BUCKET LIST CONFESSIONS: I first saw the Tour de France as a child, watching small weekend clips, usually showing huge crashes. In 1983, while living in France, I saw some of it on TV. I became a fan of Eddie Merckx, a 5-time TdF winner. An amazing athlete, he would get annoyed if someone wouldn't work with him on a breakaway, so he'd just ride away. The perfect revenge is to threaten, then DO what you say you can do! William's middle name was supposed to be Merckx, but Tim said he didn't want him to have the initials of WMP, so... we went for a family middle name, which was equally difficult to spell. :)
I became hooked on the Tour de France, when OLN started airing it. I would wake up super-early to watch it! Bike racing is such an amazing sport! Working together is paramount to being winners, and ultimately the most talented and best fit win. I even suffered through the bulk feed that was shown in France, in French, with cut-ins with the Japanese commentators. I had to get that channel special, but I HAD to watch it!!!
There are 3 main categories:
GC (General Category-YELLOW jersey) which goes to the person with the fastest time. Their teammates will sacrifice themselves, their bikes and their times to help and protect this bicyclist.
Grimpeur (climber-POLKA DOT jersey) These are usually really light riders who can take a hill like no other. Often, it is hard to sustain this day after day. They are awarded points for when they go past selected mountain tops, or their finishing times. Some of the best don't compete in this category if their main guy is a GC contender. They will use their talents to help break wind and guide him up the mountains for good times.
Sprinters (Green Jerseys). These guys have huge legs, and save all their muscle bang for the final 100 yards or so to win at the end of the stage (individual day's race). Their teams will work very hard to get them up to the front, and often their teammates might be excellent sprinters themselves, but will use their power to lead them up to the point that they need to have that final burst of speed.
Team- At the end, the team with the best overall time wins. Sometimes this is the GCs team, but not always. Some of the 'DOMESTIQUES' can be slow at the end of a day. These are the guys who take the risks getting the food and water, and use all their power to catch up and give it to the contenders.
I sometimes ride my bike and feel like I am a contender. One day in San Diego I was riding, and I was passed on a hill-like I was standing still- by two riders, and I thought, 'That looks like Lance Armstrong.' The light ahead was turning, and they had to stop, so I poured on the coal and caught up, and YES! Unbeknownst to me, he was in town to run the Olympic torch and was training riding that day!
So, it should come as no surprise that I wanted to see the Tour de France one day!
When we were looking at vacations, I noticed that this TdF would be a good year to go see a few of the stages. A departure, a finish and a mountain stage, all within a few days of each other.
This is the Normandy flag flying above the area.
From above, you can see the people waiting to see the riders who will come in and start off on their 3,519 kilometer race that will take 3 weeks and make a 'circle' or, in French, 'tour' of France.
After the rain the evening before, it ended up being a beautiful, breezy, very cold day!
This is my vantage point as they come in.
Soon I realized that my spot wasn't that good...
Although, to be honest, I do love to see cute tushies!
Notice how they are saving their butts from time on the seat.
I moved, but I did get to see Prudhomme (the director of the race) doing his best 'Moses' impersonation, trying to part the waters of the rider sea.
The White jersey is Andre Greipel. He is a famous sprinter. On the right is Daniel Martin.
The very first day everyone is learning each other. There are crashes if riders intentions are misunderstood, and wheels tough.
The pros were talking to past teammates, the newbies were anxiously waiting. The contenders were allowed to be more in the front, but the pecking order would be sorted out over the 3 weeks they will eventually ride together.
The #144 rider in red is Alexander Kristoff, another sprinter.
I think you see Alberto Contador in bright green to the right of the cell phone center. He was a GC contender, and past winner, who dropped out of the race.
Tim got the pics of the guys riding in to the waiting area. The guy leading in white is Fabio Cancellara. He will drop out, but then get a gold in the Rio Olympics.
The red BMC shirt on the right is AMERICAN Tejay Van Garderen. Woot!
So, you get the see them starting out. The did an opening ceremony, and then the rolling start.
They do the rolling starts so there aren't sprints and crashes at the beginning.
I shouted myself. There was one Japanese rider, Yukiya Arashiro, and so I yelled, 'Ganbatte!' He was a domestique, so you never see him on TV.
Tim was on the other side, closer to the starting line. You see in the center, Movistar, is Alejandro Valverde. A good climber and GC, but he was there for Nairo Quintana.
Not everyone could get into the circle prep area, so Tim said some just turned their bikes around, knowing that they had to come back the same way.
The support cars had to get through, though. There weren't many cars on this causeway... now a big bridge so the island could become an island once more.
Starting to the starting line a few yards away...
Contador rolling through.
Then, the Patrouille de France helped start things off.
William did it correctly. He enjoyed the spectacle, then finally got this shot.
Pilgrims to this area would eat omelets. Supposedly, they would stay through another tide cycle before leaving this way.
You walk in and see all the fresh ingredients being whisked into more of a soufflé than an omelet.
There are two bins of butter for one basket of eggs.....
Cooked over a wooden fire.
After being so cold, it was wonderful!
The bacon was a more European style, and these buggers aren't cheap.
But I was so PUMPED at having seen the start of the Tour de France!!! We were going to celebrate! So, this was our lunch before we could head off the island.
The buses wouldn't start running until 2 pm, so we literally had to walk the 2 kilometers to the car park. It was a gorgeous day!
