For the first time in the 121-year history of the “greatest bike race in the world” – the Tour de France – riders will compete in squads across four countries this year when they start in Italy on Saturday.

Australia’s Team Jayco AlUla will be one of more than 20 teams of eight riders when the highly anticipated 111th tour begins in Florence.

The race will take riders (and millions of fans) through Bologna and Torino, then San Marino, Monaco and across France.

The race will finish on July 21, not in its traditional spot on Paris’s grand Champs-Elysees, but in Nice on the picturesque Cote d’Azur.

Former Australian time-trial champion and SBS commentator, Dr Bridie O’Donnell, tells The New Daily from Europe exactly why the tour mesmerises enthusiasts and fans, decades after it began as a six-stage race in 1903.

“The Tour de France is the greatest bike race in the world,” she said.

O’Donnell has raced professionally for Italian teams in Europe and the US, and represented Australia at three world championships between 2008 and 2012.

“[The Tour] ignites cycling fans over three weeks and they follow it almost like a religious experience, sitting on mountain sides for hours to wait for the race to whiz by,” she said.

“It’s filled with drama, excitement, dreams realised, horrific crashes and ultimately one rider in a yellow jersey – the maillot jaune – as the overall winner.”

O’Donnell says each team has goals such as an overall win or winning individual stages, or trying to claim jerseys for best climber, best young rider and best sprinter over 21 stages and 3498 kilometres.

“For people less obsessed with the tactics of the race, the Tour de France is the most glorious three-week postcard of France,” she says.

“[It is] a touristic masterclass with spectacular views of mountains, cathedrals, chateaux, wine regions, hair-raising descents, amazing villages capturing the atmosphere and, of course, cheese, wine, music and centuries of culture.”

‘Life and death’

O’Donnell will call her fifth tour this year. When she’s not commentating, she works in community and public health for Victoria’s Department of Health.

“I have watched the Tour de France on SBS since 1996, when I was in medical school,” she said.

“I stayed up late watching the drama unfold over three weeks and was completely captivated by the athleticism, the sacrifice, the courage and the glorious views of France.

“But women didn’t race the Tour then, and they certainly didn’t commentate the race then (and not many do now), so I was just a fan. I never imagined I’d race professionally or work on the event.

“This year, I’ll have a chance to do start-line interviews on a few stages of the men’s race and finish-line interviews for the women’s [standalone] race (August 12-18).”

In 2018, O’Donnell’s memoir Life and Death detailed her experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe.

She says her professional high was breaking the hour world record in Australia, which was live-streamed globally.

There were also “many lows”.

“Structural sexism, poor team managers and team directors, being financially vulnerable, subject to sexual harassment, bullying, abuse and mismanagement,” she told TND.

“The real tragedy for me was having riders close to me die in training accidents … [Australian] Carly Hibberd and [American] Amy Dombroski were both talented riders killed while training in their capacity as professional cyclists.

“After the death of Amy Gillett in 2005, they were sobering reminders of the dangers of riding a bike.”

Gillett was a track cycling star who was killed when a driver crashed into the Australian squad during training in Germany.

Michael Matthews of Team Jayco AlUla hopes to become a five-time stage winner this year. Photo: AAP

‘There are many battles going on’

The Australian-heavy Team Jayco AlUla team, announced last week, includes Canberra-born Michael Matthews.

He will be joined by Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and British general classification contender Simon Yates as potential threats.

Matthews will be backed by two other Australians in the team – Luke Durbridge, in his 10th Tour appearance, and Chris Harper, who will be the key lieutenant in the mountains for Yates in his bid to make the overall podium.

“It’s interesting starting in Florence and will be cool starting the final stage in Monaco, where I live. The team we have is solid. We all know each other well and it’s been a similar team to the last year’s, so we’re ready,” Matthews said.

O’Donnell says the rider “with the best climbing legs” will ultimately win the Tour. But that doesn’t always mean they need to be the best on every stage – “he just needs to never have a bad day over three weeks”.

“The rivalry exists between teams with riders vying for the maillot jaune (the overall leader is the rider with the fastest finish time after each stage, they don’t need to be the fastest every day),” she said.

“[There is] also rivalry between teams who might have a sprinter, someone contending for the green jersey (awarded to the rider who has accumulated the most points for intermediate sprints and stage finishes).

“There are many battles going on in the race.”

For O’Donnell, who still rides a commuter bike to work daily, commentating another Tour is a joy.

“Lots of long days, long drives, service station dinners and the occasional fancy meal at the end of an epic stage,” she said.

“I love it.”

The Tour de France live broadcast starts on Saturday, June 29 at 8.30pm on SBS