As a young sports fan, I perhaps went against the grain by embracing events that spanned days, even weeks.
Test cricket (five days) and the snooker World Championships (the longest matches span three days) were regular TV marathons in my house growing up.
This love of slow sport continued into adulthood when I became hooked on bike racing, and in particular, the Tour de France. Three weeks, 21 stages and around five hours a day of racing – it’s a classic of the genre.
There has been much handwringing in recent years about how events like Test cricket and Grand Tour bike racing fit in the modern era, and how they’ll attract younger fans in a world of diminished attention spans and expectation for instant gratification.
Shortened versions of cricket (The Hundred, T20) and cycling (Hammer Series) have popped up – and in the case of the latter, already disappeared.
T20 has proven popular with a different crowd, but will never create the drama and ratcheting tension that the best Test series will.
The same applies to the Tour de France. Yes, you may have to sit through plenty of racing for meaningful action to happen, but when it does it makes the drama even more powerful – as these images demonstrate.
Alberto Contador took exception to this fan dressed as a doctor in 2011, in the aftermath of his positive test for banned asthma medication clenbuterol. Getty ImagesReporters weren’t merely documenting the race in 1935. Here one attends to stricken German racer Georg Umbenhauer during stage 16. Getty ImagesFive-time champ Bernard Hinault, here in 2009, became something of a minder during podium presentations, dispatching intruders if they disrupted proceedings. Getty ImagesWhen you’re on top, nothing can stop you. Lance Armstrong rides through a field in 2003 to successfully avoid a crash involving rival Joseba Beloki. Getty ImagesScenes you never want to see at the Tour de France, as riders gathered in Carpentras to mourn the unfathomable passing of Tom Simpson during the 1967 race. Getty ImagesThe Orica-Greenedge team bus was a key protagonist of the opening stage of 2013 when it got stuck on the finish line as the peloton approached. Getty ImagesJohnny Hoogerland was lacerated by barbed wire during a nightmarish crash while in the break at the 2011 race. Getty ImagesHoogerland's breakaway companion, Juan Antonio Flecha, was sideswiped by a France Télévisions car, causing the Dutchman to crash into the fence. Little remained of his bib shorts. Getty ImagesDespite being torn to shreds – and later requiring 33 stitches – Hoogerland finished the stage... and went on to finish 74th overall in the race. Getty ImagesBernard Hinault leads the peloton over the finish line in 1978, as they protest the staging of two stages on the same day. Getty ImagesMarco Pantani blitzes Alpe d’Huez in 1997 in a record 37 minutes, 35 seconds – a time that, despite all the advances in training and equipment, still stands today. Getty ImagesFerdi Kubler is sprayed with water during sweltering conditions in 1947. Getty ImagesPioneering first director of the Tour, Henri Desgrange, keeps a watchful eye over Belgium’s Sylvere Maes, the eventual winner, as he repairs a puncture in 1939. Getty ImagesPhilippe Gilbert is pulled from a ravine while leading the race in 2018, a shocking crash that later saw him abandon with a broken kneecap. Getty ImagesYellow jersey Geraint Thomas rubs his tear gas-strewn eyes in 2018 as police sought to disperse a farmer’s protest. Getty ImagesFile this under ‘could have been much worse’. As Adam Yates headed towards the finish, the 1km to go banner fell onto him as he passed under it. He escaped with only minor cuts and grazes in the high-speed smash. Getty ImagesLevel crossings are a feature of the race – and not heeding the warnings of barriers has been a trait through generations. Getty ImagesThe appropriately named Tino Tabak smokes a pipe prior to the fifth stage of the 1971 race. Sports science has moved on somewhat since. Getty ImagesMuch is made in 2026 of whether gravel belongs in the Tour de France. Riders of the 1957 race, seen here crossing a rocky road in the Alps on stage 10, would have the definitive opinion. Uneven surfaces were the nature of the beast back then. Getty ImagesJan Ullrich undergoes pre-race health tests in 2006, shortly before being booted off the race in doping disgrace. Getty ImagesRace leader Michael Rasmussen is flanked by police in 2007, as deep suspicion about the legitimacy of his performances reached fever pitch. Getty ImagesEchelons! This elusive and sought-after phenomenon, seen here in 2013, sees the peloton blown apart by the wind and split into groups. It can turn benign stages into battles for the ages. Getty ImagesThe army of fans that flocked to the Yorkshire Grand Depart in 2014 marked the high point of the cycling boom in Britain. Getty ImagesIn the heat of the moment near the finish, tensions mount in the peloton. In Gueugnon in 2010 they boiled over, when Carlos Barredo came at Rui Costa with his bike’s front wheel before it turned into a fist fight. Getty Images
Cycling Plus deputy editor and tireless domestique John has been putting in a shift for the magazine for seven years. Despite having been a ‘proper’ road cyclist for the last decade, he still can’t work out what his main motivation for punishing all-day rides is. A freewheeling attitude towards cake is the popular theory, however.
