Cycle Touring in France. Stephen Fox

      Laurent Fignon in the Tour de France 1991

      In 1937 the first derailleurs were allowed in the Tour de France. A year later the Italian cyclist Gino Bartali won the Tour, then won it again 10 years later in 1948 at the age of 34. Bartali was physically assaulted on the Col d'Aspin in the Tour of 1950, but went on to win the stage before he and his Italian team-mates (including Fausto Coppi, the 1949 victor) withdrew in protest.

      Two of the toughest climbs of the Tour de France were introduced in the early 1950s: Mont Ventoux in 1951 and l'Alpe d'Huez in 1952. Coppi won the first historic stage of l'Alpe d'Huez, and then went on to win the Tour that year. French riders, including Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil, dominated the next five Tours, and the great Spanish climber Federico Bahamontes won the 1959 event. Anquetil went on to win four consecutive Tours between 1961 and 1964, becoming the first of only five riders to notch up more than three victories to date. The Tour's second tragic fatality occurred in 1967 when Tom Simpson collapsed near the summit of Mont Ventoux; Francesco Capeda had died on the Galibier in 1935.

      The Belgian Eddy Merckx became the second man to win five Tours (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974), subsequently matched by Bernard Hinault (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985). Laurent Fignon, winner of two Tours, and Greg Lemond, the first American to win a Tour in 1986, battled against each other for victory in Paris in 1989. It came down to the final time-trial in the capital, which Lemond famously won by the slimmest of margins in the history of the Tour de France: 8 seconds!

      The early 1990s belonged to one man in particular, Miguel Indurain. He won five Tours in a row from 1991 and 1995 and, like Lemond, was strong in all disciplines. During his reign another American was emerging; Lance Armstrong won a stage in the 1993 and 1995 Tours. Diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, Armstrong was given a slim chance of living, since it had also spread to various parts of his body and brain. Following an operation and painful chemotherapy, he fought back with a vengeance and won the 1999 Tour de France. He never looked back, joined the élite club of Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain by winning five Tours… and then went two better.

About the Bike

      Which bicycle is best for touring?

      A touring bike is the obvious answer as it is built specifically for carrying heavy panniers and granting a comfortable ride over long distances with good steering. It has drop handlebars (like a racing bike), but they are set in a more upright position, 700c wheels, and usually a steel frame, mudguards and a triple chain-ring.

      Although lighter, a racing bike is not really suited to cycle touring as the frame geometry is more severe and most racing bikes do not come with seatstay lugs for the rear pannier rack (although there are ways of overcoming this). It also does not respond too well to hairpin descents when fully laden with panniers. Having said this, I have done three mountain cycling tours on a bicycle made up of racing bike and hybrid bike components to good effect. The hybrid bike is something between a touring bike and a mountain bike in that it offers the relaxed frame geometry and larger 700c wheels of the touring bike, but has straight or rising handlebars like the mountain bike, at least 21 gears, and a sloping top tube. Cycle tourists who suffer from back or neck pains should definitely ‘test drive’ a hybrid if they are not sure which type of bicycle to choose.

      Mountain bikes are robust, affordable and often surprisingly suitable for cycle touring. They usually come with chunky, knobbly tyres which are great for all-terrain adventures, but not suitable for cycle touring on roads. Replace them with slicker, thinner tyres that will reduce the effort you have to exert on paved roads; 26 x 1.5 or 1.75 tyres with good tread are recommended. For mountainous terrain, a triple chain-ring (30/42/52 teeth) together with a Mega-range freewheel/sprocket on the back wheel (11–34 teeth) will get you up the steepest hills imaginable, but smaller range sprockets are usually adequate for most rides.

      Folding bikes are becoming increasingly popular for cycle touring, especially if you are also considering using public transport. Brompton and Dahon folding bikes with 20in wheels are sound choices, but make sure you buy one fit for touring (not commuting) and able to carry loaded panniers. There are also folding mountain bikes with 26in wheels. Visit www.foldabikes.com, www.bromptonbicycle.co.uk and www.dahon.com.

      If you haven't already got a bicycle for touring, make sure you buy one from a reputable bike shop. They can advise you on the correct frame size for your height. To determine the correct saddle height for a comfortable ride, sit on the bike saddle and line up one of the crankarms with the seat tube, then put your heel on the pedal and adjust the saddle height until your leg is almost straight.

      If you plan to camp you will probably need two rear pannier bags, a handlebar bag and a rear rack bag. The rear rack bag is not essential as you can strap gear onto the top of the pannier rack itself (rolled up bike bag and so on), but I find it useful for carrying food, cooking gear, repair kit, spare bike bits and the like. Clothes, tent, sleeping bag and mat can then be put in the rear panniers, leaving the handlebar bag free for valuables. Always line your panniers with durable bin liners to keep everything dry when the heavens open. If these four bags do not suffice, you either need to trim your gear down, or consider front bags, which many cyclists like because they counterbalance the rear panniers.

      Make sure you buy a strong, good quality rear rack to take the weight of heavy panniers. Altura make some great bags and their Arran handlebar bag (5 litre) clicks into the Rixen and Kaul quick-release support that can be left permanently attached to the handlebars.

      Finally, a frame with two water-bottle carriers is better than a frame that only has one. You can buy still mineral water in 1½ litre plastic bottles at any supermarket or alimentation shop (2 litre bottles are too fat) on a daily basis, rather than having to keep topping up those non-transparent bike bottles which soon make the water taste of plastic.

      Repairs

      Knowing your bicycle and how to carry out repairs, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, are important considerations in cycle touring. The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair for Road and Mountain Bikes by Todd Downs gives detailed descriptions with photographs covering bicycle basics, maintenance, and all repairs imaginable, and there are many other good, detailed books on the market. Serious repairs, or perhaps the replacement of a component, will inevitably mean visiting the nearest bicycle shop on a tour, but you can usually carry out common repairs yourself on the road. Two of the most common hiccups on a tour are punctures (flats) and broken spokes. Read up on and practise how to remove the freewheel/cassette on your rear wheel before a tour in case you have to replace a broken spoke behind the rear cogs.

      Puncture (flat tyre)

      If you complete a cycling tour without suffering a single puncture then consider yourself lucky! Since the rear wheel takes most of your weight and the rear pannier weight, it is usually this wheel's inner tube that punctures (and is also the more complicated of the two because of the rear derailleur and chain).

      If it's raining, try to find some shelter. Deflate the punctured tyre completely, and if it's a rear tyre puncture turn the bicycle upside down with the saddle on the ground, having removed the panniers. This also protects the rear derailleur from getting damaged.