Le Tour de France 2009
- The Tour Map 2009
The Tour de France is the most well known and prestigious of cycling’s three “Grand Tours”.
The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages and this year’s 2009 was upstaged by the 24 year Mark Cavendish.
- Age: 24
- Team: Columbia
- Born: Isle of Man
- GB Team: Olympic Podium Programme
The leaders of a team and his team mates racing on the Tour de France try to excel, individually or by the support they provide to their team. This amazing sporting team spirit of courage, determination and perseverance which is the Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that covers around 3,500 kilometers (2,200 mi) throughout France and bordering countries.
Individual times to finish each stage are added up to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The rider with the lowest aggregate time at the end of each day wears a yellow jersey.
The course changes every year but it has always finished in Paris and since 1975 along the Champs-Élysées.
It typically has 21 days, or stages, of racing and covers not more than 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi).[2] The shortest Tour was in 1904 at 2,420 kilometres (1,500 mi), the longest in 1926 at 5,745 kilometres (3,570 mi).
The number of teams usually varies between 20 to 22, with nine riders in each. Entry is by invitation to teams chosen by the race organiser, the Amaury Sport Organisation. Team members help each other and are followed by managers and mechanics in cars first Tour de France was staged in 1903.
Riders aim to win overall but there are three further competitions: points, mountains and for the best young rider. The leader of each wears a distinctive jersey.
The maillot jaune (yellow jersey) is worn by the general classification leader. The winner of the first Tour wore not a yellow jersey but a green armband.
The maillot vert (green jersey) is awarded for sprint points. At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders who finish first, second, etc
The Points and more:
Flat stages: 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points are awarded to the first 25 riders across the
finish.
Medium-mountain stages : 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 20 riders across the finish.
High-mountain stages : 20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 15 riders across the finish.
Time-trials: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the top 10 finishers of the stage
OVERALL STANDING ON TIME
Results link after stage 21
Total distance covered: 3459.5 km
http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/LIVE/us/2100/classement/index.html
Winner: Mark Cavendish
Legends Trivia:
A legend of the same:
Lance Armstrong in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005
Image Source: