Alittlebitoutoffocus

Alittlebitoutoffocus

It’s hard to imagine the pain and suffering that the Tour de France riders must go through.  I only walked about 300 metres (1,000 ft) up from the station to the first hairpin bend on the ascent out of Martigny and I was about to spontaneously combust.  With temperatures around 34 degrees C (or 93 F) it was HOT.  So I did what any self-respecting person would do in that situation and found the nearest bar to cool off…  About an hour later ( 🙂 )  I could just about bear to come out and watch the ‘caravan’ go by.

For anyone unfamiliar with Le Tour, the race is preceded by a cavalcade of advertising floats, dispensing freebies, in the form of hats, sweets, key-rings and all sorts of goodies to the enthusiastic supporters by the side of the road.  (How they have enough to cover the whole 180k+ route, I will never know).  But it was a wonderful spectacle and great to see these phenomenal athletes in action.

8 responses

  1. neveradullbling Avatar
    neveradullbling

    Wow, how cool! We used to watch the Tour every year until I turned into a tight wad and got rid of cable! It was super fun to watch, so I’m really enjoying your pictures!!

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Yes, it’s an incredible event, which shows off the countryside, whether in France, Switzerland or even my beloved Yorkshire, to great effect. Check out Maxine’s paintings at Racing Lines, https://maxinedodd.com/, they are simply amazing. She covers the event much better than I do.

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  2. Maxine Dodd, artist Avatar
    Maxine Dodd, artist

    Great photos Mike – what a beautiful place? The vines looked gorgeous soaking up the sun. I thought I saw some tiger stripes on the hill…. 😉

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      I watched the race when I got back (as we have a rewind type facility) but there were no Tigers on the loose ! I was lost in the crowd about 80 yards around the left hand bend. I should have gone further up, where there were less people, but then I wouldn’t have got the shots of the bend. It was a great day though. For info, Martigny is an old Roman town, at a strategic bend in the Rhone valley. The road south goes over to either France (Chamonix) or Italy (over the Grand St Bernard pass).

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      1. Maxine Dodd, artist Avatar
        Maxine Dodd, artist

        Well it’s a shame but you took some great shots from your vantage point, so definitely in the right place from that point of view! 😀

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  3. Traveling Rockhopper Avatar
    Traveling Rockhopper

    So funny pictures! 🙂

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Yes, it’s quite a circus that follows, or rather precedes, the Tour de France around. I guess they have to make it worthwhile for the people standing by the roadside for all that time waiting for just a glimpse (and it is a fleeting glimpse) of the riders.

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  4. Tour de Romandie, Switzerland, Stage 1 | Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
    Tour de Romandie, Switzerland, Stage 1 | Alittlebitoutoffocus

    […] time sufferers, I mean followers, may recall that I ‘covered’ a stage of the Tour de France waaaay back in 2016 and some images of the Prologue of the Tour de Romandie in 2017. Well, with […]

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