Sunday 30 June 2013

Tour de France

   The last day of the financial year and last night was the opening stage of the 2013 Tour de France.

   This is an archive photo which just happens to show the Adelaide lad Stuart O'Grady in the left foreground in the dark Saxobank colours, looking after his team-mate, Fabian Cancellara, in the yellow jersey.  It's either 2009 or 2010.  These two were members of the Saxobank team in those years, and Cancellara held the leader's yellow jersey for several stages in both years.

   O'Grady is now the old man of the Australian GreenEDGE team.  He'll turn 40 in a few weeks and his appearance in this year's TdF means he now holds the record for the number of appearances by any rider.  His first TdF was in 1997.

   There are eleven Australians in this year's Tour, the sixth largest contingent and more than the Yanks, Poms and Germans.

   GreenEDGE managed to get some publicity last night by getting their bus stuck under the finish line banner with the race riders only a few kilometres away!  After embarassment and panic, they managed to clear things up before the bikes arrived at full pelt.

   Anyway, I got to bed at 1.30am, and there are another three weeks of late nights and excitement coming up!



1 comment:

  1. Of course, no-one will notice the red Škoda in the foreground, just like ours!!
    I'm thinking of getting a strip on the windscreen - "Official"

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