Pro Cycling Is Similar to Other Sports

To explain the Tour de France (and pro cycling in general), let me start by identifying its similarities to other sports.

Hmmmm. Let’s see . . . Similarities . . . Sheesh! This is harder than I expected!

Well, of course cycling has that essential premise of all sports: the perpetuation of childhood. The athletes perfect their conditioning and skill in order to play their favorite childhood game (and thus avoid adult productivity) as far as possible into their adult years. The spectators - whether watching live or by TV or other media - escape, at least temporarily, the real world of adulthood by immersing themselves as deeply as possible into the staged performance. Of course, no matter the sport, the cardio-vascular and aerobic health benefits realized by the spectators are essentially identical - zilch!

The appeal of vicarious escape is so strong from one sport to the next, that it fuels an endless array of industries: foods, beverages, every imaginable (and many unimaginable!) pharmaceuticals, and, of course, cars! It even manages to attract advertising dollars from such otherwise too-boring-to-survive sectors as banks, insurance and lawyers!

One of my favorite sports has a lot in common with cycling, and that is CHESS! Don’t laugh! I challenge you during this year’s Tour de France to count how many times the commentators trot out the chess metaphor to describe the run-up to a sprint finish, or the timing of attacks and counter-attacks in a crucial mountain stage. Yes, its similarity to chess is one of the reasons I like the Tour de France so much!

Playing chess in the park by Geneva's Reformer's Wall.  And did you notice at least three bikes in background?  Proves my point!