The Tour de France must be one of the most gruelling sporting events in the entire world. Nowhere else will you find athletes that are fitter: the great Spanish cyclist, Miguel 'Big Mig' Indurain at the height of his career reputedly had a cardiovascular so highly developed that his heart only had to pump twenty-five times per minute. It is also dangerous, with four cyclists dying and several more being seriously injured over the course of the race's history. The intense physical pressure, combined with heat, have led to deaths - most notably that of British cyclist Tom Simpson, who collapsed and died near the summit of Mont Ventoux, the toughest climb of the race. Determined to the end, Simpson's last words were reputed to be "put me back on my bike". Other fatalities have been caused by crashed on the steep and winding mountain roads.
Of the difficulty of the Tour de France, the New York Times had this to say last week, at the height of the current Tour: "The Tour de France’s status as the world's most physiologically demanding event is largely unquestioned. The riders cover 2,272 miles (3656 km) at an average speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), roughly the equivalent of running a marathon almost every day for almost three weeks. In the Pyrenees and the Alps, they climb a vertical distance equal to three Mount Everests. They take in up to 10,000 calories (cal) per day, the equivalent of 17 Big Macs, elevating their metabolic rates to a level that, according to a Dutch study, is exceeded by only four species on earth."
So, it's pretty tough. And this year an American has won it again. Following the success of recovered cancer-sufferer Lance Armstrong - who run the race seven times in succession, more than any other individual, and is probably the greatest race cyclist ever - this week Floyd Landis secured the crown.
What is it about Americans and the Tour? Cycling is a relative minority sport in the States, while in continental Europe it's huge: professional cyclists have huge followings in France, Spain, Belgium and Italy. The US secret probably lies in two things: training and focus. In recent years teams like US Postal have invested time and money in new training and preparation techniques, unlike many European teams which still tend to be a little hidebound by tradition. Americans can also focus on the Tour much more than their European counterparts, for whom the Tour is only one race in a whole season. A Lance Armstrong or a Floyd Landis can go all out for victory because the Tour is the only major race in which they will compete all year. Many of the Europeans have to conserve their energy and fitness for other the races which provide their income.
That's not to detract from the amazing achievements of Landis, or Armstrong in particular: Americans competiting in a quintessentially European (and some would say a quintessentially Latin) sport, they have excelled.