A Day at the Races

I went to see the Tour de France! It was terrifically exciting. The stage was leaving from a town called Chambéry, about an hour and a half by train from Lyon. I had to get up obscenely early (5am) to catch my train (6:30) but it was so worth it. I met a girl from Oregon and we staked out a spot in front of the sign in podium. Before each stage, every rider is supposed to sign in so you get a good opportunity to see them all, at walking speed, rather than whizzing by at 50km/hour.

We had to wait a few hours for it to really start but a few companies kept us occupied with their promotions and giveaways. I got two free bucket hats - one from Cochonou who make sausages, and one from Skoda who make cars and sponsor the young rider competition. Cochonou also offered actual sausages but I was disappointed not to be offered a car or a young rider.

The first thing that goes by is the publicity caravan - a couple dozen cars and trucks of the sponsors, most built like parade floats with people clipped on to throw freebies to the crowd. Since we were before the start, they hadn't started throwing the swag but we still got see all the crazy constructions.

Then the riders started coming by, in no particular order or organization. At first it was just a trickle so you could keep track of who was who but as time grew shorter, it got much busier and more exciting.

I like cycling for a lot of reasons, and in all honesty, this is one:
(David Zabriskie for what it's worth)

The sign in was a great place to be though, because you could see all the world's best cyclists right in front of you, sometimes within arms length.

Like Alberto Contador (winner 2009 and 2007):
Also his teammate, Alexandre Vinokourov, back this season after a two-year suspension for doping which he did not take gracefully. Nonetheless, he's a very dynamic rider and exciting to watch:
Or the current yellow jersey wearer, Andy Schleck. He was mobbed by reporters and cameras as soon as he stepped off the podium:


Then there was this year's world champion, Cadel Evans. He had a terrible day on the weekend and no longer has any real hope of winning the tour.
There's still the sprinters, like Thor Hushovd in the green jersey. His strategy this year is to place highly in the sprints so that he always gets some points towards the green jersey, but not actually sprint it out to win. Maybe because he knows he couldn't win in a straight out sprint with Petacchi and Cavendish.
Speaking of Mark Cavendish, here he is. He's had an up and down year, with a lot of negative media coverage. The French call him 'le bad boy' of cycling, mainly because he's an average 25 year old guy with your average obscene gestures.

Even more excitingly though, this year there are two Canadian riders in the race! Ryder Hesjedal is from Victoria BC and is doing very very well. His team leader had to withdraw due to injuries and he's stepped into the lead role. He's currently in 12th place overall, better than a lot of higher profile riders (*cough*LanceArmstrong*cough*). I like to think that the wave is in response to me yelling "Go Ryder!"

We mustn't forget about Torontonian Michael Barry though (centre rider), riding for Team Sky.Being before the race, you could see the riders milling around, talking to each other and acting like normal people. They all know each other and a lot of the during-race competitiveness evaporates off the course.

Robert Gesink (white jersey) and Karsten Kroon:

Sylvain Chavanel being fabulous. He deserves to be - he's a French national hero after winning two stages and wearing the yellow jersey for two days as well.
It was a very long day; I didn't get back to my apartment until past 6pm, but it was so worth it. It was also July 14, la Fête Nationale of France, so in the evening I went to watch the fireworks over Fourvière hill. I've only spent two Bastille Days in France (this year and in 2007) but both are days I wouldn't trade for anything.