Today, the 100th Tour de France started on the island of Corsica. Just in case you don't know, that is where Napoleon Bonaparte was born, and it contains the two départements that had never hosted a tour. No longer!
I know that as Americans, most of us only pay attention to the Tour when there are identifiable Americans involved, such as Greg le Mond, or Lance Armstrong. However, it is a sporting event that is worth watching. There is a website - http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/ - that shows and explains everything you would ever want to know about le Tour de France. It is a great honor (and helps the economy) when a Tour stage comes to town.
On my recent trip, we spent time in Nice. I wondered why the beautiful Promenade des Anglais was full of steel piping and other stuff; it is because the Tour is coming through on July 2 and they were building bleachers. The stage in Nice will be a time trial - according to letour.fr: "An hour-long flight the evening before will enable the riders to sleep in Nice. Then they will have the morning to recover after the extremely tough passage through Corsica: in all likelihood, this should be the most physically demanding Grand Départ since San Sebastián in 1992! And now we come to this team time trial, where each team's time will be taken when their fifth rider crosses the line. Naturally, in what is a straightforward and relatively short test (25km), they are going to be moving quickly, very quickly! I am expecting an average speed of 55 kilometres/hour, and perhaps even more, on the Promenade des Anglais. There will be a duel between the Quick Step and Sky teams!"
I am watching the Tour as I write this - at the finish line, a huge motor coach came down the final stretch (as they are allowed to do, I understand), and the Finish banner structure caught the AC unit of the bus and punctured it! The bus is now stranded at the finish line, unable to move, and the peloton is less than 15 minutes away. Quel drame! (they were able to back the bus up and get it out of the way, but the timing mechanism on the finish line structure was damaged, so the officials still have to figure that out...)
And, just because, here are some photos from Nice!
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| The Hotel Negresco - still the most exclusive hotel in Nice |
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| A square in Vieux Nice |
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| The Promenade des Anglais |
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ReplyDeleteEven if one doesn't normally follow or appreciate the subtleties and chaos of cycling, watching the Tour is still a tantalizing three weeks of Homeric Alps, stretches pastoral bliss, architecture of the ages, and a guy dressed as the devil who provides his own special brand of encouragement "pour les cyclistes."
ReplyDeleteVIVE LE TOUR!!!