How the Tour Became Biggest Sporting Event

Every year, over the course of three weeks, a group of 180 athletes each burns an equivalent of 200 Big Macs in calories. This is the Tour de France, a 3,000+ km bike race and the most-watched sports event in the world, attracting more than 3 billion viewers over its three-week duration. But it all started as a marketing stunt.

The Tour de France was first organized in 1903 as a publicity stunt for a French newspaper, L'Auto. The goal was to promote the newspaper across France through a bicycle race across the country. The first Tour was extremely grueling, with 400 km stages that would take most of the day to complete using the bicycles of that century and less prepared riders. Riders also needed to rest for 2-3 days between stages.

Part of what makes the Tour famous is the iconic yellow leader’s jersey, known as the "maillot jaune". Wearing this jersey in the finale in Paris has become the most prestigious achievement in cycling, with top riders dedicating their entire year to training for this moment. The color yellow was chosen because it matched the color of the pages of L'Auto, the newspaper that originally organized the event.

The Tour de France has evolved from being predominantly an individual sport into a team sport, adding a layer of complexity with tactics involved. However, at the end of the day, each individual still needs to pedal for themselves. The mere fact that anyone can finish this race stands as a testament to the limits of human capabilities

Craving more? Check out the source behind this Brain Snack!