The Non-Cycling Tour de France Competition

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This month, as is warranted, I’ve been supplying Tour de France updates, making certain to mention the contests for various jerseys (Yellow, Green, Polka Dot, White) during the 3-week race. But there is another Tour de France competition, held annually, and nobody racing can win this particular contest. If you don’t watch the Tour, often during helicopter shots, the camera will hover over a farmer’s field, decorated with Tour de France field art. Usually, but not always, these are pieces of art that feature movement, and are both farming and Tour-oriented. The art displays also usually have a local or regional flavor depending upon what region of France the race is passing through on that particular day. Tour mania? Sure, but there’s more to it than that. This is an art competition. The Tour de France holds an annual farmers field art competition, and farmers along the route go to great lengths to get on television. The winner (and I have no idea what the criteria is) gets a free trip to Paris to see the end of the Tour in person. Some of the displays have obviously had some thought and effort put into them: coordinated tractors, or people; some are a bit odd, like dudes on bikes suspended by cranes circling around and around and around. It’s all good fun, and is another example of the passion the French have for their bike race. Link is to a short of an example of the type of field art shown during the Tour: