Take a cricket bat and go in churches: Eight things I learned from covering my first Tour de France

Covering the greatest bike race in the world is not as straightforward as it always seems

Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar on stage 18 of the 2022 Tour de France
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the 18th century, it was customary for young English aristocrats to go on a 'grand tour', a lengthy trip through western Europe often centring around Italy. They would spend time looking at antiquity and the art of the renaissance, educating themselves on the supposed ideals of the continent.

In the world of cycling, a Grand Tour has come to mean something very different - no, not the Top Gear successor - the lengthy, extreme tests of a riders ability in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España

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