Google has just announced the Tour de France Google Earth network link they helped create for the official TdF web site (which I just wrote about this morning). This new Google Earth file includes details showing the route, beginning and end points for all 20 stages of the 2006 TdF. One thing I hadn’t pointed out is that the TdF web site lets you select one of four languages and the Google Earth file is available for each language (French, German, English, or Spanish). Just go to the Tour de France 2006 web site and select your language. Then look for the link to “Tour in Google Earth”.
By the way, I still encourage you to use the live tracker for the TdF I wrote about earlier which also has the stages (and in fact was used to help Google create the file mentioned above). The live tracker shows the current progress of the stage live while the bikers are racing.
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
It would have been great that Google had took the occasion to upgrade the imagery on the TdF route …
why do we continue to call it tour de france? why not stop the suffering for the poor embattled sportsmen in france (ouch – zidane) and rename it “tour de america” and relocate the race to where all important events take place?; i.e. the USA.