Before I knew anything about cycling, I knew about the Tour de France. In my final years of high school, and throughout my four years at the University of Michigan, I knew absolutely nothing about cycling. I had never heard of Paris-Roubaix, I vaguely knew about the Giro, and if you said the words Milan-San Remo, I would have said, “Is that the new pizza place that opened up on Elgin St.?”
However, I would watch every stage of the Tour de France. Images of Lance Armstrong battling Jan Ullrich on some alpine pass in France, as Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen commentated in the background, are etched in my memory. During this time, most July mornings, after my morning run, I would turn on the TV and watch as the drama of the Tour unfolded.
Asking myself questions like, “How do you qualify for the Tour?” or “Why doesn’t that guy just ride away right now?” or “I wonder how I would do at this race?” I would be enthralled by the action and inspired to take on my afternoon session on the track.
The Tour transcends the sport of cycling, and it’s why I love doing the race. It’s the big show, and you feel it. This sport, even at its highest level, often has you wondering, “How can they call this a professional sport?” I have finished WorldTour events with a few moms and girlfriends lining the sidelines. However, when you race the Tour, it feels like the entire world is watching.
In the fall of 2018, I had already won a bronze medal at the world championships, a stage at the Vuelta, placed second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and finished in the top 10 at a grand tour; however, I had not yet done the Tour. I remember that offseason having a conversation with a person at an event in Canada, where he asked me, “So you are a professional cyclist?”
“Yes,” I responded.
“Oh, so you have done the Tour de France?”
“No,” I responded.
And in that moment, I could see, in his eyes, what he thought: “Sure…” He gave off the same vibe that I think most of us give off when a guy you run into at a party tells you he is a “semi-pro triathlete.” Until I had done my first Tour, whenever I was asked what I did for a living — particularly back in Canada — I had to validate myself. Once I had done my first Tour, that all changed. Instead of having to explain to people what I did, often, even before I met somebody, it was already known that I had done the Tour.
The Tour is the most spectated annual sporting event in the world. For this reason, it is also why I hate doing the Tour. Everything that you know as a pro cyclist, at the Tour, is amped up to 11. The pressure, the stress, the hype — all culminate in a three-week block that probably takes two years off of your life. The best cyclists in the world all show up to this race and, in a sport that is already insanely dangerous, decide that this is the race they are willing to risk everything for.
The risks they take, which are massive, yield big rewards. I would venture to say that when you start a Tour de France, you have at least a 60% chance of crashing. Of the four Tours I have done, I have crashed in three. The only one in which I didn’t crash, I won a stage. That stage win alone, though, is a result that I can hang my hat on for the rest of my life. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I will be known as only the third Canadian to win a stage at the biggest cycling race on the planet. It’s my crowning achievement as an athlete, and a result that, when I look back on my wildly improbable career, I still can’t believe I achieved.
This race — because of its savage pain and triumphant beauty, because of its length and scale — is filled with incredible storylines. Every edition that I have done, I have felt like I have come out with a book’s worth of thoughts, anecdotes, and experiences. So, in an attempt to capture some of these thoughts, I will do my best, in those rare down moments on the bus, or while drinking a coffee in some roadside Campanile waiting to leave for a stage, to keep a blog throughout this 21-day bike race in France.
Michael Woods will be sharing entries from the Tour de France with Velo during the 2025 Tour de France. You can also along with his Tour journey on Instagram.