If you want your mind blown with some of the most craziest facts you will ever read then look no further! We have come up with some of the most obscure and crazy facts that will get the conversations going on your local club run.
Of course all facts could vary depending on the varying factors that can occur. So we have took an estimate of numbers to get to these facts. Top marks if you can come up with any of your own! The best ones will get published on here and on our social pages! Get your fact Famous. #GetYourFactFamous tag us @probikekit
1. On average a wheel will turn approximately 1,607,469 times throughout the Tour – Source ProBikeKit
2. Brian Robinson was the first British cyclist to win a stage of Tour de France in 1958 (http://letour.yorkshire.com)
3. The Tour draws around 12 million spectators along the route in an average year’s race (http://letour.yorkshire.com)
4. 3.5 billion people from around the world watch the Tour de France. That’s roughly 3 times the population of China! (http://letour.yorkshire.com)
5. 190 countries broadcast the Tour de France. That’s 97% of the world! (cyclingweekly.com)
6. 121 different television channels across the globe televise the Tour every year (http://letour.yorkshire.com)
7. There are 4,700 hours of Tour de France television coverage annually (http://letour.yorkshire.com)
8. Roughly 42,000 water bottles are used by teams in the Tour in an average year’s race (http://www.active.com)
9. Cyclists used to drink alcohol during the Tour to numb the pain until the 1960s (http://www.active.com)
10. In 1903 there were 5 different nationalities racing in the Tour de France. This year, there will be 35 different nationalities racing. (The Guardian)
11. The Tour route will take the riders through 5 main mountain ranges this year. (Source: letour.com)
12. In the first ever Tour de France race, the winning margin was 2 hours, 49 minutes! (Source: Forbes)
13. The average cyclist will burn roughly 123,900 calories for the entire race. That’s the equivalent of eating 435 pizza slices. (Source: active.com)
14. Over 80% of the spectators on the road are from France (Source: Forbes)
15. 2.29 million euros is up for grabs in the Tour De France this year (Source: roadcyclinguk.com)
16. The original sponsor of the Polka Dot jersey was Chocolat Poulian, and the wrapper of the chocolate bar was polka dotted which inspired the design. (Source: cyclist.co.uk)
17. Back in 1904, riders were caught cheating by taking shortcuts and using cars and trains. Some, like Maurice Garin, were even beaten up by their rivals’ supporters! (The Guardian)
18. The longest stage of the Tour de France was Stage 5 in 1919 at 482 km (300 miles). That’s 3 times longer than this year’s Stage 5 event! (Source: bikeraceinfo.com)
19. Only 10 out of 69 entrants in the 1919 Tour finished the race. This event was also the slowest of all time. (bikeraceinfo.com)
20. The Yellow jersey got its colour from the local newspaper l’Auto, although it is also said that other colours weren’t available post-war. (Sources:cyclist.co.uk)
21.Based on the average Tour being 2,600 miles, the race has covered approximately 267,800 miles since it began in 1903 (Source ProBikeKit)
22. How many miles would all the chains of the riders accumulate to If you lay them in one straight line 0.615 miles just over half a mile!
23. How many pizza slices are consumed in the whole tour by the riders? Well it is approx 83,333 pizza slices or 300,000 bananas!
24. How many balloons could you fill with all the psi in the tyres of the Tour de France? A whopping 264,000 balloons
25. In just the categorised climbs alone the riders climb the equivalent of Nearly 2.5 times up Mount Everest!
26. The amount of water consumed by the riders is approx. 36,000 litres – that would fill a 20 x 40meter, 2 foot deep swimming pool!
27. On average a Tour de France rider will turn the pedals around Half a million times!
Remeber, if you have an even crazier fact then share it with us to be featured on this blog and across our social channels #GetYourFactFamous