The Fans Wanna Know

-by Jamie Naragon

July 4, 2009 marks an auspicious occasion:  the 96th Tour de France will commence with a 15 km individual time trial in Monaco.  Monaco has previously been used in the Tour on five occasions, but there are numerous new “stop-over” towns on this year’s route, including:  Brignoles, Gerone (Spain), Issoudin, Martigny (Switzerland), Saint-Fargeau, Tonnerre, Vatan, and Verbier (Switzerland).  The three-week race will conclude on July 26th after 3500 kms and 21 stages.  There are 10 flat stages, 8 mountain stages (three of which are mountain finishes), 2 individual time trials, and a team time trial. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Tour, here are some facts and stats to toss out at your Tour-Tailgate to impress all your friends:

Q: What are those crazy jerseys some guys are wearing?         

A: Each day, winners in certain classifications are given jerseys to wear to show their lead in the standings. 

The yellow jersey, or maillot jaune, is the most-coveted prize in the cycling world and is worn by the person currently in the overall lead of the race based on cumulative time.

The green jersey, or maillot vert, is worn by the person who has finished the most-consistently in sprints classifications.

The polka dot jersey, or maillot a pois, is worn by the person who has finished the most-consistently in mountain classifications.

The white jersey, or maillot blanc, is worn by the best young rider.

The best team each day will have their numbers displayed on yellow fields.

The person who was the most-combative on the previous day (in terms of launching attacks and animating the race, etc.), will wear their number on a red field. 

Q: Who’s won the most Tours? 

A: Lance Armstrong (USA) with 7. 

Four riders are tied behind him for 2nd with five wins apiece:  Jacques Anquetil (Fra), Eddy Merckx (Bel), Bernard Hinault (Fra), and Miguel Indurain (Spa)

Q: So does Lance have the most days in the yellow jersey?

A:  No.  Lance tends to wait until the mountains closer to the end of the race or the time trial to take his overall victory.  While he is in second with 83 yellows, Eddy “the Cannibal” Merckx has the record at 111.  Eddy also hold the record for most stage wins at 34, followed closely by Bernard “The Badger” Hinault with 28. 

Q: So does Belgium or the United States have the most wins per nation?

A:  Neither.  France, despite having not won since Hinault in 1985, still has the most victories at 36…twice that of 2nd placed Belgium.  

Q:  Who participated in the Tour de France the most?

A:  The Netherlands’ Joop Zoetemelk rode in 16 Tours de France.  He never abandoned the race, and in 12 of these, he finished in the top-10.  Three riders rode in 15 Tours:  Lucien van Impe (Bel), Guy Nulens (Bel) and Viatcheslav Ekimov (Russia).   American George Hincapie is closing in on the record.  This will be his 14th Tour.

Q: Who has finished on the podium the most times?

A: Raymond Poulidor finished in the top 3 8 different times!

Q: Do most multiple winners win consecutively?

A: It really varies, but the biggest span between victories goes to Gino Bartali.  He won his first Tour in 1938, then, when the race was not held due to WWII, Bartali was stalled in winning his last Tour victory until 1948.

Q:  What’s the typical time gap between the winner and the second-placed rider?

A: A handful of minutes is not uncommon, though this margin has been shrinking in recent Tours (the past three have all been by under a minute).  The largest time gap was over 2 hours, 49 minutes in 1903 between Maurice Garin (Fra) and Lucien Potheir (Fra).  The closes margin was a mere 8 seconds between Greg Lemond (USA) and Laurent Fignon (Fra).

Q: Are Tour riders usually older and more experienced? 

A:  Usually late 20’s into their early 30’s. The oldest winner was 36 years (Firmin Lambot), and the youngest was just nearly 20 (Henri Cornet).

Q:  Who holds the record for most green jerseys?

A: Germany’s Erik Zabel has 6 to his name.

Q: And polka dot jersey?

A: France’s Richard Virenque with 7.

Q: What about most white jerseys?

A: Germany’s Jan Ullrich with 3.

Q: What’s the fastest stage on record?

A: It depends on the type of stage.  Of just a “normal” stage, Mario Cipollini’s win at Laval-Blois in 1999 was a record 50.355 km/hr.  Time trials, however, tend to be longer with Greg Lemond’s 1989 victory on the final stage clocking in at 54.545 km/hr.  The fastest prologue on record is Chris Boardman’s 55.152 km/hr in the 1994 opening 7.2km stage from Lille to Euralille.  And finally, the Discovery Channel team clocked 57.32 km/hr in a team time trial from Tours to Blois. 

Q: Do the riders always finish in a peloton?

A: No! Breakaways are quite common.  The longest breakaway by a single rider was Albert Bourlon who, in 1947, broke away for 252 kms, finishing more than 16 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.  The biggest time gap by a solo rider was Jose-Luis Viejo who finished nearly 23 minutes ahead in 1976.  The largest time gap overall, however, was a breakaway of 14 riders who, in 2001, beat the peloton by nearly 36 minutes.

Q: Do the riders ride the same route every year?

A: No.  For one thing, even-numbered years usually go counter-clockwise around the country while odd-numbered years go clockwise.  Also, every department of France has hosted the Tour in addition to the surrounding countries.  The longest Tour on record was 5,745 kms in 1926, and the city of Bordeaux has hosted the Tour more times than any other (with the exception of Paris).  Over 500 towns and villages have hosted the approximate 2000 stages and prologues. 

Q: So how many people actually watch the race?

A: It’s really hard to gauge, but best guesses place the number between 12 to 15 million watched last year’s.  180 countries cover the race (including 168 live), and there are approximately 6 million internet visits to the Tour’s website at www.letour.fr.  Hopefully with these facts in hand, you’ll tune in this year, too.