Cycling is a big deal in France and in Europe in general and all of France gets Tour de France fever. Depsite Lance Armstrong being American, even before his fall from grace, I didn't really know anyone in the US who seemed to care that much about it.
I think the most interesting part of watching TdF on TV is seeing the different French towns they pedal through, but some people watch it for the cyclists, too. The uninteresting part for me is the cycling-- pedal pedal pedal in a giant peloton. Ooh, the drama. Sometimes a few break away, sometimes they don't, sometimes they go up hills, sometimes they go back down hills. As you can tell, I don't exactly find it riveting...
I do like when they need a quick bike repair or medical help and the support staff do impressive things like replace a dérailleur or give someone stitches for a deep cut out the car window while the guys are still cycling.
2013 was the year I started cycling, did 2 bike races- 80K and 95K respectively, and then decided never again to do any cycling competitions whatsoever because they were both so awful-- ugly poorly marked courses, potholes and dangerous oncoming traffic. I think this is also partly why I would rather clean my entire kitchen floor with a toothbrush than watch televised cycling.
However, I like doing triathlons and unfortunately, cycling is part of the deal. Short rides like 20-40 km are ok, but I don't think I will ever be convinced to go any farther than that.
But while watching the sport itself isn't that fascinating to me, I have nothing but the highest respect for real cyclists who can do the crazy long distances (especially without drugs!) and can go 40+km/hr. We cheered Froome and company on at Tuilleries last night where we saw the cyclists do several loops of the last stage of the competition, 7 km around Paris to end along the Champs Elysées by the Arc de Triomphe which was well decorated with an impressive light show. It was about a million degrees out, but everyone was in a good mood, chilled beverages abounded and and we kept trying to imagine how the cyclists must feel on the last night of their epic 6-week tour about to ride down the Champs for the last time before the end of their race.
