Les Aventures de Mme. Beaubien: Tour de France Comes to Le Puy

The 2017 Tour de France, cycling’s Grand Tour classic, is coming through LePuythis weekend and already making a splash as shopkeepers and city leaders have dressed their windows and the city’s streets in anticipation of the event.                                                                                            

 The 3,540 km (2,200 mile) race began in Düsseldorf, Germany on July 1 with 198 riders from 22 teams. It will conclude on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 23. Riders will come through historic LePuy July 15-17 with a two-day stop.

Each squad is allowed a maximum of nine riders. Of these, 49 are riding the Tour de France for the first time.The average age of riders in the race is 29.39 years and they come from 32 countries. The Tour de France began in France in 1903 and has been held annually except during World War I and II. Although riders were French originally, they now come from all over the globe. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI World Teams with the exception of those teams the organizers invite.

The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France,but also in neighboring countries. It was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper L'Auto, which is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annuallyexcept during World War I and II. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe.

The Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia (begun in 1909) and Vuelta a España (begun in 1935) make up cycling's prestigious, three-week-long Grand Tours. The Tour de France is considered the most prestigious of the three by fans and riders alike. Although the route changes each year, its format remains the same and it always passes through the Pyrenees and the Alps and finishes on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.