Bizarre, indeed, because the Tour actually crosses a diagonal strip, running from the Pyrenees to the Vosges. It is no longer really a tour of France, more a tour of the mountains where the main French massifs are approached: Pyrenees, Massif Central, Alps, Jura and Vosges. 30 passes crossed in this 2023 edition is a first in the history of the Tour. We can be sorry about it, we can also be happy about it, in particular rejoicing that Lorraine is in the 2023 round, in the penultimate stage which arrives at Markstein and passes through several municipalities in the south of Lorraine, the Thillot, Cornimont or Bresse after crossing the Ballon d’Alsace, which borders the departments of Vosges and the Territory of Belfort, Lorraine and Franche Comté; and before running towards the Markstein, not far from another border, between Lorraine and Alsace. These two Vosges peaks are part of the great history of the Tour. The Markstein has been part of the Tour several times, between 1947 and 2019. As for the Ballon, it entered the history of the Tour in 1905, just two years after the creation of the event. 1905 was the first small turning point in the history of the Tour because the night stages were abolished. Another era, when we drove at night… and on alcohol. An American journalist who followed the Tour said “beer, brandy and wine widely consumed because considered safer than questionable water from wells and roadside springs”. The Tour specialists remember the first yellow jersey, Eugène Christophe, who fueled himself with Cognac, or the multiple stops of the runners in the roadside bistros to quench their thirst with the help of a booze. As for poor Abdelkader Zaaf, in 1950, everyone thought he had abused alcohol when he arrived reeking of wine. But no, it was a very hot summer and he had simply been unwell; the winegrowers of the Hérault had then wanted to come to his aid but not having any water at hand, the buggers had sprinkled the Algerian cyclist with very cold rosé to bring him back to his senses. Another time, another manners! Alcohol is now banned from shopping, that’s not so bad, but that doesn’t tell us that what’s in water bottles today is perfectly recommendable.
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