour de France for Dummies