The Tour de France bicycle race has existed for over a hundred years. For the first time, it was carried out as an advertising project for the newspaper L'Auto, and the very first race increased the number of the newspaper's subscribers more than two and a half times. Today, the Tour de France is the most prestigious cycling race in the world and invariably brings together the elite of cycling in the world.
The 2012 Tour de France will start on June 30 in Liege, Belgium, and the cyclists will cross the final finish line on July 22 on the Champs Elysees. Among the stages: three time trial races, nine flat, four mid-mountain and five mountain stages. The riders will drive on the highways of Belgium, Switzerland and France. In total, they will cover 3479 kilometers.
In 2012, 22 teams were invited to participate in the Tour. In addition to 18 ProTeam licensed teams, the organizers have invited four more professional European teams. Three French: Cofidis, Saur-Sojasun and Team Europcar, as well as the Dutch Argos-Shimano.
Among the participants in the 2012 Tour de France is the Russian Katusha Team, created in 2008 at the suggestion of the entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov. Last year 17 out of 28 cyclists of the team represented Russia.
The three-time winner of the Tour de France, the Spanish racer of the Danish team Team Saxo Bank, Alberto Cantador, will not be able to take part in the super bike race. More precisely, now two times, since the title of winner of 2010 was taken away from him by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for the use of the prohibited drug clenbuterol. In addition, the rider was suspended for two years. The title of the winner of 2010 went to the Luxembourg racer Andy Schleck. Russian Denis Menshov has moved in the final classification from third to second place.
From this point of view, it will be interesting to follow Andy Schleck's performances this season. He reacted coolly to his title, noting that he was the winner only on paper, not in the race. The Luxembourg cyclist now desperately needs a real victory.
And of course, the attention of cycling enthusiasts will be focused on the current winner of the Tour de France, American Kedel Evans, who announced last year his intention to repeat his success.
