What to do Now the Tour de France is Over
1. Get Hyped For More Races
The Tour de France might be the biggest bike race in the world, but it isn’t the only one. There’s plenty of racing left to come in 2020, due in part to an adjusted calendar to work around the current pandemic. There’s plenty of races to enjoy between now and the end of November.
There’s the Road World Championships in Imola, including time trials and elite races for both the men and women. Then there’s the Grand Tour, the cycling Classics, and the Giro d’Italia to all look forward to. Racing fans have a busy month or two ahead of them!
2. Prepare for the 2021 Tour de France
Much like it’s never too soon to think about Christmas or Halloween, it’s never too soon to think about the next Tour de France. The teams, riders, and race organizers are already thinking about it after all. What’s the harm in the fans thinking about it too? Next year is the 108th Tour de France, and it will coincide with the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, meaning there’s a lot to look forward to.
There are already plenty of rumours floating around about the next race, and there’s no harm in getting in on the fun. As well as speculating on the route the race will take, you can think about whether or not Primoz Rgolic will beat Tadej Pogácar this year or whether Peter Sagan can reclaim the green jersey. There’s more than enough to keep you busy for 11 months.
3. Find Unseen Footage of the 2020 Tour
There weren’t as many spectators at the Tour de France as usual thanks to the pandemic, but there were more than enough people with their cameras and smartphones to generate plenty of fan footage that you can’t find anywhere else.
The quality of Tour de France fan footage on YouTube isn’t the best, but there’s plenty of content out there for cycling fans. Thanks to the power of modern smartphones, some of the footage is on par with what you’ve seen on TV. You’ll be surprised at the quantity and quality of Tour de France footage on YouTube.
4. Grab Your Bike
One downside of watching the Tour de France is that spending three hours a day watching other people cycle across the mountains for three weeks damages your personal fitness. You can’t hope to be as fit and healthy as the people on the screen if you never get out of the house. Now is the time to grab your bike and go.
Don’t forget to do some maintenance on your bike if it’s been a while. Oil the chain, give the tires a pump, and cycle around the block of on one of your favourite routes. Have a bit of fun on the way by emulating your favourite pro cyclist.
If your friends haven’t given up on you after you locked yourself away for three weeks, you can always get together with some of them – following government guidelines, of course – and hang out together on your bikes
5. Do Some Work in the Home and Garden
If you’ve been putting off working on the home and garden because you couldn’t pull yourself away from the race, now is the time to do it. Put away all of those empty drinks cans and food wrappers, cut down the forest that your garden has become. Convince your neighbours that someone is indeed still living in your house and you didn’t disappear on them.
Doing housework isn’t a lot of fun for most people, but you can’t keep putting it off. You’ll be much happier when you finish. So, take a little time to clean up the house and do anything else you might have put off.
The end of the Tour de France isn’t the end of the world. There’s always more cycling to enjoy to pass the time between now and the next race. If there’s no cycling on the TV, then go on your own little biking adventure.
