A Look Into What We See at Le Tour

With the weekend approaching and viewers and fans around the globe glued to the action taking place in the Tour de France it may be time for a refresher on some terms and some information behind what we see each day.   Let’s start with some of the sponsors.  We see the logos and colors daily. 

Carrefour is everywhere at Le Tour.  It is the second largest retailer in the world, only Wal-Mart is bigger.  Carrefour, like Wal-Mart is so big a special designation is given to them: hypermarket.  Carrefour stores are all over Europe and most of the world with only a smattering in North America and none in the United States.  Two Carrefours were opened in the Philadelphia region in the late 1980s but closed in 1994.  Founded in 1958, the company is headquartered in Boulogne Billancourt, France.    

Vittel is also popular.  It is a bottled water and takes its name from the source spring, Vittel, in Northeast France.  The parent company of Vittel is Nestle.

LCL is the former Credit Lyonnais based in Lyon, France.  The big bank is the country’s largest financial institution with over 200 branches country-wide.

PMU is Paris Mutuel Urbain.  It is a government-controlled betting service.  PMU is the lead sponsor of the Green Jersey (sprint) classification.  

Now let’s looks at some on the road terminology.  As the peloton reaches the mountains Phil and Paul will be mentioning “Col” and “Cote.”

Col is French for a mountain pass, it is a break in the peaks through which the riders will climb or descend.

Cote is a tougher word to translate.  In the truest of translation the word means “coast” as in Cote d’Ivoire which is the African country of Ivory Coast or the French Cote d’Azur which translates to the Azure Coast, the French Riviera.  Cote when it comes to mountains can mean slope, border, or descent.  These all make sense seeing that slopes and descents are synonymous with mountains and many times mountains can serve as a border between countries or in the case of French states which are known as departments.  France is divided into 96 departments. 

The STB crew will continue to enjoy the action.  We will have other TdF related posts as the Tour rolls on toward Paris.