Tour De France Blog

Archive for January, 2010

i was watching the tour de france and i really had to pee. and i wondered…. "what do the riders do when they use the bathroom?" because they cant stop or they will loose their place. so does anyone know?

They either stop at the side of the road, or roll the shorts down and pee away from the bike. For obvious reasons, the cameras don’t dwell on such things.

In Ironman triathlons, competitors just let fly IN their shorts because there is a time penalty for public nudity. No its not that gross because after several hours of racing you’re covered with so much sweat and gatorade a little pee makes no difference.

What would be a good site/s to watch the tour de france live this year?

If you speak French, try Eurosport.fr, which has very comprehensive coverage of the Tour de France. I’ve linked to the specific site for the TdF below.

Otherwise, if you’re in the US, I would check out Versus (the US network that broadcasts the Tour de France). They have background information and will provide video coverage of the Tour as well.

If it is the tour de france in France, what is it in Italy?

It’s the Giro d’Italia

How is a hill or mountain given a category in the tour de france. What makes a 1, 2 , 3 category climb?

The categories are assigned subjectively based on:

length of the climb
altitude difference from bottom to top
average (and steepest) grade
summit elevation
climb’s position on the stage (early or late)
width and conditions of the road
After considering all these factors, the Tour’s director sportif makes his recommendations after driving over the stage routes a couple of months before the race. Also, the Tour is supposed to be TOUGH, so what might be a Cat 2 climb in Le Tour might be a Cat 1 in another race.

Typically for the Tour, Category 4 is an easy, short climb.
Category 3 is the easiest "real" climb – ie, 5km at a 5% grade.
Category 2 is about as tough as you could ever see here in the states. (Something like 5km at a grade of 8-8.5%)
Category 1 typically a long climb (15 – 20+ km) at a not too steep grade – 5-6%.
Hors Category is long and steep.

The altitude difference is at least 1000km and an average grade of 7% or more.

If it is the tour de france in France, what is it in Italy?

It’s the Giro d’Italia

How long is the tour de france?

2,110 miles over a period of several weeks. did you know the winner gets $3.5 million?!

How long is the tour de france?

2,110 miles over a period of several weeks. did you know the winner gets $3.5 million?!