Tour de France Trivia
- The 2010 Tour de France will have 22 teams on 20 different bike frames. Only Specialized and Pinarello frames will sponsor and be ridden by two teams.
- Not every year begins with a Prologue. There are not always 21 stages. In 2010 there will be 1 prologue and 20 stages.
- The smallest time difference between overall first and second place was in 1989, Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds on the last day.
- The largest time difference between overall first and second place was in 1952, Fausto Coppi beat Stan Ockers by 28:17.
- Fabio Felline (age 20) of FOT will be the youngest rider at the 2010 Tour de France. There are 4 riders who will be the oldest (racing age 39). They are Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner, Christophe Moreau, and Jens Voigt.
- 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.
Tour de France Trivia
- In the 1950s they began to honor the man who struggled, without abandoning the TDF, to finish last with the Lanterne Rouge (red lamp) award. The French love the underdog, and love the man that triumphs over struggle.
- Edouard Fachleitner is not so famous for coming in second in the 1947 TDF, as he is for calling home every night to talk to his dog.
- In 1954 a red number first appeared in the peloton. The special colored number is awarded by a panel for the most competitive (Combative) rider the previous day.
- Now we know where it started; Charly Gaul was given the nickname "Monsieur Pi-Pi", after perfecting the art of urinating while still in the saddle.
- The Tour de France roadside character The Devil – AKA German Didi Senff, first appeared in 1993. He travels in his van with gallons of fresh paint yearly to paint his pitchforks on the pavement (and dodge water bottles thrown by the riders).
- Greg Lemond won the Tour de France in 1990 without winning one stage of the Tour.
- In Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, UK, and Italy 96% of citizens know of the Tour de France. In the USA 56% know of the race.
- Jules Banino of France at the age of 51 was the oldest man to compete in the Tour de France (1924).
- In 1930 the Publicity Caravan was started as advertisement. It followed behind the riders. Now it is an event in itself preceding the riders by 2 hours.
- In 1935 Julien Moineau won a stage of the Tour after a group of his friends had arranged roadside tables with cold beer enroute to Bordeaux. When most of the Peloton stopped to have a drink, he sped away for the victory.
Tour de France Trivia
- Lance Armstrong's least favorite climb in France is Mount Ventoux. He has never won on Ventoux, and had a bitter argument with Marco Pantani in 2000 after he claimed he gave the win to Pantani, later inspiring the saying "no gifts".
- The mystic Mount Ventoux has only been included 14 times in the Tour de France. (This is my personal favorite climb in France).
- The Tourmalet is the most frequented climb in the Tour de France and again will be climbed in 2010 from the steeper side (from Barèges) following the ascension of the Marie-Blanque and Soulor passes.
- Tourmalet Time Schedule - In 2010 the organizers of the TDF expect the riders to take 4hrs 50mins to ride from Pau to the top of the Tourmalet. That is 174 Km over 3 mountain passes at an average speed of 34kph (21mph!).
- One hundred years ago, the 1910 Stage Start over the Peyresourde, Aspin and Tourmalet was scheduled for 3:30am. In 2010 the start of Stage 16 over the same route is scheduled for 11:30am.
Tour de France Trivia
- First TTT - the first team time trial was in 1927.
- National Teams - National teams were introduced in 1930, prior to that, major bike manufacturers sponsored the teams. Teams have of course returned to being commercially sponsored.
- Fan threatens rider - in 1950, Italian rider Gino Bartali was punched to the ground and threatened with a dagger on the Col d'Aspin. He got up to win the stage, and then withdrew, with all his teammates, claiming their lives were in danger.
- Punched by a fan - In 1975 Eddy Merckx was on the climb up the Puy-de-Dome when a French spectator punched him in the stomach. A few days later, Merckx crashed and fractured his cheek bone, but did not abandon the race. In the end, he lost the the Tour by less than 3 minutes to Bernard Thevenet.
- The Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey of the rider in the lead) was introduced in 1919 simply to help spectators recognize who was currently winning the race.
Tour de France Trivia
- The First Tour de France was in 1903, (although there was no Tour de France held in 1915-1918 due to WW I and 1940-1946 due to WW II).
- In 1969 Eddie Merckx won the overall Tour Yellow Jersey, the King of the Mountains Jersey, and the Sprinters Jerseys.
- Joop Zoetemelk from the Nederlands competed in 16 Tour de Frances. What is more amazing is that he started 16 tours and finished 16 tours.
- The most frequented cities in the Tour de France include Paris 135 times, Bordeaux 79 times, and Pau 61 times.
- David Zabriskie rode the fastest full-length time-trial in the opening stage of 2005, from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile (19 km) at 54.676 kmh (33.97 mph).
