When it comes to making a sporting event into a global attraction, the French certainly take the gâteau. For lovers of horse racing, there’s the legendary Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe; for motor sports fans, it’s the 24 Heures du Mans; tennis enthusiasts flock to the Stade Roland Garros for the French Open; and sea dogs love to track the biennial Transat Café-L’Or (formerly Transat Jacques Vabre) that sees yachts set off from the port of Le Havre to race 4,250 nautical miles to Martinique in the West Indies. But the Gallic sporting event that everyone probably knows the best is the gruelling Tour de France, a cycle race that challenges riders with a cross-country route that will this year cover more than 2,000 miles.
Starting on 5 July in the northern port of Lille, it will finish in Paris three weeks later after the 184 starters have survived (or not) 21 individual stages that will take them as far west as Saint-Malo, as far east as Courchevel and as far south as Pau near the Spanish border. In between, there will be six gruelling hilly stages and a further six muscle-burning mountain stages that only the toughest will conquer.
It’s exactly the type of human endurance test that watch brands love to be involved in, as a way of demonstrating that their products are built tough and designed for adventure – and, although there are plenty of makers who undoubtedly covet the job of being the Official Timekeeper of the Tour de France, Tissot is the one that has held on to it since 2016.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Swiss brand has created this special PR100 Tour de France watch to woo the world’s cycling fanatics, giving it an asphalt-effect dial finish and weighting the central chronograph hand with a tiny racing bike. The celebrated yellow jersey worn by the race leaders inspired the yellow detailing of the chronograph hands and the rubber backing of the additional hybrid leather strap, which is designed to resemble a bicycle’s handlebar grips. The back of the 40mm quartz-powered chronograph, meanwhile, carries the official Tour de France logo and helps to make the case water resistant to 100 metres. So, whether you’re pedalling through the rain or dousing yourself with water after a particularly challenging stage, it should keep on ticking as smoothly as a well-oiled chain.
Tissot PR100 Tour de France on a three-row metal bracelet, £415; tissotwatches.com
Simon de Burton is a journalist and author who writes for the FT’s How to Spend It, British GQ and Boat International, among other publications
