It Figures: The Tour by numbers

Eurosport.fr once again brings us the Tour by Numbers – some of the numbers and figures to know about the 2009 edition of THE grand tour.

0:

The number of time bonuses to be earned this year. The real time remains the absolute reference.

1:

The race number that will be worn by returning race champion Carlos Sastre. Sastre rode for the CSC team last year (now Saxo Bank), but switched camps to the Cervelo Test Team for 2009.

2:

Two rest days this year: Monday 13 July in Limoges and Monday 20 July to Verbier.

3:

Eddy Merckx was nicknamed the “Cannibal”. The Belgian is, to date, the only winner of the race to win the yellow jersey, green jersey and the polka dot jersey in the same year. That was in 1969 and best young rider classification did not yet exist (he would have won that too).  To top it all, his team won the team classification …

Also, the number of arrivals at altitude in 2009: 7th stage to Andorra-Arcalis (HC), Verbier for the 15th stage (1st category) and Mont Ventoux (HC) on the 20th stage.

6:

After starting in Monaco, the race will travel through six countries: France, of course, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and a hook into Italy (Val d’Aosta). In 1992, the Tour visited 7 countries, which remains a record.

7:

The number of victories of Lance Armstrong (from 1999 to 2005), the event record. Behind, there is Bernard Hinault (5), Jacques Anquetil (5), Eddy Merckx (5) and Miguel Indurain (5).

Also, Richard Virenque won the best climber jersey seven times (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2004).

8:

Eddy Merckx holds the record for most stage wins in one race: 8 wins in both 1970 and 1974. But he is not alone: His countryman Freddy Maertens (1976) and the French Charles Pélissier (1930) have done the same.

8 also represents the smallest gap between first and second place. In 1989, American Greg Lemond won the final time trial on the Champs d’Elysee to edge out Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds in the G.C.

There will be 8 new towns this year: Brignoles, Girona (Spain), Issoudun, Martigny (Switzerland), Saint-Fargeau, Tonnerre, Vatan, Verbier (Switzerland).

12:

It has been twelve years since a Frenchman has mounted the final podium. The last rider to do that was Richard Virenque, 2nd in 1997 behind Germany’s Jan Ullrich.

20:

The mountain, that the wins. The Tour de France will present the riders with 20 category 2, category 1 and hors category passes. Previous years: 17 in 2008, 22 in 2006, 23 in 2005 and 22 in 2004.

21:

21 stages this year:  10 flat, 7 high mountain, 1 medium mountain, 2 against the clock and 1 against individual time-trial team.

36:

France is the country with the most Tour de France victories with 36, followed by Belgium (18), the United States and Spain (11). Italy has 9, while Germany could not count on Jan Ullrich (1997) for inclusion in this ranking.

41.65:

In 2005, the average km/h has been the highest since the inception of the Tour. For the last seven victories of Lance Armstrong, the pack had driven this year to average 41.65 km. In 2007, the average was “only” 39.23 km / h.

96:

The 2009 Tour de France is the 96th in history. The first dates back to 1903. The race was not held from 1915 to 1918 inclusive and from 1940 to 1946 inclusive because of the two world wars.

224:

The 7th stage (Friday July 10) between Barcelona and Andorra-Arcalis will be the longest of the 2009 edition at 224 km.

3459.5:

The number of kilometers for this year’s race. By way of comparison, it comes in 100 km less than the 2008 edition. The record for the longest edition of the race came in 1919: 5,560 km divided into 15 stages.

450, 000:

In euros, the sum reserved for the winner of the race. In total, 3.2 million euros are allocated to the teams and riders.

Tags: Carlos Sastre, cervelo, cervelo test team, CSC, eddy merckx, Eurosport, Greg Lemond, Italy, Jan Ullrich, Lance Armstrong, Mont Ventoux, Saxo Bank, Spain, Switzerland