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Warning: lycra clad cyclists inside!

Posted Wednesday, July 11, 2007, 6:02 AM by Lonely Planet

For the past few days, we've been watching the Tour de France on TV. It's the biggest annual sporting event in the world, and one of the hardest. So plenty of inspiration for our big Etape ride next Monday. And especially inspiring for us Brits, because this year the Tour de France started in London.


London? Yes. The Tour de France is effectively a 'tour de Europe' and usually includes sections through any of Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Switzerland and Spain - and occasionally Britain too - although the bulk of the race is still in France. So the 2007 'grand depart' saw the riders passing the Tower of London, to be flagged off by the mayor on Tower Bridge. The crowds were large and enthusiastic. People everywhere, waving banners and cheering like crazy. For one day at least, Britain looked like France.
The Etape will be our chance to get some of this flavour, to sample a single day-stage of the Tour de France, to ride in the wheel tracks of the finest professional cyclists in the world.

Although actually, the pros will be riding in our tracks. We pedal the 190km between the French towns of Foix and Loudenvielle on the 16th July, and the big boys hammer along the same road on the 23rd. And while 200 of the world's elite cyclists ride the Tour de France, there'll be 7000 of us riding the Etape. Cyclists come from all over the world, then many stay on to watch the Tour itself. Lucky buggers. Unfortunately, I'll be heading straight back home. And straight back to the TV.

I'm riding the Etape with three old buddies. Old is the operative word, said one observer, kindly. We went out for a little ride today, the last before we leave, just to check the bikes (and the legs) are all in working order. Here's a team photo:


The Etape is called a sportive - and as part of our training for the French event we rode a few sportives here in Britain. This photo was taken last month after we'd finished a ride called the Polka Dot Challenge. It was a bit damp. Typical British weather some may say - although not for June. But we covered the hilly 100 mile (160km) course in just under 6 hours.

At least the times are getting shorter as we get nearer the big day...

Lonely Planet author David Else is heading for France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on the trail of the Tour de France. This is the second of a series of blog posts.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello!
im not to used to all this new-fangled blogging business really...and thats quite a wierd thing for a 15 year old to say to her old uncle.
i do hope you aprrove this comment as i think its rather funny
have a good time in france!
lots of love
your dearest niece
lydia
xxx

7:47 AM  

 

Blogger Peter said...

of course I wish you all the best...

enjoy every moment, enjoy being there and taking part...

and then? what next? well there are a few hills in Eritrea I can recommend

more fire

4:00 PM  

 

 

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