Even though the Tour de France is over, there’s always something to talk about. Such as the Lanterne Rouge, for example. With all the hype and hoopla of le Tour, the Lanterne Rouge is often under represented. The Lanterne Rouge, red lantern, is the cyclist that finishes dead last in a cycling race, such as the Tour de France. It refers to the red lantern that rail way conductors hung on the caboose of their train. Allowing them to look back and make sure none of the couplings had come undone.
The 2009 Tour de France Lanterne Rouge was Yauheni Hutarovich from team Française des Jeux. In the photo above, you can see the physical differences between the two “book ends”; the 1st and last place riders in this years’ Tour. Hutarovich, like most red lanterns, is a sprinter with massive legs that he has to drag up the mountains. Notice the red hand towel Hutarovich has under his helmet. I think it’s important to note that Hutarovich finished 5th at the Champs d’Elysees.
Websites like This Blog have been created to honor the red lantern because “you couldn’t hang on his tire for 30 seconds.” If you’re a die hard statistics kind of person, check out Cycling Fever for more stats than you could ever hope for. Such as Hurtarovich’s time splits after each stage.
