TOUR REACHES SWITZERLAND

The Tour de France is one of the most prestigious cycling races in the world. Introduced in the year 1903 it spans an area of over 2500 kilometers. Also known as Le Tour it has been an inspiration for cycling enthusiasts all over the world inviting participation not only from France but all over the world. The 99th edition of this race will be held from 30th of June. Consisting of 20 stages and 1 prologue it will cover a distance of 3479 kilometers before concluding on 22nd July.

Though it may sound simple, the terrains that the race covers are really challenging, ready to throw the participants off the track. The various distinctive and interesting aspects of this year’s tour de France is that it will have 9 types of flat stages, 4 medium sized mountain stages with summit finish for one of them. The next part will contain 5 mountain stages out of which two will have a summit finish. Two Individual times trial races two rest days and one prologue. The 2012 edition of the race will have 25 summit finishes or highest mountain passes. The summits will be divided in the following way geographically.

There will be 1 in Vosges, 3 in Jura. The Swiss Jura will have 4, the Alps 6 and Pyrenees will have 11. These are also known as the tour summits. The last three editions of tour de France in total had 21 summits in 2009, 25 summits in 2010 and 23 summits in 2011. To identify the various achievers in the race, they are awarded with jerseys of various colors. Yellow, Green, Polka Dot, White, Team classification, most aggressive rider and the stage winner are the jersey’s that are awarded. Lance Armstrong is the reigning world champion in this race.