Welcome to our newest recurring item, Know Your Tour! This is a forum for fans who haven't spent the last two decades of their life poring over magazines and websites to understand every nook and cranny of the World's Greatest Sporting Event, the Tour de France. Each day of the Tour, beginning with the Grand Depart on Saturday July 3, the Podium Cafe will bring you an article discussing some of the background information that you may or may not know already. For new fans, this will hopefully help you develop a deeper appreciation of a very rich, complex sport and its marquee event.
Please use the comments to ask any questions you have, or otherwise... you know, comment. For the old hands, feel free to answer any questions, fill in anything I've missed, add your own perspectives, anecdotes and memories. And if you haven't spent much time here before, I want to personally welcome you to the Podium Cafe community, the liveliest and most collegial international cycling forum you'll find in the English language.
Stage 0: Do We Need a Prologue?
Stage 1: Why Do Bad Crashes Happen to Good Cyclists?
Stage 2: Is the Green Jersey Competition About Sprinting?
Stage 3: Is Riding On Cobblestones A Good Idea?
Stage 4: Speaking of Prizes...
Stage 5: How Do You Win a Sprint?
Stage 6: Why does everyone want to ride the Tour?
Stage 7: What's So Fun About Breakaways?
Stage 8: Keeping the Powder Dry
Rest Day: Do They Rest?
Stage 9: It's All Downhill
Stage 10: So the King of the Mountains is *That* Guy?
Stage 11: Raise the Bloody Banner!
Stage 12: Caught in the Crossfire
Stage 13: A Man Needs A Maid
Stage 14: Has Lance Won Yet?
Stage 15: When Winning Is Losing
Stage 16: Miss Manners, Where Are You?
Stage 17: What's in a climb?
Stage 18: Getting Down Off the Mountain
Stage 19: The Race of Truth
Stage 20: Is There a Race Today?