For three weeks every July we watch the best bike racers in the world tear themselves apart for four-plus hours per day at the Tour de France. Could we ever do something like that? What exactly does it take to race the Tour — physiologically, mentally, spiritually? Each day these phenomenal athletes race an event that would shatter most of us in just one day. It’s a feat that’s hard to comprehend, so today we’ll try to give a sense of what it takes to race the Tour.

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