Interesting Tour de France Facts
Calories consumed by a rider per day: 5,900 average, 9,000 max
Calories burned by a rider in the course of the Tour: 123,900 (based on 5900-per day average at 21 days of racing)
Number of pedal strokes taken per rider for the three weeks: 324,000 (at 60 rpm); 486,000 (at 90 rpm)
Number (or miles) of barricades erected and torn down for the race: 217 miles
Number of gendarmes (French military police officers) on the Tour: 13,000
Number of chains worn out by a single rider: 3 (Armstrong went through a chain a week)
Total number of tires used by the peloton: 792
Number of finishers, worst-ever year: 10 in 1919 (out of 69 starters)
Most stages won by a single rider, career total: 34, Eddy Merckx (1969: six stages and overall; 1970: eight stages and overall; 1971: four stages and overall; 1972: six stages and overall; 1974: eight stages and overall; 1975: two stages)
Most number of stages won on single Tour: 8--Charles Pelissier (1930), Eddy Merckx (1970, 1974), and Freddy Maertens (1976)
Most riders to wear yellow jersey in one Tour: 8 in 1987
Most days spent in yellow jersey: 96 by Eddy Merckx (in 7 participations)
Biggest winning margin (since 1947): 28 min 27 sec (Fausto Coppi--Stan Ockers in 1952)
Smallest winning margin: 8 sec (Greg LeMond--Laurent Fignon in 1989)
Longest solo breakaway: 253 km by Albert Bourlon in 1947
Biggest winning margin on stage win: 22 min 50 sec by Jose Luis Viejo in 1976
Fastest prologue: 55.152 kph by Chris Boardman in 1994 over 7.2 km
Highest total number of "King of the Mountains" victories: 7 by Richard Virenque
Fastest individual time trial: 54.545 kph by Greg LeMond in 1989 over 24.5 km
Fastest team time trial: 54.930 kph by Gewiss in 1995 over 67 km
Fastest average over a flat stage: 50.355 kph by Mario Cipollini in 1999 over 194.5 km (Laval-Blois)
Fastest average over whole Tour: 40.276 kph by Lance Armstrong in 1999
Oldest race winner: Firmin Lambot (36) in 1922
Youngest winner: Henri Cornet (20) in 1904
Most times participated by one rider: 16 (Joop Zoetemelk, between 1970 and 1986; he finished them all)
15: million spectators set to line the route
36: French victories on the Tour since debut in 1903
132: times Paris has hosted a start or finish of the Tour
52 km: the shortest flat stage of the race (Stage 7, from Saint-Meen-le-Grand to Lorient)
198: riders at the start
1,200: number of hotel rooms reserved for teams and their staff, press, and Tour personnel
1904: The year of the first documented case of cheating in the Tour
2,965: hours of TV coverage
1,860 m: the altitude of the L'Alpe d'Huez
3,653.6 km: the total distance
8,400: food bags distributed at feeding stations throughout race
25,055: number of security personnel.
42,000: water bottles used by teams in race
360,466 km: approximate distance of all previous 92 Tours de France
3,200,000 euros: total prize money for the entire race
450,000 euros: prize money for race winner
CONNACHT CYCLING
