Grand Départ 2014 Facts about the tour.

This is a “Once in a lifetime event”.

The Tour de France covers approximately 3600km
The Olympics and World Cup (football) are the only two sports events bigger than the tour.
A television audience of over 3 billion watch the Tour de France ever year.
Over 188 countries round the world broadcast the tour.
121 television channels relay the race.
There will be nine helicopters in the air at any one time.
12 million spectators will watch along the route.
The (carnival) sponsors’ cavalcade will take 3 to 3.5 hours to process before the race.
People will be at the roadside for up to 6 hours before the race comes through.
15-20% of visitors will be from abroad.
94% of watchers are in family groups.