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- Greg LeMond describes the Tour de
- France as "running a marathon a day for
- three weeks." The race, which is con-
- sidered the toughest of all cycling races,
- is more than 2,000 miles long and takes
- 23 or 24 days to complete. The Tour de
- France is a "stage" race. In a stage race,
- each day there is a new race, or stage.
- The overall winner of the race is the
- person who rides all the stages in the
- least time.
-
- The course, which is different every year,
- is dangerous and exhausting. The riders
- must go up and down mountain terrain
- and, at times, they can reach dangerous
- speeds of 70 miles per hour. The race is
- designed to wear down the riders both
-