I love the Tour de France like puppies love dirty socks. All year long, I look forward to those three weeks in July when 198 scrawny cyclists race around France in a giant circle. It’s a tradition in my family to watch the final stage in Paris when the surviving cyclists ride several loops around the Champs Élysées.
As usual, I took no chances and had parked myself in the ideal location by 9am in order to be ready for the teams to arrive around 4 or 4:30pm. It may sound hard to believe but the hours flew by, even though I was too excited to read my book or do sudoku and spent most of the time standing and staring up and down the road.
When the remaining 153 cyclists finally arrived for their eight laps on the Champs Élysées, thousands of fans lined the street two or three deep. There were more British flags than usual this year in support of Bradley Wiggins, who comfortably won the 99th running of the Tour de France.
Jens Voigt led a breakaway of about six riders which was ultimately caught before the finish.
Mark Cavendish, center, in the world champion’s white and rainbow jersey.
The peloton flew by at incredible speeds.
Yellow jersey winner Bradley Wiggins was surrounded by his teammates Bernhard Eisel and Marc Cavendish.
On another lap, Sky teammate and Norwegian road race champion Edvald Boasson Hagen and Eisel led out Wiggins.
Team Sky was untouchably strong with riders like Wiggins, Boasson Hagen, and Cavendish.
Cavendish, who went on to win a record fourth time on the Champs Élysées, ahead of Peter Sagan, winner of the coveted green sprinter’s jersey.
The small yellow blob on top of the black podium is Tour winner Bradley Wiggins.
After the race ended and the awards were presented, each team rode together to greet the fans and celebrate the fact that they had just concluded 3,497 kilometers of some of the world’s toughest bike racing. The cyclists will wave and, if you’re lucky, sign autographs.
Team Sky.
King of the Mountians Thomas Voeckler in the polka dot jersey.
This year I got third place cyclist and 2010 Vuelta a España winner, Vincenzo Nibali, to sign my Canadian flag!
Peter Sagan got a flat tire on his victory lap.
Later that night, I came across Kris Boeckmans of Team Vacansoliel who had finished in fifth place on the final stage and got his autograph, too.
Just eleven months to go until next year’s Tour!
