LeTour

The 2026 Tour De France is underway and I am watching the daily races. Since they are four plus hours in runtime I let them play in the background. This is not the first Tour I have watched though, for many years I have been a fan. I cannot explain why, but this race captivates me. Perhaps I wish to be riding a bicycle through beautiful country while others ensure my meals, lodging, equipment, and medical care are top notch. Or is it the sheer mental and physical endurance these riders must prevail against that is fascinating? Or how what looks like a bunch of people on bicycles riding along in the countryside is actually a deeply competitive and strategic game?

There are specialized groups in every race – the breakaway, the peloton, and the grupetto. There are specialized riders in ever group – GC riders, sprinters, mountain climbers, time trial specialists, and downhill experts. There are specific roles on teams – domestiques, road captain, and lead-out riders. There are daily challenges – wind resistance, physical maladies, exhaustion, equipment failures, and terrible crashes that could end a career. What happens in the race is as fascinating as well. A late surge of a rider on a mountain stage meant to specifically break the spirit of a competitor. A breakaway going all for it while the peloton slowly closes the distance. GC riders duking it out at all stages. Fans, cobblestones, rain, and heat all affecting riders day in and day out.

It is a niche sport, and much has changed. Teams are much more competitive than in the past. There is a hard focus on nutrition and sports science. Most of the old ways of the Tour are gone, where riders were really on their own to get fed and get to the next race. Riders no longer book their own provisions and hotels, there are now busses and private chefs. Riders no longer wait their turn in the team hierarchy, young riders routinely break out for a leadership role on the team. Anti-doping is everywhere now too, even bicycles can have hidden electric motors, something now called “mechanical doping.” You can see how this has changed the sport. Riders are coming in at the end of some stages completely wasted. If you watch the old videos during the doping era, you will see riders with bulging muscles blasting up mountain sides without being winded at all.

I hope the Tour continues forever. I wish we could bring more cycling races back to the United States so I could see some of these riders. I remember the short lived Tour of Georgia and the Tour of California. Perhaps interest will continue to grow and we may see that as a reality one day.