New starting point unveiled for the 100th Tour de France
Tour de France: A Historical Overview
Following British success in 2012, everybody has gone Tour de France mad, including us at Leger. The success led the team to look into the history of the prestigious race, and a hunt began to find the best stat for a team competition. Below are some facts and stats we have found:
- The Tour de France started back in 1903, where the first winner was crowned as Maurice Garin.
- The shortest race was 2,420 km, with the longest lasting 5,745 km.
- There were 198 entrants in 2012.
- Usually, there are 20 teams with 9 riders in each team.
- There have been 4 deaths in the race's history.
- In the battle of the nationalities, France leads the way with 36 winners, closely followed by Belgium with 18, and in third is Spain with 12.
The 29th of June 2013 will see the start of the 100th Tour de France, which will start for the first time in its history in Corsica. The 3,360 km route will take the participants and their teams, along with the fans, on an epic journey past the country's wonders and will have many new challenges for the climbers in the pack, including the double ascent of the Alpe d'Huez climb! All this and much more is packed into three weeks of intense racing.
The entire race is contained within the French borders, covering a whole range of challenging terrains, presenting an opportunity for all different types of riders to shine. The last high altitude test is just 24 hours before the thrilling finale on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which will be staged in the evening, providing a beautiful twilight backdrop for the finale of the biggest cycling race in the world.
If you would like to watch the final stage of the 100th Tour de France in 2013, you can find out more here. Alternatively, if you would like to find out more about the 2013 Tour de France route, you can do so online now.
