My Tour

How do you best describe the Tour de France? The three week extravaganza unlike anything else. 198 riders traversing over 3,000km of French countryside. From Corsica to Mont-Saint-Michel, Mont Ventoux to Alpe-d'Huez, the 100th running of La Grande Boucle features many of France's biggest cities and most famous climbs and towns.

So instead of telling stories you could read in the countless books written about the Tour, or giving you predictions that you can read anywhere and everywhere, I thought I'd put it simply, because to me the Tour is.....

- the tete de le course, the poursuivants and the peleton

- the devil on the roadside

- sweeping shots of 14th century castles and chateaus

- Paul Sherwan and Phil Liggett

- the red kite/flamme rouge

- Australian media wondering why Cadel is 78th after one stage

- the official Tour guide

- Gabriele Gate and the taste of the Tour

- memories of legends like Merckx and Coppi
- the drug cynics

- Mike Tomolaris

- the Rue de Rivoli and Place de la Concorde

- the Col du Tourmalet, d'Aspin, de Peyresourde and d'Aubisque

- the rest day in Gap or Pau
- lead out trains and domestiques
- the neutral, feeding and call of nature zone
- Matt Keenan warming the seat with style

- 'crackling over race radio'

- the Manx Missile taking off

- green, white and polda-dot jerseys

- a Frenchman winning on Bastille Day

- the Col du Telegraph, Col du Galibier and Col de la Croix-de-Fer

- my wife now loving this time of year
- the crowds parting just in time
- the Vendee, the Massif Central and the Loire
- the sunflowers
- recalling Indurain and Abdoujaparov, my earliest Tour memories

- watching the 6pm highlights even though you watched the stage

- the memory to Fabio Casartelli and Tom Simpson
- green, white and polda-dot jerseys

- everyone becoming a cycling expect overnight

- intermediate sprints and Cat-4 climbs
- 'heads of state'

- the grupetto over Hors categorie climbs

- famous ski stations like Peyragudes, Luz Ardiden, Arcalis and Briançon

- a team sport for an individual winner

- an Australian team at the Tour de France

- the Basque orange in the Pyrenees

- Cofidis, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Lampre

- everything you can want from a three week sporting event

Most importantly, the Tour de France is where one of Australia's greatest sporting stories was told. Vive le Tour!