Tour de France - Five Fact Friday

Tour de France Trivia

• The heaviest rider ever in the Tour de France was Magnus Backstedt at 95 kgs or 209.5 lbs. The lightest was Leonardo Piepoli at 57 kgs or 125.7lbs.
• The 1903 Tour de France had only 6 stages. The 1937 Tour de France had 37 stages. The 2010 Tour de France will have 20 stages.
• The Tour de France has its own traveling bank. The only bank open in France on Bastille Day (July 14th). 
• The United States may have riders who have won the TDF in recent years, but they have not always been prominant: France 38 wins, Belgium 18, Spain 11, United States 10. 
• In 1967, British rider Tom Simpson died mid-race after taking amphetamines, prompting the event to adopt drug-testing.

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