Here we are right in the middle of Stage Zero of the 2012 Tour de France. Yep, the  2012 Tour de France is less than 2 weeks away now.

2012 Tour de France (stage 0)

Actually, I have not seen the term Stage Zero used in any official capacity for the Tour de France bike race but I am using it here to indicate the final days of anticipation and preparation for the big event.

Personally, I am not a racer but I have come to really enjoy watching and following this event. This year the TDF runs from Saturday, June 30th through Sunday, July 22nd so check your local TV listings to find the station where the event will be  broadcast (providing you are not able to make it to France this year 🙂 ).

Even if you are not a racer, I think any cyclist (or even casual rider) can relate to the incredible condition that these athletes are in, the beautiful scenery of the various stages of the race and even the excitement of the riders and the crowd.

I remember Cadel Evans of Australia winning last years race and had just read about how Andy Schleck was officially declared the winner of the 2010 TDF after the disqualification of Alberto Contador but I did not realize that there have only been 2 Americans that have ever won the TDF – Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong.

Aside from the race itself I was wondering about this years sponsors and commercials. Here in the US there is usually a lot of hype about the commercials that will be aired during the Super Bowl and I was wondering if there was any interest in that for the TDF.

I doubt that there is the hype of the Super Bowl commercials but I really can’t say since I live in the US and I don’t think that the TDF is nearly as popular here as it is in France and Europe.

What I remember from the commercials last year were the extremely popular commercial for the Proform TDF Indoor Cycle and various big name brand bike commercials along with the “Clean Water Bottle” guy who dressed up as a water bottle and ran alongside the riders at various parts of the race!

I have heard that Proform will be advertising the Proform TDF exercise bike again this year but I don’t know if they will be using the same commercial. I know that the Proform TDF has been very popular since last year but has also been controversial. See Proform Tour de France Indoor Cycle for more on the positive and negative reviews on this exercise bike.

I know that Garmin is also a big sponsor in  the TDF although I don’t specifically remember their commercials during last years race. Maybe now that I have my Garmin Edge 800 I will be much more in-tune to their commercials.

OK, that’s it for the pre-TDF race reminder. I hope that many of you will tune in this year. I know I will!