Euphoria at its best

I was never a fan, don't know if I ever will be but at the point when these competitors passed by, I was exhilarated, not to mention euphoric!

Le Tour de France is an event you must (try) not miss when in France. The race takes place in summer from almost every corner of France, varying from city to city every year. This year will be the 96th Tour de France and it kicks off in Monaco on July 4^th and finishes in Paris, July 26^th 2009, covering a total distance of 3,500 kilometres. The stop-overs include new cities like Brignoles, Gérone (Spain), Issoudun, Martigny (Switzerland), Saint-Fargeau, Tonnerre and Verbier (Switzerland). They go through diversified stages - 3 mountain finishes, 2 rest days, 55 kms of individual time-trials and so on.

Since I am now in the south of France and they were going to pass through Nice, I decided to go cheer for them and follow them to the finishing line of the day, Brignoles - an hour inland from St. Tropez. This is the tricky part, choosing the right spot. If you pick a hilly spot, it happens so quickly you don't even know what passed by but when you're at the finishing line like I was - and at spitting distance too from the cyclists - you get to see and hear every bit of them, even succumb to the sweat shaken off them at the end of the race! I managed to get a close up of the ever famous Lance Armstrong who finished at no. 10 yesterday - day 2 of the race. He was huffing and puffing like the rest of them in the scorching 35°c heat but was generous enough to give away his water bottle to a kid who probably didn't know who he was.









It may seem like a feasible race to some people but to me, that's just plain madness! I can't even imagine cycling more than 10 kms a day! If not, I couldn't help but shout out "Bravo to these courageous cyclists!" Cycling is a sport of endurance which is attained through age. With that said, it gives me hope.