Promotional Giveaways For The Big Cycle

The big cycle starts this week, a bike ride which takes place on an annual basis from France through the UK as well as popping into other countries on the way, so get your promotional giveaways prepared.

The race first started in 1903 with a five-stage race starting in Paris and stopping in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes before returning to Paris. The stages would go on through the night and finish in the afternoon giving the riders the chance to rest. However, this was too much for many riders and only fifteen entered the first tour. This has been changed over the years, making the route easier before starting to make it more gruelling for participants.

The tour is the world's biggest sporting event to take place on an annual basis. Nearly 200 riders take place in the event, covering over 2,000 miles in just twenty-three days. The gruelling route means that riders burn up to 118,000 calories across the race so it's fair to say it's a good way to keep fit!

The route has changed significantly over the years and is this year made up of twenty-one different stages over the twenty-three days. This means that the riders only have two days rest throughout the event! The two hundred riders are split into twenty-two different teams from across the world with riders averaging at twenty-five miles per hour across the course.

The twenty-one stages have different names and different skill sets are required for each stage. The main stages include the 'Prologue', 'Flat', 'Individual Time Trial' and 'Mountain' stages. Each stage is designed to test the riders in different ways.

This year's event sees the one hundred year anniversary, so it's bound to be extra special. This years event will include seven 'flat' stages, six 'mountain' stages, five 'hilly' stages, two 'individual time trial' stages, one 'team time trial' stage and two rest days in between. The route will be crossing the border into the UK as well as visiting Belgium at one stage.

Millions of people line the route in the UK, so why not give away your promotional giveaways designed to get your brand noticed? We have a number of different cycling items which you can use to attract people to your brand including promotional water bottles, bicycle seat covers and even promotional bikes!

For cycling related promotional merchandise have a look at the Total Merchandise website.