Cork’s first Tour de France rider, Eddie Dunbar, has mountain to climb

At noon today, one of the most gruelling sporting events in the world will begin, featuring 184 participants who, to be frank, must all be a little bit crazy!

The Tour de France cycling race has been running since 1903, but when this year’s event begins in Lille today, it will represent a little piece of history for Cork.

For the first time, the ranks of cyclists will include a Corkman, in the shape of Eddie Dunbar, from Banteer.

Eddie will be proudly donning the red jersey of the Rebel County (figuratively, in a sport where yellow and green jerseys are highly prized) as a cog in the wheel of Team Jayco AlUla - the only Irish member in an eight-man line-up.

Dunbar’s main role will be to provide back-up to his team leader, Australian Ben O’Connor, but the experience he gains may set him up for a good tilt at the event in the years to come.

This is a great achievement for Cork, in a race where Ireland has had some stand-out moments down the years.

The tour famously visited Cork, and Ireland, for the only time in its history, in 1998, and Stephen Roche won it in 1987, after which then Taoiseach Charles Haughey famously and shamelessly hogged the limelight with him on the podium.

Dunbar’s achievement now inks the name of Cork further into the history of this famous event.

It goes without saying that anyone who participates in the Tour de France is as mad as a hatter. Just analyse some of the stats.

This year’s event lasts for 22 days and the cyclists will cover a total distance of 3,338km in 21 stages - that’s the equivalent of cycling from Cork to Abidjan on the Ivory Coast.

Seriously, you try pedalling 3,320km on an exercise bike and see how long it takes you - I imagine you’ll be wishing me a merry Christmas at the end!

The longest stage of this year’s Tour de France covers more than 209km in one day, which is like cycling from Patrick Street to Gorey - very, very fast, at average speeds of around 40km/h.

These super-fit cyclists will push themselves to the brink of exhaustion on the Tour. At one stage during his victory, Roche passed out at the finishing line and needed oxygen. When he was revived, he was asked if he was OK, to which he replied, “Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite.” (“Yes, but I am not ready for a woman yet.”) Cheeky boy.

Then there are the notorious mountain stages which involve lung-sapping, muscle-warping ascents up and down the Alps and Pyrenees.

The hardest mountain stage this year involves an elevation gain of 5,000m - that’s like cycling up Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland.

Five times.

In one day.

Going as fast as the physics of the bicycle and the biology of your body allows you.

Er, don’t forget to bring your water bottle, Eddie.

One Tour de France cyclist, Tom Pidcock, a few years ago ascended 43,110 metres over 18 stages - that’s like climbing five Mount Everests.

An article by Cycling News estimated that Pidcock, in those 18 stages, burnt off 60,000 calories - or the equivalent of 232 Big Macs.

Like I said, these guys must be half-crazy to tackle the race. And Eddie decided it was a club he wanted to join? Kudos to you, boy.

Of course, every mountain has its downside - and when negotiating those downhill sections - it’s a race, after all, remember, as well as an endurance test - riders can hit hair-raising speeds of 200km/h. Not a good time to get a puncture or suffer a slip.

Hopefully, training on the hills and boreens around his home in Banteer will have ensured our Eddie is well-prepared for what faces him in the coming weeks.

However, the elements have decided to add another devilish detail to this year’s event, the kind Eddie won’t have experienced on his jaunts around mid-Cork.

France is currently under an extreme high temperature warning, with heat close to 40C, which will play a factor in the riders’ preparations. Cycling, it isn’t for wimps, huh?

Although he will become the first Cork entrant in the historic race, Kanturk, just down the road from Banteer (10 minutes or so pedalling for Eddie), has another connection to the Tour de France.

Sam Bennett, who got to wear the green jersey in the race last year, is from Carrick-on-Suir - home town of cycling legend Sean Kelly - but went to the Kanturk Credit Union Cycling Club as a child, where he was coached by local legend Danny Curtin.

Sam travelled with the Kanturk club all over Ireland and won numerous prizes. However, this year Eddie will be the real Rebel deal.

The debutant clearly won’t win this year’s race - so Micheál Martin can forget about any hopes he had of joining him on the podium on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 27 - but each momentous journey begins with a single step, or, in this case, a flick of the pedal.

This might be the start of a wonderful connection to the Tour de France for 28-year-old Dunbar, which leads him to write a new chapter in Irish sport.

Give it a lash, Eddie!

You can see each stage of the Tour de France live on TG4, the TG4 Player, and the TG4 App.