Tour de France 2008

tour_de_france_logo.jpgThe wait is over. The Tour de France 2008 begins today.

For the next few weeks I’ll be glued to the SBS Television coverage of the event and the official Tour de France website.

The Tour de France has been described as the toughest sporting challenge in the world. The elite athletes who take part face 21 grueling stages with many involving cycling up incredibly steep mountain roads. Some have compared it to marathon running saying that it’s like running a full marathon every day for three weeks.

This year’s favourite to wear the yellow winner’s jersey into Paris is Australian, Cadel Evans. If Evans wins it’ll be the first time an Aussie has won the event. Evans stood on the podium at the end of the event last year in second place, the highest ever finish for an Australian.

So what does the world’s greatest sporting event hold for us this year?

Running from Saturday July 5th to Sunday July 27th 2008, the 95th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,500 kilometres.

These 21 stages have the following profiles:

* 10 flat stages,
* 5 mountain stages,
* 4 medium mountain stages,
* 2 individual time-trial stages.

Distinctive aspects of the race

* 4 mountain finishes,
* 2 rest days,
* 82 kilometres of individual time-trials,
* 17 Category 1, Category 2 and highest level passes will be climbed.

You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a little sleepy over the next few weeks. The stages are run each day in France which is late at night here in Perth.

C’mon Cadel.



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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15 Comments

  • I just love the scenery!

    One day I will do a photography holiday in France that coincides with the Tour … it always looks superb & will again enjoy the SBS coverage, if mainly for the scenery!

  • Ah yes, the scenery is magnificent. I know a few people who have started watching the coverage and then got hooked on the tactics and the thrill of the race.

    I understand that it’s hard enough for some of the support cars to make it up some of those mountains so I’m even more impressed by the abilities of the riders.

  • Hello Kelly. Thanks for dropping in.

    They’ve got a couple of individual time trials but they’re a bit shorter than in previous years. There’s no team trial and the usual prologue time trial to start the event isn’t happening this year.

  • For years, I would get right on to my computer to find out about the tour de france. I’d watch every show. I was a TDF groupie. But the decision against Astana has left me less than interested. Unjust decisions move me away from the TDF. And it looks like it is having that general effect here in the USA. My newspaper didn’t even mention the TDF until today. And it probably won’t mention it again.

  • It’s a tough one, JJ. I guess the authorities have got to do everything they can to outlaw drugs in the sport. They’re going to get it wrong at times but in the end it’ll be a cleaner race.

    As for press in the US not mentioning the race, I wonder if that doesn’t have more to do with the fact that there are no serious contenders from America this year. From what I read there was little to no interest before Lance started winning and now that he’s gone he’s taken the interest with him.

    It’s a different story here in Australia. For the first time I can remember there was a photo of a Tour de France rider on the front page of the paper a few days ago. That’s only because for the first time ever the outright favourite, Cadel Evans, is an Aussie.

    Unfortunately, I don’t think that cycling will continue to grab the headlines in Australia or in the US if we don’t have a real chance of winning.

  • well i shall cheer for your Aussie countryman, Cadel Evans … :o)
    afterall you guys are our second cousins …

    blessings on you! ENJOY ,,,

  • Thanks for letting us know Rodney. I knew it was coming up, but not the date. After your post I remembered and caught some of the first stage.

  • Hi Rodney
    I will be watching along with you. I find the laptop on the lounge beside me with all the news flashes and stage profile info etc from the official website is a really good companion to the large projector screen surround sound and hidef set top box I prefer to view it on,. Last night was insane with the F1, tdf and wimbledon on all at once – i got to bed at 6:30am!

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