An ode to the Tour de France
The Tour de France starts in a month! In honour of that fact, a repost of a blog post I wrote a couple of years ago.
When I was a teen I discovered that during a couple of weeks in summer there was a lot of French music on the radio. That's how I learned about the Tour de France first.
Not long after that discovery, I found that I listened more for the cycling than for the music. A new life long obsession was born.
Everything about the Tour is perfect: the riders cycle through the land that I fall more in love with each year, It is so beautiful to see the route, all the gorgeous villages, towns and the legendary mountains, riders painting the roads with ther colourful jerseys.
I love the Tour because of the epic battles between riders and teams, still remembering some of the most amazing moments during races, even years later.
I love the Tour because of the men and women piloting their bikes over the roads, struggling up a mountain and swooshing down on the other side. I love the escapes, just one rider speeding up, leaving the rest of the peloton in their wake.
I love the peloton, moving like limbs and body of one giant creature that at its most ferocious gobbles up people that were ahead by minutes, and leaves them behind in an epic battle that only ends at the finish line.
I get gleeful at the way that the riders try to steal seconds, enjoy how they cheer on teammates. I love how the stage winner completely deflates at the finish line, exhausted as they collapse into the arms of a soigneur, or sag against the barrier.
I love the endless stories from within the race most of all. The personal victories, the heartbreaking losses, the squabbles, the heroic escapes and that one rider that wins against all odds.
To me the Tour isn't about the overall winner, it's about all those stories connecting.
The Tour de France is like a novel, one I love to read each year.
I can't wait!