Tour de France Part One
Cycling is not a sport that receives much attention in the United States. The popularity of the sport is, in many areas, limited to enthusiasts without much casual attention. However, the major exception to this rule is the Tour de France. Almost any sports fan you speak with is familiar with the Tour de France. The race dates back more than one hundred years to a competition of sorts between two competing newspapers. There were two companies at the time with very similar names. One was named Le Velo, and the other was named LAuto. The bosses at LAuto wanted to essentially shut down their competitor. From this, the Tour de France was conceived. The race was meant to generate excitement for LAuto and and force it into the favour of the public. That is the reason for the massive 2,200 mile length of the race. Covering a small stretch would not be effective enough, so it was necessary to cover as much ground as possible both to generate buzz and literally cover ground in the marketing effort.
Since its inception, the race has brought many champions into the limelight, the most arguably of which is Lance Armstrong. Armstrong is synonymous with the sport in the minds of many casual fans, and he has helped take the sport to new heights in terms of its mainstream appeal. But in a sport that has a much narrower following than something such as soccer or basketball, how did the Tour de France become so popular?
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