The Hype Surrounding The Tour De France

I really don’t get it. I mean, I know it’s passed now - been and gone and I wasn’t quick enough in writing a blog post about it at the time (This is how not to blog ladies and gentlemen), but it still seemed worthy of discussing with you all. 

Why was there so much hype, anticipation and excitement surrounding The Tour de France coming through Yorkshire, Cambridge and London? I really didn’t get it.

 

The roads around where I live, on the edge of the Pennines with Yorkshire, were completely closed off when the Tour de France ventured over this way. It was absolutely havoc as two major cross country routes were shut, and just about every road in the surrounding villages was turned into one way streets or blocked off completely. I wouldn’t mind, but Glossop is a good 20 minutes from the furthest point the cyclists were getting too.  

There were signposts miles and miles away for the car park to go and watch when the tour come through Holmfirth. And people did travel from miles, battling traffic left, right, and centre in order to get a glimpse of the tour passing through.  

Because that’s all you get. A glimpse. A blur of hundreds of cyclists in bright coloured jerseys passing in front of you for all of 10 seconds, and then they’re gone. Was that really worth the journey and the wait? Unless you’re on a difficult corner where there might be crashes, I just don’t see the excitement.  

Now, I know what you’re thinking: he just doesn’t like cycling. But that’s not true. I’ve always quite enjoyed cycling, both on and off road, and in the gym. It’s a great form of exercise and it’s great to get out in the fresh air on your bike and go somewhere. I wish I did it more often to be honest, and got a decent bike too!

So that’s not my problem. And I don’t really mind if people want to go and watch a race for just a few seconds. It’s not what I’d want to do, but that’s their choice, fine.

No, what I really object to is the fact that everyone has gone to so much trouble for the Tour de France. Doesn’t its name kind of give away where it should be held? A tour of France. What’s it doing in Yorkshire, in England? 

I think it’s great that we have such a strong British presence in the race. It’s hardly insightful to say that we’re actually very good at cycling in Britain. And I fully support our British athletes. So why are we holding a French race in our country? 

We don’t like the French. I’m sorry, it’s just the way it is. There’s a long history, and a strange underlying ‘friendly/joking hatred’ of the French. So why are we welcoming their race here? Why did people decorate buildings and get all into French themed stuff in England? 

Shouldn’t we be putting our own on? 

Shouldn’t we have a tour of Yorkshire, or a Great British cycle race? Wouldn’t that be amazing, to show off all of our incredible countryside and scenery to the rest of the world in our own race? 

It would be perfect for tourism, welcoming the best cyclists from around the globe, the world’s media, and the supporters who come with it all. It would benefit the whole of England, not just certain areas. And it would be something to be truly proud of. I'd happily contribute some copywriting to that! 

Why are we trying to embrace a long established French race, when we could be creating our very own race, just for Britain, that we could build on year upon year.  

Surely that would be better, wouldn’t it?