Tour de France

The Tour de France (French pronunciation: ​[tuʁ də fʁɑ̃s]) is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite.

The Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España make up cycling's prestigious, three-week-long Grand Tours; the Tour is the oldest and generally considered the most prestigious of the three. Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same with the appearance of time trials, the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi). The race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits of France.

Armin van Buuren

Armin van Buuren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑrmɪn vɑn ˈbyːrə(n)]; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch trance producer, DJ and radio personality.

Since 2001, Van Buuren has hosted a weekly radio show called A State of Trance, which currently has more than 20 million weekly listeners in 74 countries on over 150 FM radio stations. This radio show propelled him to stardom and helped cultivate an interest in trance music around the world.

Van Buuren has won a number of accolades. He has been ranked the World No. 1 DJ by DJ Magazine in their annual Top 100 DJs fan poll a record of five times, 4 years in a row. He is currently ranked World No. 4 on DJ Magazine's list for 2015. In 2014, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for his single "This Is What It Feels Like" featuring Trevor Guthrie, which makes him the fourth trance artist ever to receive a Grammy nomination. In the United States, he holds the record for most entries (21) on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart. His 2008 studio album, Imagine, entered the Dutch album chart at No. 1, a first for a trance artist in Dutch music history.

A State of Trance

A State of Trance (often abbreviated as ASOT) is a weekly radio show aired every Thursday at 20:00 (CET), 7pm (UK Time), 2pm (EST) and hosted by prominent trance producer and DJ Armin van Buuren. It is also the name of van Buuren's annual CD compilation series.

History

Background and growth

First airing in March 2001 on ID&T Radio (the predecessor of Slam!FM), the show takes the format of a two-hour mix in which Armin plays new trance music (uplifting trance and progressive trance), both promotional and commercially released. Selected tracks are announced during the show in order to help promote new artists and releases. Its radio-show/website combination has proven popular internationally, as fans—while listening to the radio-show—will converse in the website chat-rooms and forums, such as Digitally Imported, during the broadcast. Progressive trance and uplifting trance producers all submit promotional and commercially released tracks to compete to make it onto the playlist of the show each week. The success of the show has also spawned to include several dance events around the world. The show is celebrated live each year in different locations around the globe with a lineup consisting of many trance artists.

La Clusaz

La Clusaz is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.

Overview

It is a ski resort in the Alps near the Swiss border. The commune of La Clusaz is part of the Haute-Savoie département. An old village, La Clusaz has been hosting winter sports since 1907. It is the birthplace of famous French skiers Guy Périllat and Vincent Vittoz and sailor Philippe Monnet. Based in the Aravis mountain range La Clusaz (originally from the word cluse - meaning a narrow path between two mountains) was once called Clusa Locus Dei meaning God's narrow place.

In 1902, the opening of the road connecting Annecy and the valley of Thônes with the Aravis Valley which allowed La Clusaz (formerly a small and remote village) to become a tourist center for summer and winter sports.

In 1956, the first cable car was introduced. The commune of La Clusaz is classified winter sports resort and of alpinism per decree of June 18, 1969. The first luge was added in 1985. The first snow cannon was added in 1994. La Clusaz is part of the Aravis skiing area which it shares with the neighbouring resort of Le Grand Bornand to offer a total of 220 km (140 mi) of pistes.

Simon

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