Iconic Moment of the Week: Le Tour de France

Je mange le orange.

Sometimes I think Duolingo is messing with me. Instead of giving me normal french prompts, I get tongue twisters like the phrase above. OrI get prompts catering to the 1% "Tu prends la voiture? Nous allons à l'école en avion." What school are these kids going to that they take a plane?

This past quarantine, I have tried my best to immerse myself in the French lifestyle. I take my daily Duolingo classes (sponsor me), watch French tv shows, eat bread, and now care about the Tour de France. Biking for 100 miles almost every day for 21 days sounds like torture for someone who struggled to bike 23 miles in jeans around the Grand Canyon (for fun, it was supposed to be for fun).

Let's Get to The Icons

This year's tour started with a bang, no crash. It is still unbelievable how close spectators can get to the athletes. On the first stage of le tour, a woman held a sign saying "Go, Grandma and Go, Grandpa," which caused one of the worst crashes in history. Twenty-one riders were injured, with some of the riders being forced out of the race.

Let's talk about the Peloton, not the at-home workout bike/lifestyle (Peloton, please sponsor me), a peloton is the central group of riders in the race, which is usually in a v-formation. The front riders fight against the wind as their teammates and other riders draft off their hard work.

This year's Tour France winner was 22 year-old Tadej Pogačar. In addition to the yellow jersey win, he took home the polka dot jersey (for best climber in the tour), and the white jersey (the best 25 and under biker). He didn't stop there. With only a few day's break, Pogačar went to the Tokoyo Olympics and won a bronze medal in men's road racing. I think he has earned an extended vacation.

On the last day of the tour, the cyclist bike laps around Paris, including iconic scenes like the Champs-Élysées avenue, and the Arc de Triomphe. Every time I see the Arc de Triomphe, it takes me back to a week I spent in Paris. It was summer, during a nasty heatwave (very romantic). While avoiding the sun, we visited the Arc de Triomphe. We watch too many groups of tourists try to cross the street to the Arc (that sits in the middle of a four-lane traffic circle). These tourists played real-life frogger, as everyone yelled at them. Cars yelled at them to get out of the road (rightfully), and people screamed at them to tell them there are tunnels for pedestrians to get across to the Arc. J'aime Paris.