"When you start a Tour de France, you have at least a 60% chance of crashing" - Michael Woods on highs and lows of cycling's biggest spectacle

For the 5th time in his career, Michael Woods is set to start the Tour de France in 2025. A stage winner back in 2023, the Canadian has experienced all the highs and lows of cycling's biggest spectacle over the years.

"The Tour transcends the sport of cycling, and it’s why I love doing the race. It’s the big show, and you feel it. This sport, even at its highest level, often has you wondering, 'How can they call this a professional sport?'" Woods writes in a column for Velo. "I have finished WorldTour events with a few moms and girlfriends lining the sidelines. However, when you race the Tour, it feels like the entire world is watching."

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"Until I had done my first Tour, whenever I was asked what I did for a living — particularly back in Canada — I had to validate myself," he adds. "Once I had done my first Tour, that all changed. Instead of having to explain to people what I did, often, even before I met somebody, it was already known that I had done the Tour."

As already touched upon however, whilst Woods has had the highs of a stage win, the Israel - Premier Tech star's Tour de France story isn't one full of success. "The Tour is the most spectated annual sporting event in the world. For this reason, it is also why I hate doing the Tour," he comments. "Everything that you know as a pro cyclist, at the Tour, is amped up to 11. The pressure, the stress, the hype — all culminate in a three-week block that probably takes two years off of your life. The best cyclists in the world all show up to this race and, in a sport that is already insanely dangerous, decide that this is the race they are willing to risk everything for."

And with those extra risks being taken, come crashes. "The risks they take, which are massive, yield big rewards. I would venture to say that when you start a Tour de France, you have at least a 60% chance of crashing. Of the four Tours I have done, I have crashed in three," Woods analyses. "The only one in which I didn’t crash, I won a stage. That stage win alone, though, is a result that I can hang my hat on for the rest of my life. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I will be known as only the third Canadian to win a stage at the biggest cycling race on the planet. It’s my crowning achievement as an athlete, and a result that, when I look back on my wildly improbable career, I still can’t believe I achieved."

"This race — because of its savage pain and triumphant beauty, because of its length and scale — is filled with incredible storylines," he concludes. "Every edition that I have done, I have felt like I have come out with a book’s worth of thoughts, anecdotes, and experiences."