• The top US team at the Tour de France hopes to win the race after running a close second in 2017.
• The EF Education First team boss, Jonathan Vaughters, shared a variety of thoughts with Business Insider ahead of the three-week race's start in Brussels.
• He talked about picking the right riders for the Tour team and the relationship between relaxation and results.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

BRUSSELS — The top American team here at the Tour de France, EF Education First, is hoping to win the race with its star rider, the Colombian climber Rigoberto Urán, who finished second in 2017, less than a minute behind the four-time winner Chris Froome of Britain.

The mastermind behind Urán's campaign, then and now, is Jonathan Vaughters, a Coloradan who raced professionally for years before starting the team known today as EF.

Three weeks makes for a long race, and Vaughters says that when it comes to any plan he's careful not to get ahead of himself.

"I'm thinking about how to win the race, but you only really do that in the Tour by thinking about the day in front of you," Vaughters told Business Insider in Brussels this week. "It's not some sort of crazy long-term strategy. It's only about the 24 hours in front of you.

"First thing is, we get through day one and nobody crashes. Then we get through the team time trial. See how that goes. Then we can start talking about the rest of the race. I don't think there's too much to talk about until after the team time trial."

And as for all the talk that this year's Tour is wide open, Vaughters paused before saying, "Well, we'll just wait and see how open a race it is after Planche des Belles Filles," the first summit finish, on stage six.

Vaughters' team, in all its iterations, has been pro cycling's "Moneyball" outfit since the beginning. To land contenders like Urán he's had to find undervalued riders with untapped potential, ones he can afford to sign.

Traditionally, his yearly budget has been about 15 million euros, a far cry from the estimated 40 to 50 million euros of Team Ineos, formerly known as Sky.

All the same, EF has brought its strongest team ever to the Tour. The climbers Tejay van Garderen of the US, Michael Woods of Canada, and Tanel Kangert of Estonia will help Urán in the mountains, and supporting those riders on the flatter stages will be the New Zealander Tom Scully, the Dutchman Sebastian Langeveld, the Australian Simon Clarke, and the Italian Alberto Bettiol.

It's a quality group of bike racers who could upset the top favorites, like the defending champ Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, both of Ineos.

Whereas Thomas raced, and crashed out of, the tune-up Tour of Switzerland, which Bernal won, Urán instead trained solo at altitude in Colombia.

Some bosses might've been nervous about their best rider doing that, but Vaughters insists there's trust in Urán to show up at the world's greatest race at his best.

"We keep Rigo at altitude for a longer period — as tight as we can till the start of the Tour," Vaughters said. "And there's a lot of trust. But we have a lot of training data and we look at his files."

Vaughters said he liked Urán's chances, that he's looking good.

"It'll be a competitive race one way or the other," he added. Nonetheless, he said that he still thought Bernal was the strongest rider at this Tour and that Ineos was the favorite.

"This is definitely the strongest team we've ever brought to the Tour, but I don't think it's bringing expectations, because the pressure is clearly off of our team going into the race," Vaughters said.

"We aren't the race favorite, so that's actually a really nice position to be in, quite frankly. Internally we have a lot of confidence, but we don't necessarily have to shoulder that."

The EF team is known for its chill vibe and cast of characters. The riders are intelligent, they share heady books, and they have engaging conversations at dinner together.

"It definitely gives us an advantage," Vaughters said. "I also think it gives it a recruiting advantage, because other riders see that and they think, 'Man, I wish I were in that atmosphere.'"

But can chill win big races?

"It's amazing, but I think the more relaxed you are the better the result," he said.

"OK, there would come a point where a rider might say, 'Well, I guess I could just put on 30 pounds.' But that hasn't been a problem. If anything, I think most of our riders overtrain rather than undertrain."

The mood around the team is relaxed, but it's not to be misconstrued as sloppy or unprofessional. Everyone knows their job, from the riders to the staff. There's accountability.

And then there are some massive EF wins, like this spring when Bettiol won one of the biggest races of the year, the Tour of Flanders.

Vaughters broke down how he put together this Tour team.

"There are some objective-analysis points and then there are a lot of subjective-analysis points," he told Business Insider. "You first pick what the objectives are for the race, then you pick the riders who are most adapted in meeting those objectives, then you pick the riders who are most capable in supporting those riders in achieving those objectives.

"Then there are the sociological components to it, as well in how you put a group together. So it's not necessarily the top eight riders on a team but the eight riders who will function best in this particular race."

Vaughters, who just wrote his first book, a look back at his life and career as a bike racer turned CEO of bike racers, is noticeably more relaxed these days. After being on the brink of losing his team for lack of sponsorship two years ago, he has a new owner and long-term sponsor in EF, a privately owned company that calls itself "the world leader in international education."

"It's a lot calmer for me now," Vaughters said while sipping a glass of red — he is an oenophile — a day before his team's biggest event of the year kicked off. "I'm far more focused on sports-science issues and rider recruitment, stuff that's fun for me, as opposed to stuff that is, you know — I'm not sweating the big stuff anymore, let's put it that way."

The team is getting the details right that it wasn't before, he added, "little things."

Pushed to give an example, Vaughters said it's "competitive-advantage stuff."

"We've just put a lot more time into research that we weren't doing," he said. "Most it is aerodynamics-based research. We just didn't have the time or the money to do it before.

"It's now just about concentrating on the race."

SEE ALSO: The Tour de France favorites, ranked

DON'T MISS: Why the tires at the Tour de France keep getting wider and the pressure lower

Join the conversation about this story »

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• A US-based team at the Tour de France told Business Insider that it's banned cellphones use at the dinner table, including use by the riders and staff.
• The idea is to get the team to be more in the moment, and the riders are actually OK with it.
• Experts say using our phones too much takes us out of the "flow state" and hurts productivity.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

BRUSSELS — The US-based Tour de France team EF Education First has barred its riders from using their cellphones at the dinner table, so for the next three weeks it's a return to analog chat rooms.

"It was the team directors' idea, but the riders bought into it,"Jonathan Vaughters, the team's CEO, told Business Insider. "They were, like, 'Yeah, you know, we shouldn't be on our phones at the table. We should be talking.' So they agreed to make it a rule. It was communal rule making — true democracy."

The ban isn't for all races, just the big ones, and the biggest of them all is the Tour, which starts here Saturday.

Perhaps surprisingly, the riders are OK with it.

"It's not a true ban — more of an unwritten rule,"Michael Woods, EF's Canadian climber, said. "Like, if you show someone pictures, that's fine, but don't be scrolling mindlessly, as in any social scenario. It's like when you go to a restaurant and you see two people and they're just staring at their phones. Ugh."

Woods added: "We're already on our phones after the race, in the hotel room, so it's nice to unwind and not be connected in that meal time particularly. It's so good for team bonding. It's good to not be on the phone and not be separated like that.

"Some of our neo-pros, they pull out the phones mid-meal and they get cussed out. It's, like, 'What are you doing?"

Read more:The shocking number of calories Tour de France cyclists burn each day

Experts on cellphone use say using our phones too much distracts us from being present and in the moment. In fact, spending too much time on social media, constantly receiving notifications, and sleeping near your smartphone could hurt productivity.

"Productivity is often at its apex during a flow state"— when a person is fully immersed in an activity — New York-based psychotherapist Jordana Jacobs told Business Insider. Phones take us out of the flow state.

Time magazine also reported that phone use during meals leads to a modest but noticeable decrease in diners' enjoyment, according to research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

'Corner of quiet'

The EF team actually tries to avoid being too formal in its rules and regulations, because it's found that just hasn't worked, Charly Wegelius, one of EF's sports directors, told Business Insider.

"It's just awareness from our side that the days at the races are getting more and more complex," he said. "You have little groups of people going off and doing things — often you don't see each other for the whole day. And the number of people, especially at races like this, is getting bigger.

"And like all people in the world, we're all connected now," Wegelius added. "Everything goes through your telephone: private life, social life, but also work-related. Everything's just coming through there. The noise is super loud. We just felt the need to eek out a little corner of quiet."

Woods' teammate Simon Clarke, of Australia, said it really just comes down to etiquette and good manners.

"It's like eating with your mouth open," he said. "At dinner, you try not to use your phone. If someone rings you, you answer it and try to tell them to call you back."

"We normally have good conversations at the table, so using phones isn't normally an issue," Clarke added. "JV is a smart guy, so I'm sure he appreciates not only the physical attributes of riders but also personalities, and intellect is, to some extent, an appealing factor."

The sports directors, headed by Wegelius, a Finnish-born Briton, said they talk a lot about how the team is running, including the staff who support the riders. As with any organization, they come up with many ideas to make the team better, and some work out and some don't.

"Sometimes it works good and sometimes it works bad," he said. "But it's like revolvers in the Western bar: The conversation dies at the table for a second and somebody whips out their phone. Then everybody's got them out."

Wegelius credits fellow director Andreas Klier, of Germany, for bringing about the phone ban during the spring classic races.

"We've found people policing each other in sort of nice way," Wegelius went on. "People have gotten used to looking at their phones — it's like a tic or a reflex. My wife calls me out on that when I'm at home. It's almost mindless, like having a fear of a moment of boredom. Here at the Tour de France, it's just about looking at each other and being there, instead of being somewhere else."

For Vaughters, of the US, the ban harks back to his own days as a Tour rider, when he rode in support of Lance Armstrong.

"I remember when I was on US Postal Service, in the Tour de France, the first Tour we won, in 1999, there were no laptops allowed at the race," Vaughters told Business Insider. "It was, like, 'Don't bring your laptops — you needed to focus on the race.'"

"I mean, that's probably a little too far nowadays. But back then, it was, like, 'If you want to talk to your wife, call her on the hotel phone. And call her collect."

SEE ALSO: The Tour de France favorites, ranked

DON'T MISS: The boss of America's top Tour de France team is looking 24 hours ahead, and no further, as the world's greatest race gets underway in Brussels

Join the conversation about this story »

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• The Canadian pro cyclist Michael Woods is racing in his first Tour de France with the US-based team EF Education First. At 32, he is one of the oldest neo-pros to ever take part in the world's greatest race.
• Fourteen years ago he ran a sub-four-minute mile, but his running career was short-lived, partly because of injury. He eventually turned to cycling, a sport in which he's risen to the highest level.
• Woods spoke with Business Insider at the Tour, telling us about what makes the race unique, runner's high versus cyclist's high, and why he still runs, even though he pedals 30 hours a week.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

NANCY, France — In a way, Michael Woods' story is unremarkable. Runner injures self, takes up cycling. But the Canadian's story is something else.

At 18, he ran a mile in 3 minutes, 57.48 seconds (still a record for a Canadian on Canadian soil, as far as we can tell), but he soon had to quit the sport because of injury. He later found himself working in a shoe store, where he said he was miserable.

Years later he started racing his bike. And 14 years after running that sub-four-minute mile, he's now competing in the Tour de France. At 32, he's doing it as one of the oldest neo-pros the sport has ever seen.

Woods is in 10th place overall at the Tour after four stages. He was a protagonist on stage three, riding aggressively at the front. His hope is to win a stage when the race hits the mountains, but his main objective is to support his team leader, Rigoberto Urán, the runner-up in the 2017 Tour, who's in 13th place.

We caught up with Woods at the start of the Tour.

Daniel McMahon: How is runner's high different from cyclist's high?

Michael Woods: A runner's high is certainly different. It's this full-body high. You finish a run and it's more invigorating. You finish your morning run and you feel like, "I'm ready to take on the day." Often you're in a better mood, more euphoric, whereas in cycling it's much longer and much more taxing mentally.

I found going for a run was cathartic because you're just releasing, and unless you're doing a full-gas race it's not mentally super difficult, whereas cycling is so mentally challenging. Even if you're doing a long training ride, it's challenging.

Then, once you finish, there's a high and there's this sensation. There's this endorphin rush. You feel really good, but it's more calm. It's like, this calmness. Once I finish a ride, I have no problem just sitting down and doing nothing. I just want to lie on the couch. It's the opposite of running, where I want to do things, I want to go and check out a new movie or hang out with friends. Instead, after a ride, if someone wants me to do something, it's like pulling teeth. I want to stay home and I complain. If my wife wants to go meet with some friends, I pull up every excuse in the book to try to not go.

If you go for a five-hour ride, you finish and you're happy, you've accomplished something, and you're getting at that high, but you don't want to do anything else.

McMahon: Like a serene afterglow. You just want to have a good beer or a nice meal.

Woods: Exactly. It also has to do with the higher impact of running. You're getting more of an endorphin rush, maybe because you're trying to heal the rest of your body, whereas on the bike you're not getting that impact.

McMahon: Do you still run?

Woods: Yeah, I run with my wife. And now I've started picking it up a bit more, trying to do it once or twice a week in season. When you finish a three-week race, you're a better bike racer but a worse human being. Over this Tour I'm probably going to walk 5 kilometers over the course of the month — that's it. And that's not healthy. That's not healthy from an impact-adaptation perspective. Humans are meant to walk — they're meant to move around.

The bike is really bad if you're a pro cyclist. There are quite a few incidents of low bone density, arthritis, all that kind of stuff, and just incorporating a bit of running into my regime makes me a healthier person. I also find it's made me more robust on the bike.

When I'm done cycling, I want to get back into running because it's so much easier to stay fit — a way better and bigger bang for your buck. I'm not going to be a professional athlete for the rest of my life. I want to have kids. I want to have a family. There are going to be so many things pulling at me for time. The bike's terrible for that. Going for a 30-minute-to-an-hour run, you get great bang for your buck, whereas a 30-minute-to-an-hour ride you're doing nothing.

McMahon: What's a run look like now with the season in full swing?

Woods: Just 10 to 15 minutes, an easy jog before doing some core work. Nothing crazy, because I'm doing 30-hour training weeks on the bike.

McMahon: At 32, you're one of the oldest neo-pros in pro cycling, and you're doing your first Tour de France.

Woods: I'm really happy that I'm doing my first Tour at this age, too. If I were 21, it'd be lost on me — I'd be overwhelmed by all the interviews. I might be more excited, but I'm really excited right now, and as you get older I feel like there are fewer things you get really excited about.

So to have this at 32, and at this level, I feel like I'm going to my first sleepover when I was 5, just that level of childish excitement. And because I'm older, I'm really enjoying the moment that I'm in. Because at 32, this could conceivably be my last tour. Anything can happen. I'm not young.

McMahon: What makes the Tour unique?

Woods: It's the only bike race I knew of as a noncyclist. It's the only bike race I followed as a noncyclist. And I'm feeling that significance now. It's the only thing that transcends cycling. It's the only part of the sport that reaches outside the sphere of people inside the sport. So that extra layer of attention, that extra layer of messages from friends and family, it's overwhelming, and I'm really appreciating that and feel really lucky to be doing it.

McMahon: What is top of mind for you in this opening week of the Tour?

Woods: First thing is to just to try and stay safe. I really want to finish this thing. I want to do well; I want to have success.

But I have to take a good step back and realize the first week is so dangerous, that for me to have success, for me to contribute to the team's success, I have to stay safe. And because of all of this excitement, because of all of this energy, it's going to be a difficult thing to do.

Everybody wants to do so well at the Tour because of that extra layer of attention, that even the most seasoned veterans do stuff that is outside what they normally do, and that can result in chaos. And because of that, it makes it a really uncontrollable thing. I have to keep my wits about me and keep my head.

SEE ALSO: American Tour de France team bans cellphones at dinner table

DON'T MISS: The Tour de France favorites, ranked

Join the conversation about this story »

• Julian Alaphilippe won stage three of the Tour de France and claimed the yellow jersey for France for the first time since 2014.
• In the final miles of the stage, Alaphilippe used the "supertuck," in which he lowered his body onto the frame of the bike to reduce drag and increase speed.
• Lance Armstrong was critical of the move, saying Alaphilippe took it to a new level and that there was a risk of amateur riders trying the stunt at home.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Lance Armstrong was critical of Tour de France leader Julian Alaphilippe this week for using a dangerous move called the "supertuck" late in his stage-three win — after which he captured the yellow jersey.

Once Alaphilippe took the lead during an attack on the third of four climbs in the stage, he created a significant gap over the chasers. With about 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) to go, Alaphilippe alternated between pedaling and the supertuck, in which he squatted down on the frame of the bike, reaching speeds of over 30 mph (47 kph).

The NBCSN announcers called the move "not safe" and recommended that the audience "not do this unless you are a pro bike rider."

On Tuesday, Armstrong was asked about the move.

"I'm a huge critic of the supertuck," Armstrong said on NBCSN.

Armstrong went on to say that his fear of the move in this situation was that Alaphilippe took it to a new level, and by using it on such a big stage, amateur riders would be attempting the stunt at home.

"My fear about the supertuck is that Alaphilippe took it to a new level," Armstrong said on NBCSN.

"Not only did he supertuck, but he was looking back at the chasers while he was in the supertuck, which is next-level stuff. My fear, though, is that every Tom, Dick, and Harry on a group ride, here or anywhere around the world, is going to be trying the supertuck. I have to close my eyes."

The supertuck has been used in professional cycling for some time but seemed to find a bit of a renaissance in 2016 when Chris Froome used the move to help him win Stage 8 of the Tour de France on the way to his third win at cycling's biggest event.

SEE ALSO: Canadian in Tour de France who ran a sub-4 mile says he still runs because doing nothing but pedaling for 3 weeks makes you 'a better bike racer but a worse human' physically

DON'T MISS: An American Tour de France team has barred its riders from using cellphones at the dinner table during the 3-week race

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• The Tour de France is the world's largest annual sporting event, and one of the most photogenic.
• There are many excellent photographers covering the race, but some stand out.
• Kristof Ramon is among the best shooters in cycling, and he spoke with Business Insider about his work — and even offered advice to aspiring photographers.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

COLMAR, France — Cycling is one of the most beautiful and photogenic sports, and its greatest race is the Tour de France.

The Belgian photographer Kristof Ramon is one of the most accomplished shooters on the Tour. His images are lush and dreamlike and capture cycling's most intimate moments in a way few others have.

When he's not making pictures for some of the top teams in the race, Ramon is building his trove of indelible images.

Ramon spoke with Business Insider about his work, the business of shooting the Tour, and overcoming imposter syndrome.

Daniel McMahon: Your photos show more than race action. They tell stories.

Kristof Ramon: Some people think I'm a sports photographer, but I'm not. I'm simply a cycling photographer, which is not a sports photographer. I want to tell the story of cycling and what happens in and around cycling. If you focus on a sport, don't just think the story is always in the action or in the game. What's next to the game? Who are the players? What do they do in their time off? That is more important. It's the thing I try to focus on more and more.

If I look back at the pictures that appeal to me most of all, they are pictures of Eddy Merckx lying in bed in the Giro d'Italia with his trainers on and sort of crying. Those images. If you can be the photographer at moments like that, it would be amazing.

McMahon: What advice would you give aspiring photographers?

Ramon: Show up. People tell me, "I want to be a cycling photographer." I look at their stuff, and I say, "OK, you did this race and that race, but there are so many more races." You've got to show up. Be there. Be part of it. Dig in. Be a fanatic.

In whatever kind of photography you choose, profile yourself as that kind of photographer. I don't mean just be a sports photographer. Be the football fanatic, be the tennis fanatic, so that you get to know the world working and become someone in that world.

It's much better to be the king of a little niche than to be a nobody generally. Work hard.

In the beginning you go through the lower ranks and move your way up, build a portfolio, build a following. Dig in and pay your dues. And let it grow naturally. Don't force yourself in, because then people are like, nahhhh. You've got to evolve into it naturally. And by doing that, if I look back to those pictures of Merckx lying in bed, it's the storytelling.

I see some photographers, and they are sports-news photographers, so they're on the moto all the time, and that's the only thing they bring, finish-line photos, this and that. Their clients are newspapers and websites who want it all fast, and they sort of cut out what they want, as long as it's in focus. Because they're going to cut it all out anyway and put it on the front page or the sports page.

If that's what you want to do, you're in trouble, because whoever wants your pictures just wants it to be that and wants to pay as little as possible. You're cooked whenever you're into that game. But if you can make it your own style, choose your clients, and be more about storytelling, then you control the game.

Then clients come to you, and you're the one controlling the price, instead of the agents or the clients dictating. You say, "No, this is the price." And that works if you build your own style and your own storytelling. You're in charge.

McMahon: Is that why you started your own company?

Ramon: Yes, and it's why I don't work for big agencies, because I want to control what I want to do, boutique small. I'd rather be a boutique than a big thing, because if you're a big thing then you have to go low on price. If you're a boutique, clients want this specific thing you do. If you're in that game, it makes life much easier.

It's not just easier commercially, but even on the level of the teams I work with, who allow me to do something more. If a news photographer would come in for a day and try to follow them ... I mean, I build relationships with the crew, with the riders, with everybody around. They know I'm someone they can trust. There's years of trust. I'll be on a bus where eight guys are naked, and they're comfortable and trust me that I don't do something indecent. They're comfortable with me being there with a camera. And that's not something you can expect from somebody walking up on the day, because they don't know who he is. Build trust.

McMahon: What about technique? Is it so important, or is it all about the eye?

Ramon: There is no one without the other. You can be charming and good socially, which will really help you, but if your technical game is not up to par, then after a while — you still have to draw in clients to make it sustainable. I almost never give out technical tips, because it's basic stuff. If you want to play this game, you need to know that. The only way to get there is to practice, practice, practice.

I went to film school, which is my storytelling background. With the purely technical stuff, just learn it, practice it, repeat it, and be critical. I've seen people praising themselves like, "This is a great shot." And I look at it, and I'm like, no. Is it publishable? Will it sell? No. I mean, I'm very critical with myself. You know, for a long time I had this impostor syndrome, like, "When are they gonna catch me?" Then I realized that a lot of people around me were even worse. [Laughs.] I took confidence from that.

McMahon: Fake it till you make it.

Ramon: Yes, fake it till you make it is a good one, but be aware that you have the technical skills, that you have what it takes, and be better, either technically or in storytelling. Or both, preferably. And if you have social skills to communicate well and to make good connections with people, for sure you can make it.

An easy technical one for me is composition. There's technique, but then there's composition, style, and cultural heritage that you sort of picked up along the way. You've got to let it sift through and let it be your work, your voice, your preference. That's what editors are interested in. Learn how to compose a picture, because that's also part of storytelling.

Something Steve Jobs said that really hit home with me: In the speech he gave at Stanford, he was like, "Hey, I picked this up when I was learning this, and I picked this up and this up." All the stuff you learn that has nothing to do with photography is also the stuff that influences how your photography looks and feels and comes across. Have as big a cultural baggage as you can. It can be music, for example, or, as in my case, it can be art. It can be so many things. But integrate that into your work. Instead of copying, have a voice.

McMahon: What do you enjoy most about shooting the Tour?

Ramon: This is the biggest event in my sport. Even the world championships are probably not as big as this. It's a huge thing. You've got the World Cup, the Olympics, and the Tour. It's the third-biggest thing in the world that way.

The funnest thing — because I'm working closely with teams — and the biggest reward is being close to the actors in this play and to know them personally, their trusting me, being there in moments when no one else is there, and to be able to capture those moments. And they can be few or little.

Last year I did my 10th Tour, my eighth accredited one. But for me, in the years to come, the wish is to be with a team that wins and me telling the story from behind. If that happens, I can retire happily, but you have to be ready for it. Whatever I've built up over the years, all those years will help me to be perfect — I mean, to be as good as I can be.

The most beautiful moments of the Tour will be those little moments nobody else sees that I can bring out in a nice storytelling image. Being there is priceless.

See some more photos by Ramon below and on his website.

SEE ALSO: An American Tour de France team has barred its riders from using cellphones at the dinner table during the 3-week race

DON'T MISS: Canadian in Tour de France who ran a sub-4 mile says he still runs because doing nothing but pedaling for 3 weeks makes you 'a better bike racer but a worse human' physically

• The Tour de Francebikes are among the lightest and fastest road-racing bicycles in the world.
• Each year at the Tour, companies roll out their new bikes to showcase them in front of millions of viewers.
• The US team EF Education First gave Business Insider a close-up look at one of its new SuperSix EVOs, its lightweight climbing bike, the one ridden by the Canadian rider Michael Woods.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

MULHOUSE, France — The Canadian pro cyclist Michael Woods is among the most talked-about riders here at the Tour de France. The 32-year-old climbing specialist is one of the oldest neo-pros the sport has seen, and he's making his Tour debut riding in support of Colombia's Rigoberto Urán, the runner-up in the 2017 Tour.

Woods was well positioned after the first five stages, riding in or around 10th place overall, and he was among the most active protagonists on stage three. He told Business Insider he's keen to win a stage before Paris.

Read more: I rode the new Cannondale SuperSix EVO, billed as the 'fastest lightweight road bike'

Woods' EF Education First team is sponsored by the US-based Cannondale bike manufacturer, and the Tour riders have two road models to choose from: the hyper-aero SystemSix, for the flatter stages, and the lighter SuperSix EVO, the preferred bike for the mountains.

Business Insider got close-up with Woods' EVO ahead of the first major mountain stage of the Tour, stage six, from Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles, with its steep summit finish.

DON'T MISS: A top Tour de France photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

SEE ALSO: Canadian in Tour de France who ran a sub-4 mile says he still runs because doing nothing but pedaling for 3 weeks makes you 'a better bike racer but a worse human' physically

The new EVO is much more aero than the previous iteration. And it's a gorgeous bike with a brilliant paint job. Up front, the straight "BallisTec" full carbon fork is lightweight and has a clean look.

The front on the new EVO has an overall more aerodynamic profile than the previous iteration's.

The Di2 junction box, used to charge the electronic gear-shifting system, is designed into the frame. (The UCI sticker indicates the bike is approved for racing by the world governing body of cycling.)

The flat-top handlebar enhances the aerodynamic profile. The tape is Prologo's Onetouch.

The new EVO's rear triangle features dropped seat stays, which make for a more aerodynamic and comfortable ride.

Read more: With the Tour de France a week away, I rode the new Cannondale SuperSix EVO, billed as the 'fastest lightweight road bike,' to see what it was all about. Here's the verdict.

The new EVO comes with either rim or disc brakes. For the mountain stages, Woods opts for the lighter rim-brake setup, by Shimano.

Woods rides a Prologo Nago Evo PAS saddle.

The team uses Tax Deva bottle cages.

For at least one mountain stage, Woods opted for a 53-tooth front chainring and a 38-tooth inner ring. There's a built-in Power2Max NG and NGeco HollowGram power meter.

Woods opted for a 32-11 rear cassette for at least one mountain stage. Shimano does not make a Dura-Ace 32 cog, so the mechanics had to go with the slightly heavier Ultegra cassette.

Woods rides Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 pedals.

The team rides Vittoria Corsa tubular tires, 25 mm wide. All the tires are pumped to about 100 psi, or 7 bar.

Related: Why the tires at the Tour de France keep getting wider and the pressure lower

Woods is one of two Canadians racing in this Tour de France. The other is Hugo Houle on the Astana team.

The mechanics marked Woods' seat post so that it's easy to put his saddle height exactly to his preference.

Woods' EVO as pictured weighs just 6.99 kilos, or 15.41 pounds. The EVO retails for $11,500, but Woods' bike would cost more in this build. The carbon racer's lightness should serve the EF rider well in the Tour's high mountains.

• The highest-placed US rider in the Tour de France, Tejay van Garderen, withdrew from the race late Friday.
• Van Garderen crashed heavily early on stage seven after hitting a traffic median, he told Business Insider. Broken and bloodied, he finished the stage, the longest of this Tour at more than 140 miles.
• Postrace X-rays revealed a fracture in his left thumb.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

CHALON-SUR-SAONE, France — Bike racing can be brutal and unforgiving. Tejay van Garderen, the top American rider in the Tour de France, got a bitter reminder of that on Friday: He is now out of the world's greatest race after crashing hard on stage seven and breaking his left thumb and suffering multiple abrasions to his face and body.

He crashed not long after the stage's start and still managed to complete the longest stage of the Tour, 230 kilometers, or 142.9 miles, albeit broken and bloodied.

EF Education First team manager and CEO Jonathan Vaughtersconfirmed to Business Insider that Van Garderen would not start stage eight on Saturday. He was in 33rd place heading into Friday's stage, the highest-placed US rider.

Read more: Up close with a Tour de France climbing bike as the race heads to the high mountains

Early on the stage, which was supposed to be a relatively relaxing but long day for most of the riders, Van Garderen hit a traffic island and crashed heavily. He was checked by team management and the official Tour doctor after crashing and was eventually allowed to continue racing.

He finished the stage, the longest of this year's Tour. After, he went for X-rays, which showed a fracture in his left thumb.

"I really feel the most disappointed that I can't contribute to the team," Van Garderen told Business Insider. "I have a lot of belief in Rigo and Woods. I think they can win stages and podium, and maybe even win the whole Tour. And I would've loved to have been part of that and contributed toward that."

EF's Michael Woods of Canada, a talented runner turned climber, and Colombian Rigoberto Uran, the team leader who finished second in the 2017 Tour, are sitting in ninth and 10th after Friday's stage.

Van Garderen told Business Insider how the crash happened: "It was a really stupid crash," he said. "I think a piece of paper or something got stuck in my bike somewhere, and I was just looking down trying to see what it was and get it out. And as I was looking down, I ran into a median. It was really a benign moment of the race, and it was just one of those things. I can't blame anyone but myself.

Read more: A top Tour de France photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

"There's a fracture in my medial carpal, and right now it's not displaced, but doctors advise I keep it in a splint and keep it immobile," Van Garderen added. "If I'm riding on it and going over bumps, it's directly impacting the area of the fracture, and it could easily become displaced and become a more serious problem.

"As far as continuing, you would have to ask also in what capacity. If I could continue and be an effective and contributing member of the team, that might be worth the risk. But if I'm out there, and I'm putting other riders in danger as well as myself because I'm having less control in braking and shifting and gripping the handlebars, I don't just want to sit at the back and limp my way to Paris. That's not a very productive use of time. I can better recover and prepare for other events this season."

Vaughters added in a team statement late Friday: "We never want to see a rider leave the Tour like this. There is a huge amount of work that goes into the preparation for this race, no one wants to be there more than these riders do.

"After talking with Tejay, our doctor, and race directors this evening, we're not only concerned about Tejay doing lasting damage to the fractured bone if he were to continue riding, but we are also concerned for the safety of others, too. Full use of your hand is important when racing alongside 180 riders."

"We will miss having him in the team," Vaughters said. "He has showed great form coming into the race. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope that he'll be back racing again soon."

Van Garderen told Business Insider he wouldn't have finished the stage Friday if he didn't believe there was at least a possibility he could continue in the race. "But once the medical reports came out, it was just the most prudent call to stop," he said.

He said he'd head back to his European base, in Girona, Spain, on Saturday, to meet with his family before flying back to the US and figuring out where he goes from here and how he finishes out the season.

SEE ALSO: Canadian in Tour de France who ran a sub-4 mile says he still runs because doing nothing but pedaling for 3 weeks makes you 'a better bike racer but a worse human' physically

DON'T MISS: An American Tour de France team has barred its riders from using cellphones at the dinner table during the 3-week race

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tiger Woods has won more money than any other golfer. Here's how he makes and spends his millions.

• Crashing is part of bike racing, especially at the Tour de France, but no two crashes or injuries are the same, which can complicate matters when deciding whether it's safe for a rider to continue.
• The rider's safety must be considered but so too should that of the other riders. Those considerations became a focus of the EF Education First team after the highest-placed US cyclist, Tejay van Garderen, crashed Friday.
• Early on stage seven he broke his thumb and suffered multiple cuts to his face and body, and still he went on to complete the 143-mile stage. Yet his Tour was in doubt.
• EF's doctor spoke with Business Insider about the how the team arrived at a decision late Friday that led to Van Garderen's withdrawal from the race.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

CHALON-SUR-SAONE, France — Crashing is part of the Tour de France, but fortunately most of the time riders pick themselves up and continue riding. Yet even when they do, it's not always clear they should take the start the next day.

How do teams decide whether it's safe for a rider to continue?

Business Insider spoke with Kevin Sprouse, the doctor for the US-based EF Education First team, after Tejay van Garderen, the highest-placed American, crashed hard on Friday's stage seven, broke his thumb, suffered multiple cuts to his face and body, and still crossed the finish line, all before deciding not to continue racing the next day.

Daniel McMahon: We know Van Garderen crashed hard early on stage seven after hitting a traffic median but eventually got up and managed to finish the stage — no small feat since it was the longest of the Tour at 143 miles. What care did he receive?

Kevin Sprouse: Tejay visited the race doctor's car a couple of times after his crash, mainly for pain meds, like Tylenol, and to make sure there was no concussion or other obvious things. I will say that you probably get varying capabilities by race doctors at races, but at the Tour they're fantastic. They've been doing it for a while, and I'm experienced in dealing with them.

They assess for his memory of events surrounding the crash, something we've also trained our staff in, in terms of the basics. Nothing medical per se, but general things to look at, like asking what stage we're in, what date it is, maybe the location of the race — although sometimes I couldn't tell you where it started, so we have to have some leeway with the reality of the questions.

Read more: Canadian in Tour de France who ran a sub-4 mile says he still runs because doing nothing but pedaling for 3 weeks makes you 'a better bike racer but a worse human' physically

But typically if the rider can explain, "Oh, this is what happened" and there are some details to it, like they went down, they hopped back up, they can tell you the whole story and answer some pertinent questions about their surroundings, then that's a really good screen. And then just how they're acting, how they're riding, because balance is key.

And you hope not to put a concussed rider on the bike, but with the nature of cycling sometimes they're back on the bike before someone gets to them. So, de facto, it becomes a little bit of a decent test on their way back to the peloton, like how are they riding? It is not ideal, but in the real word that we live in we use all those things.

McMahon: What role did Van Garderen's teammates play?

Sprouse: What's great is that our riders really look after each other. I've seen it in other scenarios this year where there was a crash, as in the Amstel Gold Race, where Alex Howes got a concussion. And again, because of the scenario, there wasn't a doctor around him. And it's Amstel, so the pack is strung out. There wasn't a doctor around immediately. When the team car came up, Nate Brown dropped back and said, "Hey, Alex isn't good. You gotta get him out." Having the guys look out for each other is fantastic. That's an ideal scenario.

Today we had [Tom] Scully spend some time with Tejay. Tanel [Kangert] was also there. Not that we rely on them for any kind of medical decisions, but the fact that they're there the first couple of minutes helps. So it's kind of mining all that data that's there to get an idea of what's going on. For the race doctor who's there, they can do a quick assessment at the car, ask a few questions, make sure there are no obvious fractures that would disqualify him from continuing.

McMahon: What happened once he finished the stage?

Sprouse: After I cleaned him up on the bus, I thought we were going to have to do some stitches, but there was nothing that was very deep, thank goodness, so we got him bandaged and to the X-ray truck. We did an X-ray of his left hand, which showed a fairly non-displaced fracture at the base of the first medial carpal, which is kind of the base of the thumb. We also did an ultrasound to make sure there was no tendon damage or soft-tissue damage, and that all looked good.

Read more:US Tour de France team bans cellphones at dinner table

So it was basically a fracture of the thumb, which in and of itself is not a terrible injury, but when you're cycling you've got to have some strength in your hands just to ride safely. You support yourself right on that spot, that pad on your hand, what we call the thenar eminence. You put a lot of weight there. So if there's a fracture under that and you're going to ride two more weeks over bumpy roads, there's a good chance that that fracture that's nice and well-aligned right now could become malaligned and need surgery.

McMahon: So there wasn't any initial sign of concussion.

Sprouse: There was no sign of concussion, but concussion is something that can present over 6, 8, 12 hours, so we'll keep an eye on that, but right now no concussion.

McMahon: The doctor-patient conversation is of course confidential, but what can you tell us about the nature of the conversation that took place with you, Van Garderen, and team management following the stage?

Sprouse: What I can tell you is that my take on these things is to remind riders in these scenarios there are always pros and cons. What is the benefit of this decision? What is the benefit of that decision? What are the ways we can approach it step-wise? Also, we can say, "Hey, the race doesn't start until tomorrow morning. If you're torn and we're not sure how to go with this, let's sit on it an hour or two. Let's talk again in a little bit."

While a lot of times the decision may be fairly cut and dried, it's hard to come to that realization for someone who's been training all year for an event. So rather than just pull the plug when it doesn't need to be abrupt, giving it some time is a gentler way of having that conversation.

Read more:The Tour de France favorites, ranked

McMahon: As team doctor, you have the ultimate say whether a rider can continue. What went into your decision?

Sprouse: There are at least two sides of it. One, if there's imminent medical danger, then absolutely I've got to say we shut it down right there. But in a lot cases that's not actually what we're dealing with. It's more of a subtle pro and con.

So with this, from a strictly medical standpoint, you could rationalize riding and say, "OK, if this fracture doesn't move, great, we'll put a cast on it in two weeks. And if it does move, it can be fixed surgically." And of course this is the Tour de France. It's not some little race. So potentially medically, just taking him into account, it could work. But as Tejay was quick to recognize, even in that scenario, he may put other people at risk, not being able to brake and handle the bike.

There are a lot of other things that come into play, including his safety and the safety of other people. And can he actually contribute? So I've got the yes or no on the major medical issue, but the other stuff, we kind of talk through it and what makes sense and what's safe.

SEE ALSO: Up close with a Tour de France climbing bike as the race heads to the high mountains

DON'T MISS: A top Tour de France photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: All the terrible things a concussion does to the brain

• The leader of the Tour de France wears a yellow jersey, and it's something of a modern tradition for his bike to have bits of yellow highlight as well.
• The current race leader is the fast Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe of the Belgian Deceuninck-QuickStep team, which rides US-based Specialized bikes, including the S-Works Tarmac, pictured.
• We got a few minutes with Alaphilippe's bike on Bastille Day. Check out the photos below.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SAINT-ÉTIENNE, France — France's Julian Alaphilippe is the current leader of the Tour de France, and this is his main race bike, which we shot Sunday morning, Bastille Day, in the stage-nine start town of Saint-Étienne. 

The fast Frenchman rides a Specialized S-Works Tarmac, a lightweight all-round carbon-fiber race bike with Shimano Dura-Ace components including disc brakes and electronic shifting, or Di2.

Specialized is an American company based in California; Alaphilippe's Deceuninck-QuickStep team is a Belgian powerhouse of cycling.

Check out Alaphilippe's Tarmac with yellow touches below.

SEE ALSO: A top Tour de France photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

DON'T MISS: Inside the decision that led the best-placed American to stop racing in the Tour de France, according to his team doctor

It's a tradition that the leader of the Tour sport some yellow on his bike. Alaphilippe's Tarmac has yellow bar tape and computer mount.

Each rider has a number plate attached to his seat post. Alaphilippe is rider No. 21. The No. 3 represents the number of stage wins he has in the Tour in his career.

Some Tour leaders' bikes go overboard with yellow. We like that the Frenchman's has not too much.

Each Tour rider's bike has a transponder attached to the chain stay. It relays the rider's location and start/finish time.

Alaphilippe's Shimano gears run from an 11-tooth cog for the sprints up to a 30-tooth cog for the climbs.

The yellow bottle cages by Tacx complement the tape.

Alaphilippe opts for 50-centimeter-profile carbon aero wheels by Roval, a Specialized brand. The tires are also by Specialized: These are the S-Works Turbos, 26mm tubular tires, which are glued onto the rim.

The fast Frenchman rides a Specialized EVO saddle, which features a cut-out for added comfort.

The Specialized S-Works Tarmac retails for $11,000, but Alaphilippe's bike in this build would costs a bit more.

How long can Alaphilippe stay in yellow? Stay tuned.

• US-based Tour de France team EF Education First had high hopes coming into the race, but things have gotten complicated after it lost one of its top climbers in a crash over the weekend.
• Team CEO Jonathan Vaughters spoke with Business Insider about his revised plan for the remaining dozen stages. He even shed light on what happens psychologically when a team loses a rider.
• He also told us who he thinks are the best riders in the race.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SAINT-FLOUR, France — The US-based Tour de France team EF Education First is down a rider after losing top-placed American Tejay van Garderen to a crash on Friday's stage seven. Now, with a dozen stages left till Paris, team boss Jonathan Vaughters has to revise his goals and figure out how to deliver results so the team doesn't go home empty-handed.

It's no easy task to win a stage or to get on the final podium. The Tour is the sport's biggest race, and everyone wants to win. Unlike many other races on the pro calendar, no rider uses the Tour to prep for another race. This is the big show.

Vaughters sat down with Business Insider on Sunday night to talk about his team's plan for the rest of the race, and he shed light on what happens after a team loses a rider.

Daniel McMahon: What's the plan for the rest of the Tour de France now that Tejay is gone?

Jonathan Vaughters: Obviously we've had to do a major pivot. Without having stated it, my vision for the team coming into the race was a stage win, which is still on the cards, who knows when or how or whatever, but we'll keep trying. And I felt a top-five place for Rigo was also possible, and very much I think it still is.

Read more: Inside the decision that led the best-placed American to stop racing in the Tour de France

But the one I really thought we could knock out of the park was the team general classification, because we have three strong climbers: Rigo, Woods, and Tejay. Because it's always on your third guy across the line each day — that's your time, first, second, third guy is cumulative. It can be three different guys, but it's always the first three guys.

So the combination of our team being pretty good at getting in breakaways and three good climbers, I was, like, "I bet you we can win the team GC." And that'd be a big deal, right? But that's not on the table. That's gone.

So pivot from that, and now with Rigo what I'd say he's very much on track to finish fifth or sixth. My hope is that in the last week of the race that his relative freshness compared to everyone else — not having raced in as many days — and the fact that he's always really good in the third week of races — like, no matter what, he always comes up in the third week — that in that third week that he will really do something spectacular that'll get him all the way to the podium. I think that could happen.

As far as stage win, Bettiol and Woods are our two best shots. Where and how, we'll see. That's the lay of the land. So a realistic expectation is we'll contend for stages and Rigo fifth or sixth. The reach goal is Rigo's on the podium and we win a stage.

McMahon: What was it like on the team after Tejay crashed out?

Vaughters: I don't think the mood changed dramatically. It was just like, "Oh s---, bummer." And like I said, that team-GC thing, we just kind of had to throw it out the window because you can't do that without a third strong guy in the mountains. As far as the other guys, there wasn't really a big adjustment at all. Unfortunately, it's one less soldier out there.

Read more: We just got up close with the Tour de France leader's bike, Julian Alaphilippe's Specialized S-Works Tarmac Disc

Bike riders are a bit like fighter pilots. When somebody crashes, like a fighter pilot, they just kind of pretend that person doesn't exist. It's very psychological. When somebody crashes out of a race, you're just kind of like, "OK, I just didn't see that." You say, "Oh, I'm really sorry. I'll see you at the next race." But as soon as you go to dinner and they go to the airport, they don't exist anymore.

You have to have that attitude, because if you start thinking about, "What if I crashed next?" or "Oh, my gosh, he looked really hurt," and you start letting that stuff build up in your head, you're going to be horrible the next day.

McMahon: You tweeted that you drove Tejay to the airport. Care to share some of what you talked about?

Vaughters: We mainly talked about his build-up for Vuelta [Tour of Spain]. I had a really good conversation with him actually. I was surprised at how he took it. I don't want to say he took it well, but he was very much like, "OK, that happened. There's nothing I can do about it. It was my fault. I'm not blaming anyone else, but now I need to move on to the next thing."

He was more interested in hearing my thoughts on how to build up for the Vuelta and what he could do training-wise because he's known to be on the indoor trainer quite a bit, and where he should train for what. He was interested in just putting it behind him and refocusing. He wasn't dwelling at all, which is really good.

McMahon: Did he pitch you to be leader at the Vuelta?

Vaughters: No, not at all. He and I discussed it more in terms of that he would go as an experienced guy, almost like the road captain, and that it would be used as a build-up for the world time-trial championships.

McMahon: Outside the team, what are you seeing with the other GC hopefuls?

Vaughters: The guy I'm really looking at is Thibaut Pinot. Alaphilippe, I still think that that's not going to work in the third week. Geraint Thomas looks super strong, surprisingly strong. I'd say that Thibaut Pinot and Geraint Thomas are the two key guys. The question is if Thibaut Pinot actually got into the yellow jersey — which you never know, he could — does he have a team that could remotely defend that or would it just get chewed to pieces? I don't know. I don't know the answer to that.

SEE ALSO: Inside the decision that led the best-placed American to stop racing in the Tour de France

DON'T MISS: A top Tour de France photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tiger Woods has won more money than any other golfer. Here's how he makes and spends his millions.

• Citi Bike's third wave of expansion was announced Tuesday, with new stations planned for the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. 
• The Lyft-owned bike-share system says it will have 40,000 bikes — more than triple the current amount — online by 2023. 
• However, the expansion comes amid a spate of cyclists killed by cars in New York City and activists say local politicians and police haven't done enough to stop it. 
• Earlier this month, a community group blasted Citi Bike for only serving white, wealthy citizens who already had transit access.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Citi Bike, the bike-share program owned by Lyft, is expanding to the Bronx, company executives and New York City elected officials announced Tuesday.

The latest expansion to the previously unserved borough as well as new neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan involves more than tripling the number bikes currently in the system to 40,000 by 2023, officials said.

When Lyft purchased Motivate, which operates Citi Bike as well as similar programs in Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and other major cities, the company pledged a $100 million investment in the system's continued growth. Tuesday's announcement is a further continuation of that investment, the company said.

"Here in New York, Citi Bike's expansion to new neighborhoods will provide convenient, affordable, and sustainable transit access to many additional New Yorkers, shortening commutes, boosting public health, and building connections between communities across our great city," Caroline Samponaro, Lyft's head of micromobility policy and former bike activist, said in a press release.

Citi Bike came under fire earlier this month when a group called New York Communities for Change published a report blasting the system for largely serving areas that were made up of white, wealthy, customers.

"Our analysis finds that the Citi Bike network mainly serves a privileged population that already has strong transit options,"the report said."Future expansions of bike sharing in NYC, either through the existing Citi Bike system or through the introduction of new competitors, should expand the effective size of the population who can access the subway in neighborhoods of high social need."

To its credit, Lyft offers discounted passes for public housing residents and those who receive other government benefits. The company also pledged $50 million every year to improving economic outcomes for lower-income residents through its City Works program, it said.

A harrowing time for New York City cyclists

Tuesday's announced expansion also comes amid a rash of bicyclists killed by drivers on New York City streets. Fifteen cyclists have died since the beginning of 2019, far outpacing previous years. Advocates, including the organization TransAlt, have called the Mayor's Vision Zero plan ineffective, and have staged many demonstrations to call attention to the fatalities.

This month, the group staged a "die in" at Washington Square Park in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, with members holding signs with the names of killed cyclists.

"Some people say that there are too many people on bikes in New York. We say there are too many cars," Ellen McDermott, the co-deputy director at Transportation Alternatives, one of the organizers of the event, told AM New York at the time."It is time to change how we build our streets. Every single New Yorker deserves safe passage, whether you are walking or on your bike — this should be your right."

Lyft also plans to relaunch electric bikes in New York soon, after pulling hundreds of the bikes from streets when they were found to have faulty brakes. Redesigned — and rebranded — Lyft bikes have launched recently in the San Francisco area with more cities in the works.

More Lyft news: 

• Lyft broke the law when it failed to tell Chicago about a driver it kicked off its app. A month later he was accused of killing a taxi driver while working for Uber.
• A writer's surprisingly simple trick for staying safe in a Lyft has gone viral. Here's what you need to know.
• Uber and Lyft drivers reveal the things you should never do while taking a ride

SEE ALSO: Uber and Lyft are fighting tooth and nail against a California bill that could make some drivers employees and bankrupt both companies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 5 things wrong with Apple's lightning cable

• The cyclists in the Tour de France will require a ridiculous number of calories to make it all the way from Brussels down to the Pyrenees and back up to Paris via the Alps.
• They'll pedal 2,162 miles, or 3,480 kilometers, over three weeks.
• Because the riders have to consume so much food, eating can feel like work, so the chef Olga Belenko prepares meals that are as delicious as they are nutritious.
• The US-based team EF Education First invited Business Insider to its chef's van, a kitchen on wheels that travels with the race each day, to see what Olga was cooking up for dinner.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

TARBES, France — The riders in the Tour de France consume and burn several thousand calories daily over the 21 stages. They say they eat so much it can feel like work.

That's where Olga Belenko comes in. She's the chef for the American team EF Education First, in charge of cooking up nutritious but delicious breakfasts, dinners, and other in-between meals for the duration of the three-week race.

Read more:An American Tour de France team has banned cellphones at the dinner table

She recently invited us into the team's chef's van, a kitchen on wheels, to see what the riders were eating for dinner. Because the riders were racing a time trial the next day, Olga wanted to make a meal that wasn't too heavy and very easy to digest.

These are all dishes you could prepare easily at home to fuel your next workout.

SEE ALSO: Inside the decision that led the best-placed American to stop racing in the Tour

DON'T MISS: A top Tour photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

A mixed green salad with lemon.

"A mixed green salad is very important as it's full of iron," Olga said. The riders start the Tour eating salad with every meal, as well as generous portions of fruit and vegetables, but over the course of the race, they eat less of it and instead ask for more carbs, meat, and, in particular, avocado.

The pros are just like us! They love cheese too.

On the evening we caught up with Olga, she served fresh Parmesan with the mixed green salad. "Parmesan is very old dry cheese," she said, "so the fat from it is very good, and it's salty, which the riders love." She mixed in pepper and olive oil before serving.

Teamwork.

Carlos Quevedo, Olga's assistant, drives, shops, cooks, and makes juices for the riders — and helps Olga serve all the food.

Rice with sautéed onion.

The riders eat a lot of rice — at breakfast with omelets and at dinner with just about everything. They prefer white rice, Olga said, because it has more carbs per gram than brown or whole-grain, which has "too much fiber for the riders."

Vitamins and minerals galore.

One of the many dishes Olga served featured grilled carrots, snow peas, and broccoli spears with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, plus salt, pepper, and olive oil.

A mushroom soup with potato and leek.

Olga said soup is popular with the riders simply because they don't always want to eat things in pieces. She can also easily add in extra carbs to fuel the riders, so they can eat more calories easier and faster. "If I gave them more veggies and potatoes, even in grilled form, maybe they'll take one or two pieces. With soup it's easier to stomach more. I even see some riders adding the rice to the soup."

Comfort food.

"The soup's important," Olga said. "The chicken broth is good for the riders' stomach, and it's just warm and calming food."

I got to taste it. Delicious!

Tomatoes everywhere, all the time.

The highly nutritious, anti-inflammatory tomato is ubiquitous on Tour dinner tables. Olga added a balsamic reduction to these cherry tomatoes, with some agave, and baked them for 25 minutes.

Baked chicken with spices — and the skin on.

The riders eat chicken twice a week and fish twice a week. Red meat is served only the night before a rest day, as it's harder for the cyclists to digest. One a day a week, they'll have rabbit or turkey. Pasta is often served as well.

Olga added garlic, curry, turmeric, and salt and pepper to the chicken, which she baked for up to 30 minutes. (She has to be careful with spices because not all riders like the same ones.) She prepares the pan with a base of onions, a taste the riders love. And she leaves the skin on.

"We don't want to avoid every fat, and so the skin is important, for the metabolism. Unlike with duck, for example, which has quite a thick skin, with chicken, after you bake it, it's almost gone, and it's really crispy and delicious."

And yes, there was dessert. Yogurt with fresh fruit.

• Tour de France cyclists ride about 110 miles and burn an average of 6,071 calories each day of the race.
• To give you a better idea of just how many calories that is, the video above shows how many portions of popular foods you'd have to eat to reach that caloric intake.
• Of course, this is not what Tour de France cyclists actually eat while competing.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published on July 12, 2016.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Twenty years ago this month Lance Armstrong won his first of seven Tour de France titles.
• All his Tour victories were stripped after the US Anti-Doping Agency said Armstrong ran the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sports.
• This week at the Tour, Armstrong's former friend and teammate Jonathan Vaughters sat down with Business Insider, in part to reflect on Armstrong's place in the sport and explain why he'd been treated more harshly than other cheaters.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

MURAT, France — Twenty years ago this month Lance Armstrong won his first of seven Tour de France titles and became a global icon overnight.

Everyone knows the incredible story: He beat cancer and came back to win the preeminent bicycle race a record seven times in a row. He started a cancer foundation. He earned millions. He dated celebrities and became a celebrity.

And eventually it all fell apart.

He lied about his cheating. He attacked his critics. He tried to ruin people's careers. Instead of being contrite he was vindictive.

The US Anti-Doping Agency said Armstrong ran the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sports. He was barred for life from cycling.

Read more:Where are they now? The Lance Armstrong team that dominated the Tour de France

After years of denial, Armstrong finally admitted to Oprah Winfrey on live prime-time TV that he doped not only in his first Tour victory but also in the six that followed.

"He was bigger than the sport — he was truly a global icon,"Jonathan Vaughters told Business Insider this week when asked about his former friend and teammate, two decades to the month after their lives began to take starkly different paths.

Vaughters was a member of Armstrong's 1999 Tour-winning team before crashing out of the race. Now he's the CEO of the openly anti-doping EF Education First team competing in the Tour.

He just published his first book, an autobiography that covers his years coming up as a bike racer, racing through the sport's rampant doping — including under Armstrong's reign — and his second career as a team boss.

Vaughters admitted his own doping in 2012 in The New York Times. He's more recently been outspoken against cheating and built a top team dedicated to clean racing.

"As far as the book goes, Lance was a character, a friend," Vaughters said. "I don't know — not a close friend. And then a nemesis in a lot of ways, over the years. He's certainly a character in the book, without a doubt, but by no stretch of the imagination is the book about him. He's just someone who's played a very large role in my life, and obviously a very large role in cycling."

Though many know about Armstrong's rise and fall, years later there's one question that sill comes up: If everyone else doped, why was Armstrong singled out and why were his Tour titles taken away?

"A lot of people have questioned whether he was actually that talented," Vaughters said. "Lance was incredibly talented and incredibly strong. He was a very gifted athlete, both physically and psychologically, mentally. As far as the doping goes, did he receive a harsher penalty than everyone else? Of course he did. It was harsher than everyone else.

"Unfortunately, I think the reason it was harsher for him than anyone else is because of his actions after the fact. He never took responsibility for his actions. He never truly took responsibility for it, owned it. I mean, going on Oprah, that's an interesting PR play, but that's not truly owning your actions."

Armstrong was in fact given the opportunity to assist USADA in helping to dismantle the pervasive culture of doping in the sport, but Armstrong rejected the offer, and, according to Vaughters, "turned it into this personal thing and chose not to assist them and then tried to spin it around and make a narrative that it was all against him."

Read more:Inside the decision that led the best-placed American to stop racing in the Tour

"He has consistently chosen to really bully people throughout his career and use his position of power and his influence to twist the truth," Vaughters said. "He wasn't given a lifetime suspension and no one else because of the doping, because he was a bigger figure. He was given the lifetime suspension because fundamentally he was a bully, and eventually that was a backlash on him. Maybe bully isn't in the WADA regulations, but it's in the rules of life."

"It's not that he wasn't an incredibly gifted athlete with or without doping — he was incredible," Vaughters said. "I don't know if he would win seven Tour de Frances. I don't know about that."

Armstrong attacked USADA as recently as 2016, saying it went after him only because it needed a case and a story.

Last year he settled a $100 million fraud suit from the federal government for $5 million. He now has a podcast and comments on the Tour.

SEE ALSO: What the Tour riders are eating for dinner

DON'T MISS: A top Tour photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

Join the conversation about this story »

BELGIUM — He rode out of nowhere.

Two seconds after we pulled out of the hotel parking lot he zipped past our follow car and tucked into the slipstream of the eight riders in front of us.

He looked like a local, 18 maybe, his dark-blue kit contrasting with the pros' pink jerseys, an intruder jumping in with a Tour de France team on its private training ride. He must've been lurking around the hotel, a kind of two-wheeling paparazzo looking for a free ride.

It was the day before the start of the three-week race, on the outskirts of Brussels, and watching our mysterious pedaler I soon realized we had something in common. Yet instead of crashing a training ride, I sat in the back seat of the team car, a fly on the wall reporting on the inner workings of a top US Tour team, EF Education First.

We both wanted the same thing really, to be in the Tour. And there we were, in it, or nearly, not as competitors but as participant observers, at least for a spell.

The plan called for an easy coffee ride, to keep the riders' legs open and make any last adjustments to the bikes. And, quietly, to shake out any nerves on the eve of the greatest race.

I wondered what Paul and Raj, the driver and the mechanic, were thinking of the interloper. It is verboten to get so close to the riders on these rides, lest an overzealous amateur take one of them down by braking a second too late or having the dreaded "touch of wheels."

I'd seen many a director roll up and politely but firmly tell enthusiasts to drop back. This was one of the few times I'd seen someone allowed to ride, in my half-dozen Tours anyway. And it's part of what makes cycling unique. It's not every day you can just jump into an NBA shootaround or warm up on the pitch with Messi and Co.

Paul was all right with the kid, who sat spinning his pedals behind the last two riders. Paul observed that he looked like a racer, which I took as code for "safe enough." That was confirmed when I saw the team leader, the Colombian climber Rigoberto Urán, the runner-up in the 2017 Tour, chatting with the kid as they rolled along.

It's kind of refreshing, since so much of this race, the world's largest annual sporting event, is so tightly controlled you can't walk 50 feet without having the barcode on your credential scanned. There are multiple levels of access. Security checks you when you enter places and again when you leave them.

The team plus one wended their way down side roads and bike paths, through suburbs and villages, taking in the sunshine and the breeze, and we followed, keeping an eye on the GPS to ensure we didn't miss a turn, and to see to it that the kid didn't push his luck.

The riders never went hard, and the kid seemed to be savoring each pedal stroke, judging by the look on his face, which I caught glimpses of when we rounded a corner or stopped at a light.

This lasted for the better part of an hour, till we reached the coffee shop, where the riders commanded a table and the kid hung back on the sidewalk.

His name was Kiano Brusseleers, which he told me almost as if he'd been caught cheating. He was from the nearby area of Zaventem.

He was, in fact, 18, and had been racing bikes for years. He'd recently started competing in the under-23 ranks, and he'd gotten word the team was staying at the Holiday Inn by the airport.

It was the first time he'd ridden with a Tour team, and, perhaps too shy to approach the riders, he asked whether I would thank them for letting him join their ride.

"Do you want to go pro?" I asked.

"Yes, but the chance to be pro will be very small," he said. "But I've got to try. If you don't try, you will not be a pro rider." He told me he'd already won a race.

I was tempted to ask him what Urán had said to him.

"So would you say this is the best day of your life?" I said half-jokingly.

"Yes," he said matter-of-factly, glancing a last time at the riders as he threw a leg over his bike. "A very nice day."

He gave me his email, asking if I could send him a photo of him riding with the team.

He smiled, clipped into his pedals, and rode away.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Seeing the Tour de France in person should be on everyone's bucket list.
• Three weeks long, colorful, and fast, it's called the world's greatest race for a reason ... and then there's all that delicious food and drink.
• If you go, there are some things you should consider doing — and some things you should definitely avoid — to make the most of your Tour.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

FRANCE — Everyone should go see the Tour de France. It's unlike anything else.

Forget that it's the world's largest annual sporting event and the greatest bicycle race. It's also a delicious party.

It's hard to mess up a visit to the Tour, so just go. But a few tips might make the experience a little easier and a lot more fun.

Here are our best bits of advice for anyone going to see the race in person.

SEE ALSO: Reporter's notebook: Chasing riders and a dream at the Tour de France

Go to the mountains.

On the flatter stages, the riders fly by so fast it's a whizzing blur. Instead, opt for the mountain stages, on which the riders will likely be strung out single file in small groups and going (relatively) slower as they labor up the steep gradients.

Whereas on the flats the peloton of 176 riders could shoot by in less than a minute, on the hardest mountain stages there could be over a half hour between the leader and the last rider.

On the biggest mountain stages, which feature several high summits, you'll want to be on the penultimate or final climb, near the summit (but perhaps not at the very top, since it can't get packed with spectators and crowd barriers can limit your movement).

The main mountain regions in the Tour de France are the Alps and Pyrenees. Our favorite climb is Alpe d'Huez — a massive party — but each Tour features different climbs, so be sure to check the Tour website for the general route when it's announced in October and the detailed stage maps published in May.

Go to the Grand Départ for the sheer spectacle.

Yes, skip most of the flat stages, but consider going to the Grand Départ, the "big start." This is the festive opening weekend of the Tour when the buzz around the race is highest. Two days before the first stage, you'll get to see all the teams presented and tip a glass with the locals in the party atmosphere.

The Tour starts in a different city every year, but you can always count on the host going all out to welcome the Tour. Often the first two or three stages start and finish in or near the same city, so you can base yourself in a single area without having to move around so much.

Eat and drink local.

Skip the supermarkets and fast-food chains and seek out what's good in the region. Hit the local market or bakery instead.

France is known for its delicious food and drink, so try the specialties. And don't overthink it: Some days it could just mean a quick stop for picnic favorites like local cheeses, fresh baguettes, sausages, fruit, olives, chocolate, wine, whatever you crave.

In Belgium, we hit up a food truck for the best frites with mayo we've ever had and washed it down with a cold Leffe. When in Rome.

Skip the starts and finishes.

Don't bother going to the stage starts or finishes, unless you really, really want to.

If you're driving, traffic and parking can be a headache, and you'll need to arrive quite early. Most likely you'll need a special pass to get close to the area where the riders are (though you can see them from a distance) as well as into the "start village," a large VIP area for ticket holders, the well-heeled, local celebrities, and the town mayor.

Ditto with the finishes, where public access can be limited and the crowds intense.

Go the third week.

Probably the best stages to see the Tour are in the third week, when the race hits the high mountains proper. The Tour alternates from year to year, clockwise and counterclockwise around France, so you'll be heading to either the Alps or the Pyrenees.

The last week is the toughest leg for the riders, as it features several major mountain passes, and it's where the race is decided. The best climb for spectating is Alpe d'Huez, but the race visits different climbs each year, so check the route to see which climbs are in and which are out when you go.

Arrive early, leave late.

Wherever and whenever you go, arrive at your desired spot along the course hours ahead of the race. If driving, know that the roads are often closed early in the morning, so strike out very early in the a.m. or just show up the night before and camp. On the most popular climbs, crowds can swell to 10 deep roadside. Die-hard fans arrive a day or two before.

One popular option is to arrive at the base of your chosen climb in the morning, hike up to a good spot, enjoy your picnic and neighbors, and wait for the race. The Tour website has helpful information about when (to the very minute) the riders are expected to pass each point along the stage. Use it to plan your day.

And don't bother trying to leave right after the riders pass. You'll just find yourself stuck in traffic. Wait till the race clears out and the crowds disperse.

Stay out of the road, and don't touch the riders.

Newbies to the Tour, and to bike racing generally, are often shocked at how fast the riders come by. It's much faster than you'd expect. Really. So while it hopefully goes without saying, don't stand in the road, even a little. Stay off to the side.

Also, riders don't like to be touched, and they don't like to be pushed. Cheer all you want, but keep your hands to yourself. And don't run alongside the riders. It puts you both in danger.

Bonus: Don't bother trying to take photos of the riders. Unless you really know what you're doing, your pictures will probably not turn out well at all. Just lose yourself in the frenzy of the moment. There will be plenty of photos to look at later. You traveled all that way to see the riders with your own eyes, anyway.

Finish in style on the Champs.

Another exception to skipping the flat stages is the final one, which always takes place on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Seeing the finish is something to behold. Many riders say they get goosebumps riding into Paris. You might too.

While this stage starts outside the city and is largely ceremonial at first, the second half is legit racing, so when the riders finally make it onto the Champs, it's game on. They'll do several laps at full speed as they rip over the cobbles. Winning the final Tour stage in Paris is one of the crowning achievements in cycling, so the sprinters will be going 100% to the line.

While the dense crowds can make it tough to get a clear view of the riders, the atmosphere is brilliant. Anywhere near the Arc de Triomphe is a bonus, though other spots along the Champs are worthwhile. And what better place for a Champagne toast.

As with everything else at the Tour, get there early, naturellement.

• The Tour de Francebikes are, of course, fast, light, and expensive.
• They're worthy of most any cyclist's dream quiver, but some of the bikes are nicer than others.
• As we did last year, we went to the Tour and tracked down the 22 teams' bikes for a look at what the world's best cyclists are riding.
• We ranked them all, totally subjectively, on design, build, and looks.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's the rider, not the bike, but we can't help staring when the Tour de France rolls around.

All the gorgeous aerodynamic lightweight carbon fiber comes from sponsors who each July put out their best product on cycling's biggest stage for all the world to see and, they hope, buy.

Read more:Heading to the Tour? Go to the mountains

We went to the Tour again to track down the 22 teams' bikes and rank them, from least to most desirable. (Spoilers: We don't dig loud bikes and continue to be uninspired by all-black paint jobs.)

Following is our very subjective ranking of the 2019 Tour bikes.

SEE ALSO: Reporter's notebook: Chasing riders and a dream at the Tour

DON'T MISS: A top Tour photographer reveals the secret to shooting the world's greatest race

No. 22 — Wanty-Groupe Gobert's Cube

The Litening raced by Wanty-Groupe Gobert is one of two Cube models at the Tour, this being the climbing bike. It hasn't changed since last year, though it now has disc brakes, as do the majority of Tour bikes these days. But what we once thought were interesting color choices are starting to feel dated, so a new look is in order.

No. 21 — Cofidis-Solutions Crédits' Kuota

The Kuota Khan raced by the Cofidis-Solutions Crédits team looks much the same as last year's, save for an updated paint job. It's an OK-looking bike with a somewhat classic road vibe but a fairly aero frame. Brands should ditch all the noisy decals, though.

No. 20 — Bahrain-Merida's Reacto

This Reacto is one of two Merida road models raced by the Bahrain-Merida team, and it's a fast-looking ride that's unchanged since last year. The frame has slippery tubes as well as graphic touches for star rider Vincenzo "The Shark" Nibali. The Fulcrum wheels are fast, too. But matte-black bikes just haven't inspired us, this year or last.

No. 19 — Katusha-Alpecin's Canyon

The Canyon Aeroad raced by Katusha-Alpecin is one fast bike, and it's much the same as last year's. We dig the speed of the Zipp wheels — they're among the fastest you can buy — but we'll just never be fans of big all-caps on our wheels. Still, a sleek red frame does turn heads. Katusha-Alpecin is one of two teams at the Tour riding Chicago-based SRAM components, the other being Trek-Segafredo.

No. 18 — AG2R La Mondiale's Eddy Merckx

The Eddy Merckx 525 frame raced by the AG2R-La Mondiale team has a traditional look that we like. Yet the deep-profile aero wheels from Mavic, while sleek, look a little too deep on this bike. Still, it must be cool to ride a bike with the name of cycling's GOAT on it. Doesn't every bike look better with a gold-plated chain?

No. 17 — Dimension Data's BMC

The BMC Teammachine has a squeaky-clean design but maintains something of a classic road look compared with the hyper-aero bikes around the Tour. The shiny black paint and ENVE wheels are complemented nicely by the blingy chain and gum-wall tires.

No. 16 — UAE Emirates' Colnago

The Colnago Concept looks like a lot of other bikes, but it's still fast-looking. There's a lot of free speed here, and coupled with the Campagnolo components and wheels and the Colnago frame, it's a pure Italian stallion.

No. 15 — CCC's Giant

The Giant TCR Advanced SL raced by the CCC team is a good-looking if understated frame, with its beefy head tube and slim seat stays. The matte-black look feels uninspired, but this bike benefits from the clean Cadex wheels and gum-wall tires. If the Olympic champ is racing it, you know it's fast.

No. 14 — Ineos' Pinarello

The stealthy Pinarello Dogma F12 raced by Team Ineos has a $6,200 pair of Lightweight wheels for the mountains. It's a fast-looking bike whose curvy seat stays and fork help it stand out from the other matte-black bikes in the bunch.

No. 13 — Deceuninck-Quick Step's Specialized Tarmac

As he's worn yellow longer than anyone else in this Tour, we thought it only right to show Julian Alaphilippe's Specialized S-Works Tarmac Disc. Fast and light with the Roval wheels, the Tarmac is one of the best all-around road bikes. The blue on the lower half of the frame and fork nicely complements the black paint.

No. 12 — Lotto-Soudal's Ridley

The bright-red Ridley Helium SLX raced by the Lotto-Soudal team is a great-looking bike that screams "Race me!" but manages to balance classic good looks and aero efficiency. The Campagnolo Bora Ultra wheels are sleek, too. No wonder it's racking up stage wins.

No. 11 — Movistar's Canyon

The Canyon Ultimate CF SLX bikes raced by the Movistar team are the riders' choice for the mountains, and they're have a nice blue-fade paint job. The Campagnolo Bora Ultra wheels complement the bike well. And while we believe that the color of your bar tape should always match that of your saddle, everything still works out here.

No. 10 — Mitchelton-Scott's Addict

The Scott Addict raced by Mitchelton-Scott at the Tour doesn't look that special from afar, but up close you can see it has a gorgeous deep-purple paint job. The bike is fully integrated, so you won't find any cables. Like a lot of climbing bikes now, it's more aero and has features like dropped seat stays. Dura-Ace wheels with disc brakes complete the bike.

No. 9 — Sunweb's Cervélo

The R5 is one of two Cervélo models raced by the Sunweb team at the Tour this year. This lightweight climber has a traditional road-race look and a clean frame design. Its colors work well together, but the vibe still says climb fast.

No. 8 — Arkea-Samsic's BH

At last year's Tour we praised the BH bikes raced by Arkea-Samsic for their classic good looks. This year's fleet is much more aero in frame design and with the FFWD wheels but still distinguished-looking. Besides the world champion's custom livery, the BH is the only white bike at this year's Tour.

No. 7 — Groupama-FDJ's Lapierre

This Lapierre Aircode SL is the same as those raced last year by the Groupama-FDJ team, and once again it's the most French bike around the race with its proud tricolor paint job. Coupled with the fast Dura-Ace wheels, it's one of the better-looking aero road bikes at the Tour.

No. 6 — Bora-Hansgrohe's Specialized Venge

The Specialized S-Works Venge raced by Bora-Hansgrohe is the same as last year's, but a great bike with a good-looking mix of colors is timeless. Up there with the fastest aero bikes in the bunch, the Venge is fully integrated and built for speed with deep-profile Roval wheels with disc brakes. If it's good enough for Peter Sagan, it's good enough for us.

No. 5 — Astana's Argon 18

The aqua-teal of Astana's Argon 18 is refreshing and unique in the bunch of black bikes, an elegant color scheme that complements the traditional look. But the team issue is still lightweight and fast with rim brakes and these Corima wheels.

No. 4 — Trek-Segafredo's Madone

Trek's Madone took the No. 1 spot in our ranking last year, and it stays in the top five this time thanks in part to its intriguing new paint job. (The custom work is something customers can get through Trek's Project One service.) We've ridden the Madone and can attest it is a superfast ride, especially with these Bontrager wheels. We like it enough to look past the supersize lettering.

No. 3 — EF Education First's Cannondale

The Cannondale SuperSix EVO is one of the best all-around road bikes, and the one raced by EF Education First is new for 2019. It's lighter, comes with either rim or disc brakes, and is more aero. What makes it a looker is the groovy paint, with a mix of blue, purple, and pink seemingly changing with the light. The EVO steps onto our podium of best Tour bikes.

Read more:We rode the new SuperSix EVO, billed as the 'fastest lightweight road bike'

No. 2 — Total Direct Energie's Wilier

Total Direct Energie's Wilier Zero SLR in admiral blue quickly caught our eye at this Tour. It's a stunning and elegant beauty but is still high on performance features, with its aero frame and fork, integrated cables, disc brakes, and FFWD wheels. The glossy blue really pops. We'll have one to go, thank you.

No. 1 — Jumbo Visma's Bianchi

Our favorite bike at the 2019 Tour is the Bianchi Oltre XR4 raced by Jumbo-Visma. Its aggressive, deep tube shapes make for clean aero efficiency, and its timeless celeste green is synonymous with cycling's rich history going back to Fausto Coppi. With the stealthy Dura-Ace wheels and gum-wall aesthetic, it's an all-around aero bike that turns heads and delivers stage wins.

• Gravel bikes are great for new riders as it has the benefits of a fast, aerodynamic road bike plus wide tires and easy-to-switch gears like a mountain bike. 
• The new Cannondale Topstone Carbon 105 Bike offers a "best of both" approach for newer riders. 
• There's enough tire clearance for trails but a fast racy position for roads, and the new Kingpin suspension system also makes for a comfy ride. 
• it costs $2,700, which you can argue is roughly the same price as an annual gym membership, annual bike share membership, or even a cheap car, but the versatility, ease of use, and durability of the bike justifies such an investment. 

Picking a versatile bike that fits all your needs can be difficult — in fact, it can be near impossible.

You've seen riders majestically scaling the mountains of France in the Tour, and you'll want to do that. But you've also seen riders zipping down trails or even just through traffic, and you'll want to do that too. But what you don't want is a new mortgage or a second garage to store half a dozen specialty bikes.

Gravel bikes offer something of a "best of both" approach. Their position is more like a cross between a road bike — fast and aerodynamic with drop bars and integrated brakes and shifters — and a mountain bike with wide tire clearance, mounts for racks and fenders, and easier gears. What this means is that you can ride to and from the trails, as well as the trail itself without needing to switch out any accessories. If you're torn between a road bike or mountain bike, gravel bikes are a great choice. 

The problem with gravel bikes though is that they're also a compromise. You'll never be quite as fast on the tarmac as a road bike, or quite as comfortable in the dirt as a mountain bike with suspension. But they're getting a lot better.

Cannondale's early gravel bikes swung for the fences, using an audacious front suspension fork and smaller wheels with bigger tires for more grip, but they were too heavy to really catch on with most riders. With the new Topstone Carbon 105 Bike, Cannondale has produced a truly versatile and fun bike that is easy to use for beginners and more experienced riders alike. 

The price

Now $2,700 might seem a lot for a bike, but let's walk through that cost.

The average cost of a gym membership is $696 per year, but more than half of the people who sign up don't go. According to Citibank, the average cost of commuting an average 26 miles is $2,600 a year. When you think big picture like this, a $2,700 bike starts to look more reasonable.

But unlike a gym membership, the Topstonewill last you many years. And with reinforced mounts on the frame for fenders, racks, and storage bags, it's a one-time investment for commuting to and from work.

Specs

The Topstone Carbon 105might not be the flashiest of the Topstone Carbon range, but it does offer great value for money.

It comes with Shimano's 105 groupset (the parts that literally make your bike stop and go) which, despite not having the brand recognition of Dura Ace, uses the same mechanical design for crisp, reliable, and only slightly heavier shifting performance. Likewise, the alloy handlebars and wheels might lack the flashy look and light weight of carbon, but that also means it lacks the fragility and price that comes with dropping a few ounces from your bike.  

Other spec highlights include: 

• A ballistec carbon frame and fork in sizes XS, S, M, L, XL
• 2x11 105 gearing with 46/30 chainrings and an 11-34 cassette 
• 28 spoke tubeless ready WTB wheels and WTB Riddler TCS Light  37c tubeless ready tires
• Cannondale's own flared alloy handlebar
• 20lb listed weight for a medium bike without pedals or bottle cages.

Standout features 

The big talking point on the new carbon Topstone is the "Kingpin" rear suspension system which adds a bushing to the seat tube and allows the rear wheel to move about 15mm.

On my review rides, I found that this isn't a big enough shock to smooth out big hits, but riding on rough roads, gravel, and cracked tarmac on the Topstone Carbon was considerably more comfortable than a normal road bike. This active suspension is unique in the industry, and with the Kingpin system, you see and feel the engagement that results in a real comfort gains on the ride. 

What it's like to ride 

The Topstone isn't just a weekday workhorse, it's also the perfect bike for weekend shredding or long rides.

With narrow tires, this would be an efficient and comfortable road bike, with the Kingpin suspension keeping your back comfortable on even the roughest roads, it's a great way to log some big miles at high speed. On our review ride, we rode trails with plenty of 25 mph road sections and, while it's no road-race rocket, the Topstone didn't feel like it was slowing us down. 

Unlike comfort road bikes though, the Topstone offers something more.

If you switch to some wider knobby tires, you won't be left wanting for more on most trails. Thanks to Cannondale's great geometry, the grippy WTB Riddler tires, and Shimano's 105 disc brakes, the bike rips downhill in a confidence-inspiring and smile-inducing rage.

On the launch ride with the company, we had the chance to ride some of the trails around the Trapp family lodge in Vermont. While they aren't like hardcore trails in Whistler, Canada, there were rocks and roots a-plenty and the Topstone handled them as well as any drop bar bike I've ridden.

If I were more inclined to do this kind of riding, I might invest in a smaller wheelset with bigger tires or maybe even a real mountain bike for the ability to switch gears. But the beauty of bikes like this is the versatility. With the Topstone, the 22 gears have such a wide range that I was able to ride up even the steepest trail and float through technical sections while keeping the power down and the bike moving forward. 

Cannondale has also equipped the new Topstone with the sort of convenient features that are often missing from bikes. While the biking industry likes to assume that every buyer is a mechanic, the truth is that they aren't.

Take it from someone who has worked in bike shops — people can spend $10,000 on a bike and then break it because they won't spend $100 getting it serviced. Cannondale knows this, so it includes an app that makes clever use of augmented reality to walk you through fixing your bike. It also reminds you when it's time to take it in for a full check up. I've been making use of the included wheel sensor on Cannondale's new range to more accurately determine speed on my GPS unit, and found the app invaluable when constructing the bike after a flight. 

The bottom line

Yes, this is a bicycle that costs as much as a cheap car. But it's also a bike that is so stunningly versatile that you could replace a cheap car, an expensive gym membership, or even two expensive bikes but still wouldn't have all the specs as this Topstone.

Just be warned — once you start riding the Topstone on trails, it won't be long before you wonder how much bigger you could go on a real mountain bike, and on the ride home from the road, you're bound to start wondering how much faster you could climb on a road bike too.

But until you have space for a whole stable of bikes, this Topstone is like a Swiss Army Knife and should be good enough to handle whatever you can throw at it. 

Buy the Cannondale Topstone Carbon 105 Bike from REI for $2,700

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Slack and Flickr, says 2 beliefs have brought him the greatest success in life

• Chaos hit the Tour de France Friday when extreme weather caused a landslide and forced organizers to stop the race, on one of the most exciting days of the three-week race.
• Confusion spread through the peloton as the riders didn't immediately know what was happening or whether they should keep racing.
• Images showed a mudslide blocking the road just ahead of the leading riders.
• Colombian sensation Egan Bernal became the new race leader after distancing himself from Julian Alaphilippe of France.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Tour de France saw one of its wildest days Friday when organizers suddenly stopped stage 19 after extreme weather brought about a freak hailstorm and a landslide that ruined the road just ahead of the fast-charging riders.

Tweets showed images of the dangerous conditions, including this mudslide:

They also showed people running from the landslide:

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme drove up to the leaders to tell them the race was being stopped:

Back in the peloton, riders appeared to be confused and even arguing with one another on the road:

The halting of the race was especially dramatic as the battle for the leader's yellow jersey was heating up with the Colombian sensation Egan Bernal of Team Ineos attacking his rivals on the long climb of the Col de L'Iseran, where the 22-year-old managed to distance himself from Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), who had started the day in yellow.

After learning of the extreme conditions ahead of the race, the organizers neutralized the stage as Bernal was descending the Iseran.

He was in the lead when the racing stopped, and with the time he had in hand he became the new leader of the Tour.

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The organizers said there would be no stage winner and that each rider's time atop the Iseran would apply as their official stage finishing time.

There are just two stages to go before the race's conclusion in Paris on Sunday.

Alaphilippe is now in second, 48 seconds down on Bernal. Defending Tour champion Geraint Thomas, also of Team Ineos, is 1 minute 16 seconds back, in third.

Bernal will wear yellow as the leader on Saturday's stage 20, another major mountain stage that could also see bad weather.

Riders reflect on wild day

There were no reports of injuries. Three-time world road champion Peter Sagan praised the organizers for stopping the race given the dangerous conditions.

"It's been a different race than what people expected and we have a new leader,"Sagan said. "There was no reason for us to risk our lives under the rain, the hail and with so much mud on the road.

"We already had a thunderstorm yesterday at the end of the race. Today it was going to be even worse conditions. Organisers have done their best. I'm not here to judge."

"To be honest, I didn't know what was happening,"Bernal said. "I've been told in the radio that the race was finished and I said, 'No, I want to keep going'. There were talking to me in English and I was not sure. Only after I stopped and my director told me that I was in yellow, I felt relieved."

If Bernal hangs on to his lead Saturday, he'll become the first Colombian winner of the Tour de France.

"It's incredible. I can't believe it. I want to ride full gas tomorrow and then arrive to Paris and once I cross the line, I'll start believing this is true. There's one hard stage remaining. It's a short one. I'll give it all on the road.

"To become the first Colombian winner of the Tour de France would be amazing."

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It's been a great Tour de France this year with lots of surprises and the youngest-ever winner in Colombian phenom Egan Bernal of Team Ineos.

The fans have been pretty great, too, and this might the most passionate of them all — a bespectacled little girl sitting on (presumably) her father's shoulders, cheering the riders roadside on stage 20.

Elsewhere, back on stage 18, the then race leader Julian Alaphilippe of the Deceuninck-Quick Step team reportedly had relatives visiting him postrace, and he gave his leader's yellow-jersey jacket to a shivering young boy.

On stage 15, three-time world road champ Peter Sagan of the Bora-Hansgrohe team gave a fan his autograph midrace.

The three-week Tour ends Sunday in Paris on the Champs-Élysées. Bernal is expected to cross the finish line as the youngest-ever winner of the race at age 22.

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