The first Tour de France race was held in 1903, just two years after Karl travelled through France. The race consists of 6 stages lasting 19 days with 21 riders, both professional bikers and amateurs.

The location of the “big start”, aka the Grand Départ may vary. In 2020, it was Nice, 2002 Luxembourg, 1987 West Berlin and 1958 Brussels, but the finish location is always Paris. Copenhagen is the location of the Grand Départ in 2022, which is the first of 21 stages over 23 days. The stages include six flat, three hilly, four medium mountain, six mountain, two individual time-trial stages, and three rest/travel days. The total cycle distance over the 21 stages varies yearly but is typically greater than 3,000 kilometers.

Many rules, terms and symbolic clothing are associated with the Tour de France. My favourite facts follow:

Henri Comet is the youngest rider to win the Tour de France in 1904 at 19 years old.
Firmin Lambot is the oldest rider to win at 36 years old when he won in 1922.
The yellow jersey is worn by the overall ride leader each day. The best climber, or the ‘King / Queen of the Mountains, wears the polka dot jersey. A green jersey, translated in French to ‘maillot vert‘, is worn by the best sprinter and time trialist.
The best rider under 26 years old wears the white jersey.
A group of cyclists riding together is called a peloton.
When you cycle close behind another rider to reduce the resistance from the air, it’s called slipstreaming.
The red flag represents the last kilometer of the race.
The “SAG Wagon” is a vehicle that follows the cyclists in the event they are injured, or there is a technical issue with the bicycle.
Riders receive a “musket bag” at the feeding stations containing food and water.
If a rider runs out of energy to continue, what we would say today as “hitting the wall”, the French in the Tour de France refer to as “bonking”.

I could only imagine that Karl would be part of that peloton in a yellow jersey if the Tour de France had started two years earlier. After all, what’s a mere 3,000 kilometres when our globe-trotting cyclist had already cycled more than 25,000 kilometers when he arrived in France.

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The Karl Journey is now registered as an official expedition with the Royal Geographical Society