Twenty - two teams from right across the world are involved in the Tour, with each having up to nine riders. The riders average around 25 mph over the entire course but at some points they'll go a lot faster than that.
Geraint Thomas recently won the Tour De France and here are some of the most memorable incidents from the Tour de France over the years:
- Lance Armstrong's shortcut, 9th stage, 2003: While Joseba Beloki careered into a crash caused by sun - softened tarmac, Lance Armstrong veered sharply into a nearby field to avoid collision. Taking his bike wide, he steered himself into a long arc, leaping back onto the course with barely a few seconds lost. Regardless of Armstrong's tarnished legacy, this sort of instinctive cycling is one of the reasons he'll remain a titan of the sport.
- Former winner Froome and Thomas’s friendship 2018: Even though Froome knew he woudn’t win this year, he said he was happy if Thomas would be on top of the podium in Paris.
- The indestructible 2018 : Not only did Philippe Gilbert get up and keep riding after going into a ravine on a sharp descent, he did so with a broken kneecap. Peter Sagan, meanwhile, had to grit his teeth to make it to the end of the Tour, suffering a hard fall on Stage 17. The winner of the Tour’s unofficial strongman competition has to be Lawson Craddock, however. The 26 - year - old Houstonian suffered a broken shoulder on Stage 1 and somehow finished the Tour. That includes bouncing his way over the cobblestones of Stage 9.
- Mark Cavendish's super - powered sprint (stage 21, 2009): Possibly the best sprint cyclist of his generation, Cavendish's six - stage win was – and still is – a legendary feat.
- Eros Poli conquers Ventoux, stage 15, 1994: Although Mont Ventoux is the climb responsible for the death of rider Tom Simpson, Eros Poli's ascent at least goes some way towards ensuring not all the memories on that mountain are sombre. Poli finished the mammoth attempt and went on to win the stage with a three minute buffer on his nearest rivals.
Doubts on this article
