What even is the Tour de France? From its origins through its evolution to whatever it is today, the Tour has never been just one thing. The original organizer and racers wouldn’t at all recognize the thing we see today. To me, this is just an opinion, it has lost its charm, strangled to death by the need to monetize every kilometer, to manufacture results via technology and an increasingly arcane set of rules.
Take me back to a day when the riders didn’t know much about nutrition and weren’t wired up like a pack of Secret Service agents. I know. I know. Time is unidirectional. The genie doesn’t go back in the bottle (even if that’s your first wish). We are where we are, and it is what it is.
Lawrence of Arabia won Best Picture in 1962. The Four Seasons dominated the pop charts. And churlish bike racers stole Coca-Cola’s from bemused cafe owners. It was a different, maybe even a better, time