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

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing, speaking to people as varied as Demi Vollering to Philippe Gilbert. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.