Bart Haynes here in sunny San Diego with some information on the Tour de France, which begins in a couple of weeks. A non-cyclist friend recently asked me, Hey Bart, do you think you could ride in the tour, not to compete, but just finish it?
Could Bart Haynes finish the Tour de France?
The answer is most certainly a big, fat, 100% no. I probably wouldn’t make it past the fourth stage. There are really only three reasons that shed light on this:
- The Tour de France is arguably the most challenging, physically demanding events in the history of the planet
- To be able to ride 100+ miles nearly 21 days in a row is insane, and takes complete dedication (i.e., cycling is your life) – even this doesn’t guarantee that you will finish
- I train for 100 mile rides once or twice per month, not 21 times per month
Not only is competing at that level and riding 100, 120, even 150 miles in some stages difficult, this event spans three weeks. Try and show me any other event that comes close to the Tour. Even an Ironman, while an incredible feat, is a single day event.
Stages and miles of each Tour de France Stage
Check out this list of each stage, with km converted to miles. Details about each stage can be found from here: details about Tour de France stages.
Day 1 | 125 miles | Noirmoutier-En-L’Ïle – Fontenay-Le-Comte
Day 2 | 113 miles | Mouilleron-Saint Germain – La Roche-Sur-Yon
Day 3 | 22 miles | Cholet (TTT)
Day 4 | 121 miles | La Baule – Sarzeau
Day 5 | 127 miles | Lorient – Quimper
Day 6 | 112 miles | Brest – Mûr de Bretagne Guerlédan
Day 7 | 143 miles | Fougères – Chartres
Day 8 | 112 miles | Dreux – Amiens Métropole
Day 9 | 97 miles | Arras Citadelle – Roubaix
Day 10 | Rest | Annecy
Day 11 | 98 miles | Annecy – Le Grand-Bornand
Day 12 | 67 miles | Albertville – La Rosière
Day 13 | 109 miles | Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arc – Alpe d’Huez
Day 14 | 106 miles | Bourg d’Oisans – Valence
Day 15 | 117 miles | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Mende
Day 16 | 112 miles | Millau – Carcassonne
Day 17 | Rest | Carcassonne
Day 18 | 135 miles | Carcassonne – Bagnères-de-Luchon
Day 19 | 40 miles | Bagnères-de-Luchon – Saint-Lary-Soulan (Col de Portet)
Day 20 | 106 miles | Trie-sur-Baïse – Pau
Day 21 | 124 miles | Lourdes – Laruns
Day 22 | 19 miles | Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle – Espelette (ITT)
Day 23 | 72 miles | Houilles – Paris
