We are about a month away from one of the greatest cycling races in the world: the Tour de France, which takes place this year from July 1 to 24.

You can probably guess from the name where this race takes place: France.

The little word “de” in the name means “of” in English.

“Tower” is a bit tricky. This can mean visiting a bunch of sites in an area.

For example, if someone was visiting Western Maine, they could visit Oxford, Norway, South Paris, Rumford, Livermore, and Farmington.

Another meaning of tour is a series of professional sports tournaments, such as golf or tennis tours.

The Tour de France is a combination of both directions. This is a series of 21 cycle races (all part of one big race) and they take place in different parts of France and neighboring countries. Thus, by participating in the Tour de France, cyclists participate in a sporting tour and at the same time cover regions of France by bicycle.

Each of the 21 races in the Tour de France is called a stage – a stage of the race. Although the locations of some stages change from year to year, there are always certain types of stages. For example, some are called time trials, to see who can do it the fastest. Some are mountain stages, through mountains, perhaps the Pyrenees or the Alps.

Regardless of location changes, each year the final stage takes place in Paris, with the final sprint on a famous street called the Champs-Élysées, considered one of the most beautiful streets in the world.

In total, the Tour de France is about 2,200 miles long, which is almost equivalent to cycling from New York to California.

There are usually 22 teams with nine riders on each team. All teams have to work hard to keep going even when they are too tired and it’s hot, rainy or cold.

The Tour de France is the biggest cycle racing event. Think of it as the Super Bowl, the World Series or the NBA Championship.

One of the advantages of the Tour de France is that, unlike sports played in stadiums, such as baseball, soccer or football, where you have to pay to be there, everyone can see the stages of the Tour de France for free. .

The teams are made up of some of the best cyclists from many countries. This year, there will be four Americans participating:

Sepp Kuss, from the Jumbo-Visma team;
Brandon McNulty, on UAE Team Emirates;
Matteo Jorgenson, from the Movistar team;
Quinn Simmons, from the Trek-Segafredo team.

Part of what makes the Tour de France so fun is that it’s one big race made up of 21 separate races. And every team and individual would love to win one, if not all, of the races.

Teams can win prizes for certain stages or for being the fastest team of all, but individuals can also win prizes, even if they are not part of the winning team.

Over the next month, as the start of the Tour de France gets closer, there will be more and more reports and information about it. And once the race begins on July 1, fans around the world will be checking in every day which teams and individuals are doing the best.

Fun facts:

• The Tour de France began in 1903 and has been held every year since, with the exception of a few years during World War I and World War II.

• The race is for men only, but from this year there will be an eight-day race for women called the Tour de France Women. (The French word Femmes means women.) It will take place from July 24 to 31.

• Although each team wears matching jerseys (called jerseys), four riders wear special jerseys for each stage. And every day, who wears the special jerseys can change.

• The race leader wears a yellow jersey. The winner of the last stage wears a green jersey. The runner who has climbed the mountains the best wears a polka dot jersey. And the most successful runner among runners 25 or younger wears a white jersey.

• The French call the yellow jersey the Maillot Jaune, which means yellow jersey.

• At the end of the Tour de France, each rider wants to be the one wearing the Yellow Jersey because that means he is the big winner!

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