Le tour de France is not just the most famous bike race in the world. It is also the world’s largest annual spectator event with millions of people lining the route to see le peloton and la caravane publicitaire pass by, but more importantly, to get les goodies. The Tour, aka La Grande Boucle or the big loop, is a sporting and cultural event extraordinaire. People gather around la course and it allows them to celebrate France and all things French.
Le peloton means pack or group, and it’s used to describe the main bunch of cyclists. There are 22 équipes, or teams, participating in this race. These teams have a main sponsor and there are 8 riders on each team. The riders are called les coureurs. Les domestiques are the riders who work for the benefit of their leader, rather than trying to win the race.
The route changes every year, alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits through different towns of France. However if you are in France in July, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to catch une étape. Une étape, is a stage, or a part of the race. The Tour is broken down into 21 étapes; one stage per day across 3500 km of France with two days of rest for a total of 23 days. That is about 167 km per day, with an average speed of 40 km per hour. The Tour always ends in a sprint down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, but the Grand Départ, or start, changes every year.
There are a few different categories and the leader of each wears a different colored jersey.
The overall leader wears le maillot jaune or the famous yellow jersey, which means he’s taken the least time so far over all of the stages combined. Le maillot vert or the green jersey is for best sprinter. Le maillot à pois or the polka dot jersey is white with red dots, and it’s worn by the best climber, or best in mountain terrain. Le maillot blanc or the white jersey is for the best young rider. Only those 25 years or younger in the year of the race are eligible.
And finally, there is also la lanterne rouge or the red lantern, which is not a jersey but a nickname given to the rider who is last in the standings.
Le Tour de France is a three week competition that is totally free. Spectators do not need to buy tickets, just stand on the side of la route and watch les coureurs go by.
In addition to the race, fans line the streets to see the spectacle of La Caravane Publicitaire or the publicity caravan. The caravan is a 45-minute string of vehicles, each modified and decorated by advertisers, that rolls ahead of the peloton. This parade of advertising cars throws out “les goodies” or freebies and get the crowd in a festive mood. Spectators like the advertising caravan as much if not more than the actual race. Some popular items are: les porte-cléfs (key rings), les casquettes (hats), les T-shirts, les bonbons (candy) and other products.
Based on the Tour’s fan figures, somewhere between 10 and 15 million people line France’s roadways for the parade and peloton. For the fans who sit for hours under the hot sun, the caravan is as much a part of the experience as the race itself. The caravan definitely lasts longer and sends fans home with something from the Tour, a free souvenir for which crowds jostle and elbow for a piece of the Tour of France spectacle.
La caravane publicitaire is a great opportunity to observe products and practices while reflecting on perspectives with your students. Have students watch this video, list the companies in the caravan and see if they can guess the products each one sells from the decorations of the vehicules.
For those of us that can’t make it to France in July, la Grande Boucle is an opportunity to travel with out leaving the sofa. On TV, there are beautiful shots of the countryside and the commentators often explain a little about each region, including the local specialties. Here is a presentation in French that I use with my students. Check out my pinterest pages for infographs and other French resources for teaching about Le Tour de France.