On June 29th, the 2013 edition of professional cycling’smost grueling and prestigious event will begin its 23-day, 2,115-kilometer trek fromSouthern France’s Porto Vecchio to the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Over 100television networks will be broadcasting the hallowed event to viewers in 190 countries,who will be tuning in every day to see whether Chris Froome can hold off Alberto Contador,whether the famed Alpe d’Huez climb will prove decisive and who will wear the fabledyellow jersey as the peloton enters the French capital.

If you are anythinglike most Americans, the entire spectacle will likely leave you in a state of shock,perhaps even wondering “what is this horsesh*t? Aren’t they showing the Cardsgame?”

Professional cycling has never been a popular sport in thiscountry. Even when we had LanceArmstrong, most of us preferred just wearing the bracelet to actually, say, watchinghim make a solo breakaway into Limoges. It was OK, we thought. The American guy waskicking ass, right? No need to actually, like, watch it or anything.

With the Armstrong era behind us, and no real contenders among the current crop ofup-and-coming U.S. cyclists, we have lost a significant national link to the sport. Wehave one less reason to actually learn the significance of drafting tactics; to appreciatethe grueling nature of a mountain time trial; to understand the role of thedomestique.

This is unfortunate, because the Tour de France is one ofthe greatest sagas in televised sports. If you do a little background work, you can findyourself in the position of having 23 consecutive days of exhaustively detailed sportingdrama. That’s over three straight weeks of recliner beers and not thinking aboutyour relationship, your job or that thing that’s been growing in the yard.That’s nearly a month of straight sports!

Sounds pretty good, right?Unfortunately, the appeal of professional cycling is not as immediately obvious as thatof, say, football. Or basketball. (Baseball… maybe.) This is why we’re givingyou a few tips on what exactly is going to be happening on that screen, what matters andhow to really get into the 2013 Tour de France. Continue Reading

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