kny wrote:
That stat of 2800 bikers having participated in TdF must be wrong. There are 180 riders every year in a TdF. There have been 120 years of TdF. This implies an average of only 23 first time riders every year out of a field of 180? No way. Way too low.
The article was referring to TdF finishers, not simply participants.
It’s an odd record to chase, but one that EF-Education First’s foremost Canadian can be genuinely proud of. He stands alone at the nexus of a Venn diagram of sub-4 runners (about 1,400 people total) and Tour finishers (around twice that).
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/07/mike-woods-the-first-man-to-run-a-sub-4-minute-mile-and-finish-the-tour-de-france/
Interesting stats in this link.
http://bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdfstats.html If you're looking at finishers vs. guys who simply started the race, there were only about 20-30 finishers the first few years of the TdF. (The first five races had fewer than 100 starters.) They never had 100 finishers until the 1970 race. Since the 2001 race, they've had about 150 finishers each year.
Considering how many repeat riders are in the race every year, going with 2800 riders who have participated in
and finished the TdF doesn't seem unreasonable.
"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.