Agent Palmer

Over the past decade or so, I’ve recapped most Tours due France. I’ve watched all of them, but somehow it has only recently become an annual thing.

I also watch every Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and sometimes I write about them. As a spectator, both Tours offer excitement, and for me, it’s the joy of experiencing two Tours per year, which I’m all for.

It’s that time of year when I wake up with my coffee and watch the best cyclists in the world tackle the most prestigious race in the world, the Tour de France.

The 112th edition of the Tour had more than its share of crashes, heartbreak, and as much triumph as is usually had over the three-week race.

Palmer Recaps the 111th Edition of the Tour de France 

The 111th edition of the Tour de France started in Florence, Italy, and finished in Nice, France. It was dominated by two-time (now three-time) winner Tadej “the Tornado” Pogacar in the high mountains, where he distanced his main rival and previous two-time consecutive winner Jonas Vingegaard. But there was more to this Tour than just two heavyweights battling up the high mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees.

Like last year, there were two tours of the picturesque landscape of France on bicycles; the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femme avec Zwift. Both had their moments of triumph and heartbreak, as any race or even sporting event does, but they were not equal.

Let’s start with the men’s race, because it started first and it was off with a Yates! That’s right, twin brothers Adam and Simon Yates broke away and dueled each other for the first stage victory and the leader’s Yellow jersey.

Jonathan Douglas asked the question, “Is it possible for an average bloke to ride all 21 stages of the Tour de France?” That question and the answer to it can be witnessed in the sub-hour documentary “One Day Ahead” by Silver Eye Films.

In it, we follow eight New Zealanders in their attempt to complete the 2018 Tour de France, one stage at a time, one day ahead of the actual professional race, in order to raise money and awareness for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand.