My brother and I were among the first crazy fans on the Champs Élysées and we set up in our family’s traditionally preferred spot. After awhile, I wandered down towards the finish line to say hi to my friends who paint the Škoda logos there.

 

While I was there, Jean Louis Piaget, the man who had so kindly given Fien and I VIP badges at the time trial, spotted me and gave me 2 VIP passes! I was floored and, after thanking him profusely, skipped and sprinted up the Champs Élysées to tell my brother.

 

There were several hours yet until the VIP area would be open, so we held our previous spot for the rest of our family. As we waited, we watched tour groups ride up and down the Champs Élysées. One group was clad exclusively in Orica GreenEdge kit and I picked out Robbie McEwen immediately. Prepared for any cycling related situation, I blew up my inflatable OGE guitar and, when Robbie looped by again, I waved it and called to him. He recognized me immediately and laughed and waved back, so I was pretty tickled.

 

After the stage’s end, the teams usually take a lap of honor where they sign autographs, high five fans, take in the atmosphere, and soak in the reality of having just completed the Tour de France, cycling’s most prestigious Grand Tour. This year, because the stage was scheduled to end at 10pm instead of its usual 6pm, the lap of honor was unfortunately cancelled. Before we knew there would be no lap, my brother had had shirts printed up for his favorite cyclist, Jens Voigt, who is likely to retire this year.

 

At 5pm, my brother and I headed down to the VIP area where Geraldine, one of the crew members I’d seen several times before but had never spoken with, generously gave us passes that would get us in to the seats immediately after the finish line! We bolted to the stands and grabbed 2 seats on the second row. The camera truck blocked part of the view of the finish line itself but it was still an amazing view towards the line and all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe.

 

We started talking with the man next to us who was wearing a Garmin shirt and turned out to be from Ottawa. The three hours between sitting down and when the peloton first entered the Champs Élysées flew by as the 3 of us swapped cycling stories and talked like old friends. Before we knew it, the riders had arrived in Paris and Team Sky led the peloton on its first lap of the Champs Élysées. Froome in yellow.

 

With the unusual exception of Alpe d’Huez this year, the Champs Élysées is the only place in the entire Tour that the cyclists pass more than once. This year they completed 10 laps, meaning spectators saw them whizz by 20 times.

 

In order to protect the yellow jersey from potential crashes, Sky led the next lap as well.

 

Just to give you a sense of the length of the peloton, this sequence captures the bulk of the 169 remaining riders.

 

The second half of lap 2. Quintana in polka dots.

 

By the third lap, cyclists were launching attacks and trying to make a breakaway.

 

The peloton wasn’t far behind. Left to right: Millar, AG2R rider, Lars Bak, Bodnar, De Marchi, Froome.

 

David Millar was rapidly moving to the front of the peloton by the return of the third lap.

 

When the fourth lap came by, there was a breakaway of 4.

 

Steve Morabito tried to bridge the gap but couldn’t.

 

We watched excitedly as 2 riders got dropped and Flecha and Millar rode neck and neck while I screamed myself horse.

 

When it wants to, the peloton reaches incredible speeds, making it sometimes hard to photograph. Below, a rider from Europcar, Rein Taaramae in the Estonian champion’s jersey for Cofidis, and a rider from Team Sky.

 

It was still Flecha and Millar with a lead of about 20 seconds on the fifth lap.

 

An Argos rider took a drink, finished off his water bottle, and chucked it aside. I was so focused on watching the race that I was momentarily startled and confused to see something fly through the air and land 10 feet away. One of the police picked up the bottle and handed it off to a lucky spectator.

 

Coming back down the Champs Élysées, Millar and Flecha were still going strong.

 

The peloton. Marcus Burghardt (center).

 

The French national champion, Arthur Vichot, crashed somewhere along the way and had a bike change as he rounded the Arc de Triomohe. The poor guy looked so ready to be done.

 

No change in the breakaway with lap 6.

 

Dmitri Muravyev of Astana tried to catch the escapees.

 

Peter Velitis (right).

 

Millar pulled away from Flecha and now rode alone.

 

Flecha and Muravyev tried to stay ahead of the peloton.

 

Lap 7 and Millar was still on his own.

 

Millar was still holding on in lap 8 but Jeremy Roy caught and passed him before long.

 

The peloton was hot on their heels and reeled in the breakaway in time for the sprinters’ teams to set up their lead out trains for the tenth and final lap. Cav, Kittel, and Greipel, all of whom had won stages in the centennial Tour, seemed virtually level as they approached the finish. I practically held my breath as I waited to to see who would cross the line first. The Tour came full circle as Kittel won both the first and final stages!

 

As the peloton came in, the Argos riders and staff congratulated each other on the team’s stage win.

 

Froome and his Sky teammates, visible on the big screen, rejoiced in winning the yellow jersey.

 

Meanwhile, Jens Voigt, who had just completed the last Tour de France of his career, took a quiet moment to himself.

 

As Team Sky rode past, the media chased and surrounded Froome and his teammates.

 

Eventually they noticed Jens.

 

The cyclists all turned around at various points along the Champs Élysées to return to their team buses. When Flecha rode by, I called out to him and was pretty excited to see him recognize me and wave to me. It’s not every day I get to say hi to a cyclist I know who was just in a big breakaway on the Champs Élysées!

 

Even though we had a decent view of the podium for the first time in our spectating careers, we figured we could watch the awards ceremony on TV later and made our way to the buses. Geraldine again was immensely giving and let my brother and I in, so we went straight to Garmin. Christian Vande Velde mingled, David Millar ran around in his suit, kids distributed the celebratory champagne, and Jack Bauer, one of my favorite cyclists, struck up a conversation with me, recognizing me as the loud Canadian who’d cheered for him and his teammates over the last 3 weeks. I probably shouldn’t be shocked but it really surprised me to realize that even with everything on their minds as they prepared for or wound down from each stage, they had truly noticed me. In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to be quite so loud, but I’m sure that won’t change anything in the future.

 

From Garmin, we went to see if we could find Jens Voigt at the RadioShack bus. Sure enough, he was out front still in his kit and gabbing away with friends, teammates, guests, and fans. We waited patiently and then I got to introduce Jens to David, which was a great experience.

 

At BMC, I congratulated Marcus Burghardt on completing another Tour as he got ready to celebrate his accomplishment with his team and family. There was a big crowd at the AG2R bus as Christophe Riblon showed off his award for most combative ride. Most of the cyclists had left in team cars but the Belkin boys put on their backpacks and biked off to their hotel.

 

The night was coming to an end so we walked up a quiet side street to avoid the mobs. A contained crowd hustled down the street and I immediately recognized it as Froome and Quintana, wearing their usual jerseys as opposed to yellow and white respectively, surrounded by security. It was almost eerie how quiet it was and David gently called out, “Congratulations, Chris,” and Chris paused and turned to thank him.

 

David walked back to his place while I headed to the Eiffel Tower, as is tradition. As usual, a Belgian TV crew was wrapping up their post-Tour show. In the past, we’ve seen Eddy Merckx and Kris Boeckmans there but there were no cyclists to be seen tonight.

 

As expected, there were plenty of people wandering about. I’m not sure what the rationale was, but the Eiffel Tower was lit up in colors I’d never seen before and it looked quite pretty against the black sky.

 

I've got to say my heart sank a little when I arrived at the sign on in Annecy this morning. The way the barricades were set up wasn't very fan friendly and pretty much minimized the chances of meeting any of the cyclists. Oh well, I figured. I resolved to find a decent place where I could at least wave my flag and I found Gerrie to say good morning.

 

And then Gerrie came to my rescue! He was able to get me a VIP badge that would give me access to the team buses. I was pretty damn excited but also nervous to meet cyclists without Fien. It's much easier to work in pairs!

 

There were a couple of hours yet until the sign on so I went to check out the village which was open early today. It had a carnival atmosphere and was full of free food and gifts from the various sponsors. I managed to find the one and only fruit stand and ate the best peach of my life. Under any other circumstances, it would have been a good peach, but knowing I was lucky enough to meet cyclists yet again made it taste even better.

 

There were lots of places to sit and the chairs had the names of past jersey winners.

 

I watched the publicity caravan pass from the VIP area. It wasn't fenced off here which mildly terrified me as 2 kids and an octogenarian seemed blissfully indifferent to the constant oncoming vehicles as they scrambled to pick up everything the caravan chucked at them.

 

Euskaltel was the first team to arrive and their bus was swamped in no time.

 

I planned to station myself at the bottleneck where the cyclists would have to pass for the sign on but Gerrie had a much better idea. Just to the side of the sign on podium is a seating area and the snack bars, so Gerrie invited me to stay there. I've been to several sign ons in the Tour this year and it's rare to see someone who isn't affiliated with a team in this area, so I was thrilled.

 

The first cyclist came and went and my feet were cemented in place so Gerrie gave me a good nudge and I asked Mikel Astarloza for a photo.

 

I whispered, “That's Maciej Bodnar,” to Gerrie who gave me another nudge to get a picture.

 

With 2 photos under my belt, I was feeling a little more bold so I got one with Igor Anton.

 

Pierre Rolland giving an interview.

 

RadioShack signed in as a team and I was a bit overwhelmed when half the team came to pick up fruit, bars, and water so I left them alone rather than get tangled up in their bicycles.

 

Some of the teams send a staff member to pick up a few boxes of bars, gels, and powder to save their cyclists from having to worry about it themselves. I saw the Garmin crew and introduced myself as a fan and asked how Jack Bauer was doing. He said Jack was in good spirits now that his face had been stitched up and that he will travel with the team to Paris, which was good news to hear!

 

I've been trying to get Arashiro's autograph for over 2 weeks now and today I did even better by getting a photo.

 

I asked Andrey Amador for a photo just as he'd downed a power gel and he laughed when I told him to take his time chewing.

 

Marteen Wynants was really nice when he signed my flag a few stages ago and he was just as nice when I asked for a picture.

 

Brent Bookwalter couldn't have been easier to talk to and we had a good, long chat. He's now got another fan in his corner.

 

I took a photo with his teammate Amaël Moinard.

 

Marcel Kittel looked like he was in a bit of a hurry to get back to the team bus but he saw me fidgeting and hesitating with my camera so he looked at me as if to say, “Do you want a picture?” Yes, please!

 

I missed Lars Bak when he went snack shopping because it was too busy, but he came back a few minutes later to get some more food and was kind enough to stop for a photo.

 

I was super excited to meet Tejay Van Garderen, especially after he'd come so close to winning on Alpe d'Huez.

 

Bart De Clercq knows Fien by now and he recognized me as her friend and stopped to say hi. Since he hadn't noticed it on the ground, I showed him a photo of my chalking for him last week and he seemed to like my artwork very much.

 

I didn't want to pester anyone, so I only asked for photos from the cyclists who came to the snack bar area. This meant I didn't interact with guys like Tony Martin, Alberto Contador, or Cadel Evans but I did make sure to say a quick hello to several of my favorites like Marcus Burghardt, Andrew Talansky, and a few others.

 

It was getting close to the start time but it was still too long to sit at the starting line, so a bunch of them took a seat and gabbed away. Left to right: Tejay Van Garderen, Philippe Gilbert, Adam Hansen, Matty Goss, Simon Gerrans, Lars Bak, Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel, and Rein Taaramae.

 

The world champion caught up on sporting news with today's edition of L'Equipe.

 

I turned shy again with so many big names together, but Gerrie wouldn't have it and sent me over to ask Gilbert for a photo.

 

Faking confidence, I approached Cav and Simon Gerrans for photos. Cav agreed readily and when I held out the camera to take the photo myself, Simon Gerrans took my camera and with a huge smile, insisted on snapping the picture himself.

 

He handed my camera off to Cav and made him the photographer for Simon and I.

 

David Millar is far taller in person than I had realized and I wasn't sure if I had fit us both in the shot.

 

Greipel returned for more food and I ended up with a picture!

 

Cav and David Millar had a laugh while Matty Goss, Adam Hansen, and Philippe Gilbert collected their bikes.

 

A few stragglers came to my area, so I got a picture with Daniele Bennati.

 

I met Dan Martin again today and he was as good a guy as always.

 

My final photo of the day was with Assan Bazayev who is both my favorite Kazakh rider and my favorite cyclist with a neck tattoo. He was super nice!

 

When it was time to go to work, the peloton and the press moved towards the start line.

 

Right on time, the cyclists were off for a relatively short day of 125 kilometers.

 

The spectacle wasn't over yet, though. Each team has 2 or 3 cars and a bus, plus the official race cars, all of which had to clear out from the lawn-turned-parking lot.

 

When I waved my Canadian flag, the Garmin bus driver waved back just as enthusiastically.

 

But the prize for the most excited team staff goes to Astana, who stopped their bus to take a picture of singing Danish fans dressed as vikings holding a 5 foot picture of Jakob Fuglsang's face.

 

I can't thank you enough, Gerrie!

 

With 2 HC climbs (too steep to be rated, thus hors categorie), a category 2 climb, and two category 1 climbs, Ryder Hesjedal apparently had been referring to today’s stage as a “redonkathon,” which seems pretty accurate.

I took the morning’s first bus to Le Grand Bornand, marveling at the scenery all the way, and parked myself in a nook where I could see both the finish line and the podium with its 2 screens broadcasting the race. I got to watch Ryder’s breakaway and was rooting for him all the way.

 

The first few hours of the race were put up on the screens but there was no mention of any crashes, so it wasn’t until several hours after the stage I learned of Jack Bauer’s crash/faceplant that forced him to abandon. I’m pretty gutted he won’t make it to Paris so I can only imagine how he feels.

 

But the stage continued, Ryder was caught, and others launched attacks. For the second time in a week, Rui Costa of Movistar pulled of a successful breakaway and won the stage with plenty of time to celebrate as he crossed the line.

 

 

Andreas Kloden took second place.

 

Teammate Jan Baklandts came in third.

 

Bart De Clercq was sixth.

 

Amaël Moinard and Pierre Rolland were 15th and 16th, respectively.

 

Jose Serpa and his mustache finished together in 17th place.

 

Ten riders came in together.

 

Andrew Talansky and Bauke Mollema were in the pack.

 

Jose Joaquin Rojas.

 

Peter Velits.

 

Cyril Gautier and Mick Rogers.

 

Frenchmen Pierrick Federigo and Tony Gallopin look exhausted as they crossed the finish line together.

 

Haimar Zubeldia led teammate Andy Schleck, with Sergey Lagutin.

 

With only one third of the peloton in, the awards ceremony started. Costa was so giddy from his win that he kept jumping up and down on the podium, something I hadn’t seen at the Tour before.

 

Meanwhile, the riders trickled in. Tom Danielson finished with Movistar’s Andrey Amador and Jonathan Castroviejo.

 

Froome was given a new yellow jersey.

 

On the course, Sylvain Chavanel finished.

 

Froome, again, with the polka dot jersey, again.

 

Quintana, the best young rider.

 

Rolland was awarded most combative rider of the day. I had hoped it would go to Hesjedal but I didn’t have access to commentary so I can’t be sure of who rode a longer longer.

Juan Antonio Flecha led in a group of 10 riders.

 

Marcus Burghardt.

 

Laurent Didier and Jens Voigt.

 

The bulk of the peloton finished over 27 minutes after Costa.

 

Peter Sagan.

 

Journalists, team staff, and miscellaneous people crowded the way as the exhausted cyclists forced their way to their respective buses.

 

Clumps of riders crossed the finish line.

 

David Millar and Ryder Hesjedal.

 

The remaining 40 or so cyclists finished the stage.

 

The last of the awards, the green jersey, was finally presented to Sagan.

 

And with that, the day ended.

 

Thank you, Marcus Burghardt! In fact, that’s probably what this post should be titled. Read on and I’m sure you’ll agree.

 

On my way to the start in Gap, I came across the Saxo Tinkoff team bus, so I left a supportive note for my favorite rider on the team, Nick Roche.

 

I continued on and met up with my Belgian friend Fien and her family for her last stage of the Tour. We gave a small gift to our friend Gerrie who sets up the sign on podium daily to thank him for his immeasurable kindness (unfortunately we missed Kevin as he had gone home to the Netherlands with an injury), made a new German friend, greeted my friend Flaurent whose job is to hand out sausage samples, and generally amused ourselves as we waited.

 

In a gesture of sympathy and cycling solidarity, Fien had made me a new banner to replace the autographed sign I accidentally left on the train a few days ago.

 

As the team buses began to arrive, Fien went to say hi to Marcus Burghardt while I stayed put with her parents to guard our real estate. After the time trial yesterday, Marcus said he would try to get her a VIP pass for today, but I was still stunned when she returned with 2 passes for us that gave us entry to the team bus area! We tried to thank Marcus but he was busy in a team meeting.

 

We soon found ourselves standing in front of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step bus, precisely where every single cyclist would have to pass to travel between the team buses and the sign in area. We spent a good couple of minutes simply trying to get over the shock of it all.

 

Peter Velits and Michal Kwiatkowski.

 

We are both big fans of Niki Terpstra and when we asked for a photo together, he happily obliged. Unfortunately, that photo is on Fien’s camera at the moment, so this shot of him examining his bike will have to temporarily suffice.

 

We spotted Lieuwe Westra immediately as he rode towards the podium and got a picture with him when he returned to his bus. I already thought he was really nice when he signed my flag the other day, but now that it was much easier to talk with him since there wasn’t a barrier separating us and it was a more relaxed environment for him, he came across as even nicer, such a good, easy going guy.

 

We geared ourselves up to ask Sylvain Chavanel for a picture, but we both suddenly got shy.

 

My friend and compatriot Svein Tuft stopped to say hi to me and take a photo with Fien, who I have declared an honorary Canadian.

 

I was of course on the lookout for Garmin and Andrew Talansky was the first to ride past. At sign ons, I usually start cheering for my favorite riders as soon as I spot them, but this was clearly a no-cheering zone so I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from calling out to him. I think he’s come to expect to see me in the mornings, so I was delighted he spotted me without me calling out to him. Talansky has been so incredibly friendly every time I’ve met him and today was no different. I showed him Mini Bear’s new Garmin sign and he thought it was pretty cool. It’s clear that the passion he brings to the sport, he carries with him in the rest of his life. I told him how I’ve been enormously impressed with his riding in the Tour and that seemed to mean a lot to him. He thanked me for my support and I thanked him for riding, so we seem to have a good symbiotic thing going.

 

Meanwhile, half the peloton was flowing by my eyes. Kittel and the Argos boys (note the matching haircuts) cruised by while the world champion avoided getting run over by the Lotto car.

 

Fien and I quietly pointed out everyone we saw. Maciej Bodnar and several of his Cannondale teammates went to the VIP lounge right after signing in. I guess Sagan must have finished off the Fruit Loops and they needed some breakfast for today’s monster of a stage.

 

Simon Gerrans was in the midst of a conversation in French with FDJ’s William Bonnet.

 

I made eye contact and gave a small smile when Sergey Lagutin rode by. To my total surprise, he said, “Oh, hi!” so it would seem he recognized me from when I had an Uzbek flag back at the stage 5 start and then stopped on his way back for a quick hello and to take a picture together.

 

I’m not sure what he was doing but Johnny Hoogerland passed us at least 4 times.

 

Everyone’s favorite father of 6, Jens Voigt, elicited cheers from fans on the other side of the fence when he started to ride by. I couldn’t help but call out, “Yay, Jens!” myself and when he turned to wave at me in acknowledgment, he excitedly exclaimed, “Oh, it’s you!” and came to an abrupt stop so we could talk. After a couple of minutes of catching up, a few members of the press asked Jens for an interview and he jovially said, “Can’t you see I’m talking with my friends?” He and the reporter obviously had a good relationship so he eventually acquiesced but not before we wrapped up our conversation.

 

Bart de Clercq and Fien chatted away in Flemish. Her name is on his jersey and he took the time to find it the other night. Unfortunately, he said he didn’t see my chalking in front of the team bus a couple of days ago. I guess I’ve been too subtle–who would have thought?

 

Juan Antonio Flecha recognized me and my Canadian flag from Sunday and he stopped to talk with us for awhile (this time in English), which was great fun.

 

As for the rest of Garmin, David Millar and Dan Martin both said hi and waved back at me while Navardauskas seemed to not at all expected to hear someone call out his first name. It’s been said before that Ryder is a really mellow person, but I think I’ve discovered an inverse relation between the volume of my greeting and the energy level of his response. Maybe next time I’ll just whisper his name. I’m sorry to say I missed Tom Danielson altogether and Jack Bauer was apparently running so late to the sign in that they almost didn’t let him start.

 

Cav warmed up on rollers.

 

Froome, one of the last riders to sign on, was understandably shepherded past everyone.

 

Noticing that it was nearly time for the stage to start, Fien and I bolted towards the waiting cyclists to see if we could find Marcus and thank him again for his thoughtfulness. It was a bit like finding a needle in a haystack but we managed to catch him and let him know how much we appreciated his gesture.

 

We watched the peloton hang out in the remaining minutes before they left to climb Alpe d’Huez an astonishing 2 times.

 

The start.

 

Hopefully you’ve seen today’s mammoth stage by now. In case not, I won’t comment on it other than to say it had me literally on the edge of my seat.

 

Once more won’t hurt: Thanks, Marcus for giving us such an incredible morning!

 

I was extra early to the train station to be on the first train into Chorges this morning, so I took a quick stroll over to Sojasun's hotel and left Brice Feillu some encouragement using my chalk in front of his team bus.

 

When I arrived to Chorges, I picked a spot that let me see the finish line as well as the awards podium. I said good morning to all the guys who work the finish set up and they were pretty surprised to learn I've been taking the train, rather than driving, to follow the Tour. Upon hearing this, one guy offered to see about getting me a VIP pass for the day. It was awfully generous of him, but I passed since I preferred my strategic spot to one that would give me access to snacks and drinks.

 

Fien and her family met me and she and I shared our various Tour stories since we last saw each other in Montpellier. As we talked, a man came over to say good morning to me. I'd seen him several times and we usually just smiled and nodded at each other, but today was different. He asked me how many stages I'd been to, how I was traveling and how Fien and I knew each other. He was clearly impressed and walked away before returning with 2 VIP access cards. I'd seen the VIP bracelets before, but the badges were serious business! We were able to walk on the course and I got a photo on the finish line!

 

When it was time for the main event to begin, Svein Tuft was the first cyclist to go against the clock as he was the lantern rouge (last place). At least this meant he got to be in first place for a little bit!

 

I'm going to resist the urge to post a photo of every cyclist (although I did in fact miss getting pictures of a few of them) and just stick to my favorites and the big names.

 

Gert Steegmans.

 

I was too excited when Jack Bauer of Garmin crossed the line, so my picture taking suffered but the most important thing is that I yelled really (really) loudly for him.

 

Mark Cavendish.

 

David Veilleux.

 

Andre Greipel.

 

Maciej Bodnar.

 

Tony Martin, world time trial champion, silver medalist in the 2012 Olympics, and winner of this year's first time trial in the Tour.

 

David Millar.

 

Ramanus Navardauskas.

 

Marcus Burghardt.

 

Jens Voigt.

 

Peter Sagan.

 

Ryder Hesjedal (again, too excited to focus on getting a good photo).

 

Tom Danielson.

 

Tejay Van Garderen rode a great time trial and I yelled my head off for him.

 

Philippe Gilbert.

 

Nick Roche.

 

Richie Porte (what a tan line).

 

Sylvain Chavanel.

 

Mikel Nieve.

 

Cadel Evans.

 

As Andy Talansky approached the line, he earned 2nd place and I yelled so loudly for him that Fien had to cover her ears.

 

At one point, several consecutive riders set a new fastest time, bumping Talansky further and further back, unfortunately. It's not just that a rider would beat the previous fastest time by a few seconds, he would destroy it, and then the next rider would annihilate it, and the following one would smash it, to the point where I ran out of verbs to describe what was happening.

 

Dan Martin.

 

Nairo Alexander Quintana.

 

Alberto Contador. He and Froome were virtually neck and neck throughout the course and the fans were going crazy. Would Contador pull back a few seconds from overall race leader Froome?

 

Chris Froome.

 

In the end, Froome was the fastest man on the course. It was almost a relief when it was over, there was so much excitement and adrenaline flowing. I was gutted for both Talansky and Van Garderen who had incredible rides but ended up placing ninth and tenth, respectively.

 

I had a good vantage point of the podium but I suddenly realized I could do much, much better. My VIP badge, which I hadn't yet used, gave me access to press areas, so I bolted around the crowd for a couple of hundred meters and made my way to the course entrance/exit. I half expected the police to not let me in but I flashed my badge and they gestured for me to come in. I couldn't believe it. I found myself at the foot of the podium alongside the professional photographs as Froome was presented with his award for winning the stage.

 

Froome left the podium and immediately reemerged, this time to don the yellow jersey.

 

Again, he left and returned to the stage for a final time as the king of the mountains.

 

When Sagan stepped out to receive his newest green jersey, I couldn't help but take a self photo.

 

Quintana as the best young rider.

 

I didn't catch all of the names, I'm sorry to say, but several former cyclists came out to climb the podium together. Far right, Bernard Hinault.

 

Froome's plethora of flowers and latest lion.

 

The jersey winners all gave interviews after their podium time. Not surprisingly, Froome's interviews took the longest.

 

I'm totally astounded every day by the incredible cycling taking place at the Tour de France just as much as the phenomenal experiences and interactions I've been having.

 

It was another long day of waiting several hours in the baking sun for a skinny man in padded shorts with smooth legs to cross the finish line, so obviously I enjoyed myself! And it helps when the finish line crew all recognize me and come over to say hi: the guys who paint the Škoda logo at the finish line, the man dressed up as a giant baguette, the cameraman for France 2…The baguette man in particular is always good to me. He usually gives me my own baguette (everyone else just gets a slice or two) and something special. Today it was this hat which I actually wore since it created a good amount of shade.

 

I will say that while everyone seems to be maintaining a high energy level after 2 weeks of the Tour, the mascots are quickly moving away from G rated behavior and jumping straight into PG-13 and occasionally beyond, which is pretty amusing to watch.

 

I had watched the stage unfold on a giant screen. The peloton had let a big breakaway go clear and the winner was going to be one of those 26 riders. It was exciting to watch the riders in the breakaway launch attacks, especially as 2 Frenchmen were in the lead at one point, much to the delight of the crowd, but in the end Movistar's Portuguese rider, Rui Costa, won by a 42 second advantage. After checking over his shoulder, he let out a deep breath and celebrated well before crossing the finish line all alone.

 

A sprint for second place ensued with AG2R's Christophe Riblon beating 3 others.

 

About 10 more riders crossed the finish line before Nick Roche's group. I couldn't make it out, but he was definitely saying something as he rode through the finish.

 

Johnny Hoogerland.

 

Manuel Quinziato.

 

The yellow jersey coming in.

 

Andy Talansky (right) led in a gruppetto that included Cadel Evans (center).

 

Sylvain Chavanel (right) and his teammate Michal Kwiatkowski (left).

 

It was packed but I managed to squeeze my way in to see Costa on the podium.

 

I stayed to see Froome in yellow (again) before I dashed off to the team buses.

 

I passed Greipel giving an interview.

 

Since the teams leave pretty much as soon as they can these days, I first checked out Garmin for the obligatory waving of the Canadian flag at a bus with darkened windows before moving on to Orica GreenEdge. A couple of the staff remembered me from Montpellier and we talked about what a great Tour the team is having. I said I was also having a great Tour and that I'd got to hang out with Robbie McEwen last week. They said, “Oh, well then you should go say hi to Robbie. He's just over there, talking to Michael Bolton.” I'm not kidding. I don't think I could have come up with a more unexpected statement if my life depended on it. Sure enough, there they both were, talking and signing autographs.

 

Bastille Day didn't get off to the greatest start for me. First I accidentally left my Allez Garmin sign on the train and realized it just in time to see the train pull away and then there was already a huge crowd waiting at the sign in! I did manage to find a place I had a good feeling about. I was disappointed to have lost my sign with its 5 signature, but I'm happy enough just have had the experience of meeting and talking with some of my favorite cyclists and those memories are far more valuable to me than the sign.

 

The day turned itself around in an instant, however. Eddy Merckx was at the sign in and the crowd gave a polite round of applause but for some reason they weren't at all interested in him, which meant he was happy to sign my flag.

 

Today I positioned myself right across from the snack station and before the sign in, hoping to catch cyclists either before the press did or after they'd filled their pockets with calories for the long ride ahead. Below, Jerome Cousins and Thomas Voeckler stock up on Power Bars.

 

My position paid off! I collected another dozen signatures by the time the race started.

 

Fien had been trying desperately to teach me how to say Gert Steegmans' name properly in Flemish. I think my pronunciation was still a bit off but today it was good enough to get his attention and his autograph. I couldn't believe that no one cared about Matteo Trentin, winner of yesterday's stage, but that just made it easier to get him to sign my flag.

 

Marten Wynants seemed relaxed and calm as he autographed my flag.

 

I called out to Marcel Kittel as he headed to the snacks and he gestured he'd come over as soon as he'd finished his shopping. I think I expect sprinters to be flashy and arrogant but Kittel was super nice. I congratulated him on his 3 stage wins and also said I'd seen him win at Scheldeprijs back in April and he kindly thanked me.

 

Lieuwe Westra, whose name is one of my favorite to say in the entire peloton, signed and when I wished him luck because today would be a long day, he just laughed. I spotted his teammate, Juan Antonio Flecha, a little but later and called out to him in Spanish to please sign my flag. He immediately came over and we talked in Spanish while he signed. He asked where I'm from in Canada and when he said he'd never been to Toronto, I promptly invited him to stay with my family. He laughed and said he'd let me know.

 

David Veilleux gave me his familiar smile whenever he rode by and Marcus Burghardt rolled by to ask how I was doing. I congratulated him on doing so well yesterday and wished him luck today.

 

No signatures from my friend Svein Tuft or his Orica GreenEdge teammates, but the team car seemed to have recognized me and gave me an inflatable team guitar. Maybe if I practice enough, I'll be in their next video.

 

The Garmin boys were good to me today! More than just getting signatures, I got to talk with 5 of them. Tom Danielson tends to give an acknowledging nod as he rides by and Ryder Hesjedal did a little wave today as he kept going.

 

Andy Talansky was the first from the team to sign in and he was as happy and chatty as ever. The first thing he said was, “Have you been to every stage so far?!” I told him I was starting all over again in getting Garmin signatures and that the only way I'd get over my heartbreak was to attend the team party in Paris so I'm sure my invitation will arrive any day now. I've got to say, I was a Talansky fan before the Tour but after watching him ride (he was disappointingly close to taking yesterday's stage) and talking with him, he seems amazingly friendly and is someone I'd love to grab a beer with on a sunny afternoon.

 

Navardauskas, who made me work so hard earlier in the Tour to get his autograph, came over without hesitation today and was more talkative than I've seen him in the past.

 

David Millar, a rider I've respected for many years, shot up even further in my book today. Katusha parked their team car right in front of me to pick up food for their team right before Millar came to sign in. He waved when I called to him and I hoped Katusha would have driven off by the time Millar passed me again. No luck, Katusha hadn't moved, but Millar actually asked them to move their car and when they didn't (the guy with the keys had wandered off somewhere), he did his best to ride around the front and awkwardly reached over to sign my flag. I had to ask him not to hurt himself, that's how far out of his way he went to please a fan (again!).

 

Dan Martin seemed to be expecting me and my flag and he seemed incredibly down to earth. He's obviously still feeling great from his stage win last week as he absolutely beamed when I congratulated him on it.

 

The last Garmin rider to sign in was Jack Bauer, who I'm always excited to see. He was so calm and comfortable, you'd be forgiven for thinking he was off to a beach barbecue rather than about to ride up an absurdly steep mountain. When Talansky and I go for our beer, I'll make sure he brings Bauer with him.

 

It had been several days since I'd last seen Sean Kelly but he was here in Lyon today, sporting one of the free hats that is given out en masse daily.

 

Today was expected to be a day for the sprinters. A big breakaway got away early and stayed away. It was a thrilling final few kilometers and even the podium girls came out to watch the race unfold on the screens.

 

The French were going crazy because Julien Simon escaped from the breakaway for a time, but he was gobbled up well before the finish line. From where I was standing, I thought Orica GreenEdge's Albasini had it but Omega Pharma-Quick Step's Matteo Trentin took it. It was incredibly close and I guess I got a little excited because my photos definitely drifted diagonally as they crossed the line. Just look at the effort on those faces.

 

Tejay Van Garderen casually rolled over the line, checking his time on the clock.

 

Trentin and Pierre Rolland headed to the podium to prepare for their awards.

 

The brekaway must have taken a lot out of the riders. Everyone looked gutted as they finished. David Millar and Jens Voigt crossed the line together and they both looked completely spent. Hesjedal was one of the last riders to finish.

 

Trentin mounted the podium for his stage win.

 

He was so excited that instead of getting off the podium and shaking hands with the VIPs when the models left as is the norm, he stayed put and soaked it all in. When he did go to,shake hands, Bernard Hinault had to remind him to see the VIPs on the other end of the stage. It was really sweet to watch him be so excited that he was all turned around.

 

No change in the jerseys today. Froome in yellow.

 

Sagan in green.

 

Rolland in polka dots.

 

Kiatkowski in white.

 

Simon was named the most combative rider for his escape.

We bolted for the team buses after the awards. The days must be taking their toll on the peloton because the buses drive off a little sooner and a little faster after every stage. We found Garmin. Everyone had retreated to the bus but Dan Martin popped his head out to talk with a few Irish guys. I headed to Orica GreenEdge but their bus door was closed. Who should I run into when I turned around but my old friend, Robbie McEwen. I joked that he didn't have to drive me anywhere today since I was planning to take the metro and he laughed. We had a good quick talk and I let him drive off, this time with an empty passenger seat. Omega Pharma-Quick Step was the next bus we hit. There was a small mob on the door side even though the door was closed. I heard a piercing scream and saw that Cav had poked his head out the drivers window to sign an autograph for a woman with a Union flag. When he retreated back in the back, he was laughing like a kid. Europcar was the last bus we visited. They were trying to drive off but couldn't for the pedestrian traffic. I waved my Canadian flag but Veilleux was nowhere to be seen. Arashiro was sitting in the front seat and he waved to me.