I have watched the Tour de France for a number of years now, ever since Lance started winning like crazy. While I've never really been huge into any sport and I definitely don't follow cycling outside of its biggest tour, each July I've enjoyed following the peloton through the Pyrenees and Alps to the Champs Elysees.
What sets it apart from other sports for me includes a number of things from the commentary, the surroundings, and the mindsets of the athletes. So I thought I'd compile my top ten list of why the TdF is better than football, basketball, or soccer.*
10. I enjoy bicycle riding myself, so it's actually fun to see the pros go at it and enjoy it (probably more than I do).
9. It's a long term "game" that requires patience to follow and lots of thinking ahead. As a three week race of over 2,000 miles, it's like the Lawrence of Arabia of sports.
8. The camera work that follows the race should win some cinematographic awards. The helicopter cam is one of the best and is great at highlighting both the beauty of the countryside, the road, and the pack of riders. During one of the earlier stages this year, I found myself looking at the top of a church steeple with an angel on top. This one. Below, the peloton charged into view and the helicopter slowly circled the angel atop the spire for nearly three minutes as the riders wound their way into, through, and out of the small town. Fantastic.
7. History. I love history and they're always cutting away to some battlefield or landmark that has significance from the 11th Century, French Revolution, or WWII.
6. The French country side. I've been to France and I still haven't seen as many chateaus (like this one from today's stage), Pyrenees, or Alps that they show us during the tour. Then there's that classic shot of the riders pedaling through the field of sunflowers.
5. The sheer athleticism. I ride my bike to work most days, about 21 miles round trip. It's kinda tiring. These guys do between 120 and 200 miles each day. And they're going way faster than me. The sprinters ride all that for the whole day and still manage to charge the finish line at up to 40 mph. Incredible.
4. They climb mountains on bicycles. Yes.
3. The commentary is fantastic and hilarious. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are these British former cyclists who know the sport and strategy and are great at cluing us into what the riders are thinking and planning. They also say ridiculous things because they are British. "The peloton are just letting the breakaway fry in the the saucepan of the afternoon day sun before they reel them back in!" "We're watching these riders absolutely haul their carcasses up this mountain!"
2. The stats and the different races. It's not just who gets to Paris first. The sprinters competition to see who can get highest points on the flat stages and the King of the Mountains (self explanatory) keep things interesting as you continue to root for someone to maintain the yellow jersey.
1. The team mindset, the self sacrificial acts, and "professional gentlemanry" are things that do not have this kind of presence in any other sport. Each team has a leader who is going for an overall win in Paris, some have sprinters and some have climbers. Depending on what's going on that stage, most of the riders are there to not help themselves, but to help their leader. There are riders on the team who are the exact same size and shape as the team leader so that they can give their bike to him in the event of a mechanical breakdown. These guys ride in the front and take the wind so that the leader can be fresh to beat his rivals when the time comes. The lead out the sprinters right up to the line and sometimes carry multiple gallons of water just so someone "more important" can save energy. Some guys can absolutely destroy their own chances to be able to ride the next day in an effort to make it easier on their leader. What sport has such selflessness? Even rivals are good about respecting each other- when Lance Armstrong was brought to the pavement by a careless spectator, his rival, Jan Ullrich stopped and waited for him and ended up ultimately losing. But he recognized that that foolish spectator wasn't really a part of the game unlike in other sports.
There's more I'm sure. But it's on Versus this month at 8am (if you want the awesome British commentators). At least watch the last 20 km around 11am. It's usually pretty intense.
*You can hate me later.
