Comments on: Ten Facts You Didn’t Know About The Tour de France

By: Colin

Colin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:06:19 +0000

But you didn’t mention that even though it is against tradition to protect your team leader, that is how Lemond won his first Tour. He hated his team leader cuz he was a pansy, so Lemond took over and won the Tour. Which was one of the most controversial wins of the Tour.

By: Colin

Colin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:04:00 +0000

they always go to commercial during the bathroom breaks, and they never talk about it while on the air. that’s why no one remembers it.

funny thing, though, if you don’t have to go during the break, and have to go later, you have to fall to the back of the peleton and pee while riding. Quite hard to do cleanly if you aren’t used to it.

By: Destructicus

Destructicus — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:49:58 +0000

The commonly-used “calorie” as it relates to food is actually the kcal. One food calorie is enough energy to raise 1000 g of water 1 degree Celsius at standard ATP. So the riders actually consume 124,000,000 actual calories during the course of the race, which is 124,000 of the more commonly used food “calories.”

By: doctornino

doctornino — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:47:51 +0000

No one had to accuse Coppi of doping…He said it himself:

Coppi was often said to have introduced “modern” methods to cycling, particularly his diet. Gino Bartali established that some of those methods included taking drugs, which were not then against the rules.

Bartali and Coppi appeared on television revues and sang together, Bartali singing about “The drugs you used to take” as he looked at Coppi. Coppi spoke of the subject in a television interview:

Question: Do cyclists take la bomba (amphetamine)?
Answer: Yes, and those who claim otherwise, it’s not worth talking to them about cycling.
Question: And you, did you take la bomba?
Answer: Yes. Whenever it was necessary.
Question: And when was it necessary?
Answer: Almost all the time![25][26]

Coppi “set the pace” in drug-taking, said his contemporary, the Dutchman, Wim van Est.[27] Rik van Steenbergen said Coppi was “the first I knew who took drugs.”[28]

If Coppi did it many other World champions and Tour champions did it and are doing it!

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 23:00:09 +0000

It was nice not the hear Greg Lemond whining about doping, as he’s done almost incessantly since the end of his career. Just when I thought he’d gone away, we get Landis, and he’s shaping up to be a magnitude worse than Lemond, if that’s possible.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:57:38 +0000

I always wondered about the bio/nature break.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the peloton stop for that break, so maybe I’ve just blanked it out.

I half-thought they’d just piss themselves not to lose position.

By: tifoso

tifoso — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:14:04 +0000

@Jake Quick releases weren’t invented until 1933, by none other than Tullio Campagnolo, who lost a race in the Dolomites in 1927 when he had to stop to switch his rear wheel to its climbing gear, and because of the near freezing conditions, wasn’t able to undo the wingnuts which secured the wheel to the frame. There’s a monument to him and his inspiration at the pass, Croce d’Aune.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:44:16 +0000

asdasd, I got the same number from several sources, so it’s either correct or common misinformation.

If you can burn 124,000 calories by jogging for ten minutes, you could make a fortune selling your exercise regimen. Ten minutes of jogging where I live probably burns about 500 calories.

By: asdasd

asdasd — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:00:54 +0000

124000 calories? Thats 124kCal. Its like jogging for a 10minutes or something. This must be wrong!

By: teebird

teebird — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:53:17 +0000

I remember reading many years ago that it was an old Tour de France tradition that if the race passed through a rider’s hometown and he was near the front, the other riders would back off a bit an let him take the lead so he could look like a hero until they got past his hometown crowd. However, Eddie Mercx, the great Belgian rider would have none of it. If you wanted the lead, you had to take it from him.