he world ’ s biggest

Since we southerners have to suffer through fluffy red hats and flaming Christmas pudding during our roasting summers , it ’ s only fair that we have our chance to cosy up and enjoy the show , without our bikes staring us down as we crack open another bottle of red . Le Tour has grown to be as magical to cycling fans as Christmas is to kids – just close your eyes and feel the joy when you listen to the sound of Kraftwerks ’ legendary TDF jingle . It ’ s Christmas in July .

The Tour represents the pinnacle of endurance sport , where 184 of the planet ’ s fittest athletes duel over more than 3 400km , through historical villages where medieval gladiators once fought to the death . Not much has changed , barring the death part , although they do come close . The weapons have grown lighter and more droolworthy , and we love to witness the delicate sub plots , team strategies and manon-man bleeding eyeball showdowns . This is where legends are born !

The Tour also scales mountains that over the years have grown to almost mythical proportions . There may not be much difference in gradient or length between a climb like Alpe d ’ Huez and your local lung buster , but more than 100 years of war stories have transformed these mountains into rites

of passage . I had the rare privilege of riding one of this year ’ s biggest high category climbs , Mont Ventoux . I experienced a massive sense of history and emotion when I passed the memorial to British cycling legend Tom Simpson . Tom famously perished on that climb during a Tour , a year before I was born , from a mix of heat exhaustion , amphetamines and alcohol . I learned at the summit that French philosopher Roland Barthes

described Ventoux as “ a god of evil to whom sacrifice must be paid . It is a true Moloch , a despot of cyclists . It never pardons the weak and exacts an unjust tribute of suffering .”

I recently read a piece by a cynic who wrestled with the juxtaposition of spectator and athlete . “ They snake past the encrustations of a granite range and layers of limestone on winding roads and the rivers of rural France . Their high work rate , our drawn curtains , their flashing energy , our slumbering indolence . It ’ s all so super curative ,

fantastically restorative . The humdrum beginning to each stage is a kind of working out of the narrative to follow . Then it all goes to hell in a sprint finish . The Tour de France has been therapeutic , remedial and healing . You pull open the curtains and , hey , it was a sunny day .”

The Tour is a show that attracts more global viewers every year . To dream and be inspired to ride is where the magic lies . Us cyclists are almost the antithesis of starstruck . Most riders are unaware of which pro won the race happening up the same road they race , and as fans we back the no-name breakaway underdogs , secretly imagining they are us . That said , the live televised racing that has provided the build-up to this year ’ s Tour has been nothing short of mindblowing . Week after week we have watched our cover star , Mathieu van der Poel , already being called the greatest bike rider of all time , his cyclocross rival Wout van Aert and French poster boy Julian Alaphilippe rip holes into each other during the Spring Classics . The Ineos resurgence at the Giro d ’ Italia has then provided the perfect lead into the Tour , where young champion Tadej Pogačar faces a rematch with Primož Roglič , who famously failed at the last hurdle , among a bunch of other contenders . It ’ s wide open and mouth-watering . Santé !

Road Bike Magazine roadbikemagazine @ RoadBikeMag

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER Paul Ingpen paul @ electricink . co . za 021 438 5972 / 082 990 8408

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The Tour de France Official Guide is published by Electric Ink Media under licence from Tour de France organisers ASO in Paris , France . Copyright : Electric Ink Media . No portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from Electric Ink Media or the authors . The publishers are not responsible for any unsolicited material . The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Electric Ink Media , the editors or the Tour de France Official Guide office .

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10 | TOUR DE FRANCE 2021