LIVING

The race started in 1902, when a new magazine, L’Auto, was launched as a rival to Le Velo, the publication that sponsored France’s top cycling event of the day, the Paris-Brest race. As a teaser, the first issue announced a new endurance race, Le Tour de France, with an unheard of three-week duration and a circumnavigation of France, including several gruelling mountain passes.

The pioneer riders carried all their clothing, food and water in bags hung from the handlebars and spare tyres were worn bandoleer-style, diagonally across their chests. Just to add a frisson to the proceedings, early bikes had wood-rimmed wheels that frequently caught fire on long downhill sections due to the friction brakes overheating.

Perhaps the biggest difference when comparing the bikes of 1902 to today’s hi-tech machines is that those earliest versions had no gearing system, just a single speed to deal with the fast open road and the stop-start of busy cities, as well as vertigo-inducing Alpine tracks. One gear for 3,500 kilometres around France, including the Pyrenees and the Alps. That earns respect, mes braves. Only 15 riders competed in the first year, but the race has since grown to become one of the world’s biggest sporting extravaganzas.

The 2009 Tour starts on July 4th at Port Hercule, in the glitzy principality of Monaco, and sovereign Prince Albert will be there to fire the starter’s gun. The route goes from Monaco and follows the Mediterranean coast arriving at Montpellier on July 7th, then on to Perpignan the next day. The riders start out from Girona (having been transported over the Pyrenees) on the morning of the 9th and arrive at Barcelona later the same day. After Barcelona, they cross the Pyrenees via Andorra, then on to Tarbes and Limoges, with the traditional finish at the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 26th, with no less than Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni heading the welcoming committee. Along the way are countless diversions including team and individual time trials, sprints and sundry jaunts across the peaks of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps.