Tour De France Cycle Race Is Enormous

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28950, 18 July 1959, Page 5

Tour De France Cycle Race Is Enormous

'THE world’s biggest, cycle race, - -the Tour de France, can only be described By brie word—enormous. Everything about' the French race is huge—the fields, the Crowds and the course. To get an idea of its length, imagine a cycle race which starts at Christchurch, winds , across to Wellington, out across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, and back again to Wellington. In all, the distance is about 2700 miles, with 120 competitors mounted on specially-prepared cycles, with hard, narrow seats, crouched over ' handlebars strategically packed with refreshments. Motor Vehicles The caravan which accompanies the race is very big. There are publicity vans, trick motorscooter acts and trucks blaring' commercials; More than 30 miles long, it begins passing a given point 90 minutes before the racers and passes continuously at 25 miles an hour until the first facer is in sight far down the'; road. With at least 15 million spectators crowding the roads, the publicity vans have a huge audience.

One sporting newspaper has 23 reporters assigned and devotes five pages a day to its coverage. A normal provincial daily newspaper has one page devoted to it out of 14. , ; Quiet Start There is little drama in the early stages of the race, with the competitors pedalling briskly but quietly along, closely watching each other. Each rider knows that if he attempts to sprint away from the rest of the field, all the other riders will gang up on him and force him to slow down and perhaps even edge him off the road. •* ? The tour is won on the mountain roads, not on the flats. It is here that the putsiders, who generally keep up with the stars on the plains, disappear. The tour is so gigantic that borders cannot slow it, nor common law halt it. 'this applies not only to the cyclists but also to the caravan of cars and trucks which accompanies them. They all sail v through the borders of Luxembourg and Belgium at top speed, with the border guards cheering as loudly as anyone.