Before the men cycle across the finish line at the Tour de France, a group of women riders will finish the route. Host Scott Simon talks with Sara Beck, a member of the InternationElles team.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Tomorrow dozens of men will bike across the finish line at the Tour de France. Today women who biked that same grueling route will arrive on the Champs-Elysees, but there’ll be less fanfare – maybe. Since 2015, a group of French women have been cycling the Tour de France route one day ahead of the professional competitors. This year, they were joined by the InternationElles. That’s E-L-L-E-S. The team consists of 10 riders from three continents, and we’re joined by the one American cyclist, Sara Beck. She’s a scientist who was completing her postdoctoral studies in Switzerland.

Almost Dr. Beck, thanks so much for being with us.

SARA BECK: Hi. Thank you, Scott. Actually, I am Dr. Beck now.

SIMON: You are Dr. Beck?

BECK: That’s right.

SIMON: Well, Dr. Beck, thanks so much. Where are you speaking from, may I ask?

BECK: I am speaking from Albertville, France. So this is where we started Stage 20 of the Tour de France this morning, and this is where we’re stopping for dinner on the way back.

SIMON: Yeah. Must be hungry, huh?

BECK: Exactly. We eat quite a lot.

SIMON: You’re not a professional cyclist, but you are very dedicated, aren’t you?

BECK: Absolutely. So everyone on our team, we’re all amateur cyclists, not professionals. Many of us are racers and, some, just hobby cyclists, or weekend warriors, I like to say.

SIMON: You’re a former NASA flight controller, I gather.

BECK: That’s right.

SIMON: So what makes you want to do this for 20 – how many days?

BECK: Yes. So the cycling is 21 days. It’s the same course as the men are riding, the professional men. And I think everyone on our team, we’re all driven both by the inequality part of it and also by the personal goal part of it.

SIMON: Well, let me ask you to talk about that because there used to be a woman’s Tour de France, didn’t there?

BECK: There did. That’s right. So back in 1955, actually, there was a women’s Tour de France. There was a five-day stage race for women. And now we’re in 2019, and there’s no stage race for women. And I think that’s kind of insane, honestly. I feel like we’re going backwards. So what we have now, we have the men’s course, obviously. Everyone has heard about it. Even if you’re not interested in cycling, you know about the men’s Tour de France. And it’s a 21-day stage race, 3,460 kilometers, which is 2,100 miles all over France. And then what the women have is, they have a one-day course. And I just think that that’s unfair.

SIMON: You mentioned the 1955 attempt. They also tried to have a women’s Tour de France in the 1980s, didn’t they?

BECK: That’s right. They did. They did it, and it stopped. But just even as we’ve been riding, we heard that ASO, the organization that hosts the men’s Tour de France, that they are considering hosting a race, a stage race, for women, as well. So we feel like the message is being heard.

SIMON: Dr. Beck, it’s hot, right?

BECK: It is hot. Oh, my gosh. I don’t know how long the tour can stay in July, honestly, because this year, we were riding in temperatures above a hundred degrees. There was, just a couple days ago, a flat stage around Nimes, France, and, oh, my gosh, we were melting. It was so hot. Yes.

SIMON: Yeah. Well, what keeps you going?

BECK: I think what keeps me going is knowing that we’re inspiring people. And a lot of times along the course, you see people come out. And they’re cheering for us, and they’re excited for us. And they’re standing there with their kids. And you see little girls are watching. And you know that you’re either inspiring them, or you’re normalizing cycling. You’re saying, hey, women can do these epic endurance rides, too. And just knowing that we’re inspiring people. And even friends of mine have told me, hey, you convinced me to get back on my bike, or I signed up for this race because of you. That’s what keeps me going.

SIMON: Have you seen B.J. Leiderman, who writes our theme music, along the route?

BECK: No, I haven’t. Is she riding, as well?

SIMON: It’s a he, but yes. No. (Laughter). Well, any goody bags or medals at the end of the race?

BECK: I think there will definitely be some fanfare. I know in my case, some of my family has flown over from the U.S., and I hear that they have flags and T-shirts, and I know there will be cameras. I think everyone’s looking forward to seeing their families at the end. And we have plenty of champagne. And we’ll have a great big party. So there will definitely be enough fanfare for us.

SIMON: I mean, to go down the Champs-Elysees, that’s something, isn’t it?

BECK: Exactly. Exactly, and that’s what I play over and over in my mind when – I just get so excited at that thought. It’s really amazing to be a part of this.

SIMON: Doctor and cyclist Sara Beck, joining us from France. May the wind be at your back.

BECK: Thank you very much.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Two boxing deaths in one week, a preview of Olympic swimming, and a check-in about the WNBA: Host Scott Simon gets an update from NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And now it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Swim records fall in Korea. The WNBA season reaches its halfway mark with today’s All-Star Game. And twin tragedies in the grisly business of boxing. NPR’s Tom Goldman joins us. Tom, thanks for being with us.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Thank you, Scott.

SIMON: Not one, even, but two boxing deaths this week.

GOLDMAN: Yeah. Russian Maxim Dadashev and Argentine Hugo Santillan both died from brain injuries a few days after their fights last weekend. Certainly not the first boxing deaths, but being so close together – just two days apart – that’s very dramatic and has the boxing world split once again between those calling for reform and those saying, it’s tragic, but it’s just part of the game.

SIMON: You and I have both reported on the human damage in boxing over the years, and I daresay it’s one of the reasons we don’t talk about it a lot here. We – you know, we both recoil at this sometimes really being called a sport, and you and I love sports. We often talk about what boxing should do. Is there something fans can do to make it less destructive?

GOLDMAN: You know, I suppose they can take their money out of the sport. As long as there’s demand, boxing will continue and not see a need to change. But if fans stop betting, if they stop buying pay-per-view, stop attending fights and let the powers that be know this is a protest, maybe that would spur the kind of reform that might help reducing the length of fights, zero tolerance of performance-enhancing drugs, which there isn’t now, ringside doctors with neurological and concussion training at all fights and ensuring boxers train safely. Brain injuries may happen initially in training and not be detected by the time they fight.

But, you know, Scott, even if meaningful reform happens, death happens too. You know, it’s the nature of a sport where the goal is to hit someone to the point of unconsciousness. And in the words of Hall of Fame boxing writer Nigel Collins, it’s up to each of us to face that reality and decide whether or not it’s worth the price.

SIMON: Yeah. Las Vegas this afternoon, the WNBA All-Star Game means the women’s basketball season’s halfway through. What teams have been most successful so far?

GOLDMAN: Well, it’s been a very competitive season so far, led by Connecticut and Las Vegas, both with 13 and six records, but not leading by much. Eight of the 12 WNBA teams go to the playoffs. And the eighth team, Minnesota, is only three and a half games out of first place. The contenders include defending champion Seattle, which lost league most valuable player Breanna Stewart and star Sue Bird before the season to injuries. There were predictions of doom, but the Storm have stayed together. They’ve played well, and they’re in the thick of the race right now.

SIMON: And, Tom, we’re a year out from the 2020 Olympics.

GOLDMAN: Yeah.

SIMON: The World Swimming Championships are – I know you’ve just begun to pack – World Swimming Championships are taking place in South Korea right now. What might we see in these championships that can help us look forward to next year in Tokyo?

GOLDMAN: Well, you know, it might be a good preview, although Americans hope not too much of a preview for super swimmer Katie Ledecky. She’s had a really tough time of it in South Korea. Illness forced her to drop out of two events. But just today, Scott…

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: …Some redemption.

SIMON: I saw.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, she won the 800-meter freestyle for the fourth straight time, a four-peat, at the World Championships. And for those who love controversy, there’s been plenty of that related to China’s Sun Yang. There are strong doping suspicions about him. He served a drug ban five years ago. And fellow swimmers haven’t been shy about speaking or acting out.

Competitors who won medals in races he won refused to stand on the victory stand with him. And after he won the 200-meter freestyle, British swimmer Duncan Scott, who tied for third, wouldn’t have his picture taken with Sun as they left the stage. Sun turned around and called Scott a loser and said he, Sun, was a winner. Now, Scott, whether this all plays out at the Olympics depends on an upcoming hearing where Sun could get a lifetime…

SIMON: That – I mean, this is, like, really dramatic. Who wouldn’t watch this?

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) Well, he could get a lifetime ban, though, for a strange incident with drug testers who showed up to give him a drug test, but he reportedly destroyed blood samples with a hammer…

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: …That he’d given to those testers. So we’ll see if that plays out in Tokyo.

SIMON: Well, that gets the job done. NPR’s Tom Goldman. Thanks.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter).

SIMON: What do you think we do with – they do with our interviews? NPR’s Tom Goldman, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter) You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with ESPN’s Howard Bryant about the 2019 baseball season so far and about Mariano Rivera, baseball’s first unanimous Hall of Famer.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Now, time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: The 2019 baseball season heats up the summer – the first unanimous Hall of Famer – joined now by Howard Bryant of ESPN, who gets a vote in the Hall of Fame ballot. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?

SIMON: I’m fine, thank you, sir. I saw two games at Wrigley Field this week. I’m great.

BRYANT: (Laughter).

SIMON: Three teams, now with more than 60 wins in Major League Baseball – the Yanks in the AL East, the Dodgers in the NL West, the Astros in the AL West – they’re scorching, aren’t they?

BRYANT: Yeah, they are. And once again, this is my second-favorite time of the year where you come out of the All-Star break and you start looking at teams and wondering, OK, who’s built for the entire season, and who’s going to wilt as the dog days of August commence?

And I kind of feel like these three teams are great. They’re really, really good. I mean, I – you look at the Dodgers. They’re an incredibly hungry team. They went to the World Series back-to-back years. They got beat twice. The Astros got them in 2017. The Red Sox got them last year.

You look at the Astros, who, of course, won the World Series two years ago and then, of course, the Yankees, who have been building and building for this for the last couple years. They sort of surprised everyone a couple years ago. The Red Sox got them last year. And now they are just an amazing offensive team, and they’re doing it with a lot of – well, a lot of their best players have been injured. Giancarlo Stanton isn’t even on the field right now, and the Yankees are just steamrolling everybody.

SIMON: Washington Nationals have really caught fire, too – haven’t they? – without Bryce Harper.

BRYANT: Exactly, and that’s the team that – they were, I think, 11 or 12 games under 500 earlier in the season, and now they’re in second place. They lost a tough one last night to the Braves. But I feel like this is another team that – they’ve got something to prove, as well. And especially, you’ve got those two pitchers – you’ve got Scherzer, you’ve got Strasburg – and that’s a pretty good start. I think any team in baseball would like their chances when you start the rotation with those two guys.

SIMON: And…

BRYANT: So – and let’s not forget the Twins in…

SIMON: Yep.

BRYANT: …The American League Central. And right behind them is Cleveland. There’s – and of course, the team that I used to cover, the Oakland A’s, are probably the second-hottest team in baseball. So it’s really funny, Scott. You have so many times that people talk about baseball and – oh, there’s no salary cap, and no one’s got a chance to win. And look at all of these teams that are out there who are – exactly. And by the way, they say it in that accent, as well. They say…

SIMON: I know.

BRYANT: …It just like that, right? But it’s true.

SIMON: NL Central, I just want to mention, ’cause you have a great three-way race between the Cubs…

BRYANT: And I didn’t even mention your Cubs. Exactly.

SIMON: …Who aren’t first, but the Brew Crew from Milwaukee and the Cards are close. And even the Bucs have a chance.

BRYANT: Well, and let’s not forget that last year, the Brewers were in the NLCS. So they’re close, as well. There’s a lot of teams that could win this thing, so instead of just talking about baseball being, you know, one team or two teams that can’t win – baseball actually has the most parity of all the sports.

SIMON: Baseball’s Hall of Fame abduction – abduction (laughter) – Area 51 stuff…

BRYANT: (Laughter) Baseball’s induction.

SIMON: …Induction is tomorrow. I know you get a Hall of Fame vote. Mariano Rivera, the great Yankee, is the Hall’s first unanimous inductee.

BRYANT: Indeed. And I had been withholding my vote for a couple of years because I was conflicted about steroids and conflicted about the commissioner and company inducting themselves into the Hall of Fame while allowing us the players – the voters to punish the players. And I hadn’t been a fan of that. But when it came to Rivera and also the death of Roy Halladay, I felt like I needed to vote. And so I voted this year.

And Mariano Rivera – I covered Mariano and Mike Mussina, who are both getting in. I covered both of them in the – with the Yankees in the early 2000s. And it should have happened before, but the fact that it’s Rivera – you can’t argue that. Edgar Martinez – everybody in Seattle would be very happy about that. And, Scott, you should be – what should I say? – ashamed that you’ve never been to Cooperstown. You got to go.

SIMON: Yeah. All right. Well, we’ll go together sometime. Howard Bryant of ESPN. Thanks so much.

BRYANT: Thank you.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.