Body & Mind

17 facts about the Tour de France

Here you will make an impression

By May-Britt Mobach | #!31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:004931#31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:00-6Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331 01am31am-31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:006Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam2023312023Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200006007amSaturday=9#!31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam7#07-01-2023#!31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:004931#/31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:00-6Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331#!31Sat, 01 Jul 2023 06:00:49 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam7#

Somehow, it doesn't make sense, I know, but I still have the feeling that you and I are a bit the same, think and feel alike. So I think you also find it quite nice that the Tour de France is starting again, but know little about it otherwise. At least I don't. That's why I dove into it for a moment and serve up some trivia. Just to sprinkle around here and there and to make incredible 'did-you-know-that' impressions.

1. The Tour is that big
After the World Cup and the Olympic Games, the Tour is the largest sporting event in the world. 13 million visitors, broadcasts in more than 190 countries, and 5500 hours of TV coverage make it one of the top sports events.

2. The length of the Tour varies
This also has to do with the starting point of the Tour. Since the 1950s, the start has also taken place outside of France. Did you know that it started in Amsterdam? The longest Tour was that of 1928, with 5745 kilometers.

3. Our Joop Zoetemelk
He participated 16 times and won the Tour once. He was, after Jan Jansen, the second Dutchman to win the Tour. But he is the one who has ridden it the most often. There is only one person who rode the Tour 17 times, and that is American George Hincapie and Australian Stuart O’Grady. The secret of Zoetemelk: ‘You win the tour in your bed. In other words: sleep a lot.’

4. Deaths during the Tour
Rider Tom Simpson died on the Mont Ventoux, Fabio Cassartelli died during a descent, and in 1958 André Darrigade was on his way to his sixth stage victory when he collided with a Belgian Tour official who ultimately died.

5. Longest stage ever
That was ridden in 1920 and was 482 kilometers long.

6. So many calories
Riders need to eat 123,900 calories to complete the entire Tour. That's equivalent to 452 croissants, 200 bottles of champagne, and 152 British breakfasts, according to ovonetwork.com. Although I think they spend their calories on other things.

7. In 1920, the riders still shared cigarettes
A typical case of ’that was once’.

The Tour de France starts tomorrow at 12:30 PM.