Die-hard cyclists and sports enthusiasts will be settling down for three weeks of spirited fun as the 97th annual Tour de France begins. This great armchair entertainment usually has it all – team spirit and camaraderie in the peloton – at least for the first couple of days, sweat and toil in the Alps and Pyrenees where riders have been known to die, failed drug tests and subsequent denials, and tangled pedals leading to nasty crashes. Thousands of Tour de France followers turn out along the 3,642km route to cheer their heroes on and chalk encouraging slogans on the road.
Britain is represented by Mark Cavendish riding for Team HTC and Bradley Wiggins with team mates Stephen Cummings and Thomas Geraintare are riding for Sky Pro Cycling Team. There are several other well known names such as Lance Armstrong among the 189 international starters.
Watching the Tour de France is a great way to see some of the spectacular French countryside which has drawn many to invest in a holiday home, retirement home, or pitch a tent in almost guaranteed sunshine for family holidays. This year’s route takes in the Netherlands (okay that’s not in France), Belgium (I hear you!) and then through Reims, Montargis, Guegnon, the Alps from Station des Rousses to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (aren’t these great names?), up the Col du Tourmalet, down to Bordeaux (where you may see them flash past on this Bordeaux webcam) then into Paris on July 25th for a few final laps on the cobblestones around the Champs-Elysees.
If all that does not encourage you to don a yellow jersey and get the bike out, enjoy browsing some of the wonderful webcams of France, such as this one at Marais in Paris or this gorgeous scene at Nice on the French Riviera. Wish you were there?
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