04 July 2003

Tour has 15 million spectators
It is estimated that 15 million people will join the roadside to watch some of this year's Tour de France - the 100th anniversary of the world's most famous cycle race.

Not that you will even notice it's going on in the UK. While 74% of the French population will watch the race on television (more than for the Six Nations, Champions League or French Open), in the UK you'll need to set your video to watch it on terrestrial TV as it's only on ITV at around 0130 each morning.

Which is a great shame, as the Alpine stages are fantastic to watch - not just for the amazing performances of the riders, but for the chance to see otherwise famous ski resorts come under the summer spotlight.

A 2645m gruelling climb...then up to Alpe d'Huez
This year the Tour has a Lyon to Morzine stage on Saturday July 12. Although this includes one Category 1 climb, it's no more than a warm-up for the following day's Sallanches to Alpe d'Huez stage. This features two 'hors-categorie' climbs - the 'Col du Galibier' which peaks at 2645m and the classic hairpin ascent to Alpe d'Huez at 1850m from Bourg d'Oisons at 722m.

If this doesn't sort out the men from the boys (the number of drop-outs will increase significantly over these three days), it's followed up on Monday 14 July with the Bourg d'Oisons to Gap stage, including the Category 1 climb to Col de Laureret (2058m) and hors-categorie Col d'Izoard (2360m). After that it's pretty much downhill for the remaining 98km that day!

For full info, including daily reports from Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, check out www.letour.fr. You can also watch live coverage of the tour on Eurosport.

Alpine Stages:

A slice of history:
In the first ever Tour in 1904, cheating was rife - the first four riders home were disqualified for taking lifts or tows, spectators felled trees to delay riders, one competitor complained of itching powder being placed in his race vest, and 125kg of nails were collected from the course, left by those bent on sabotage.

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