La Basse Cour: Le Tour at Redon

One of the big events the blog missed during its absence was the arrival in Brittany of the Tour de France at Redon for a stage finish on 4th July.

We got to the town at about 2pm, there was great organisation and easy parking and we were able to walk the last three km of the course before taking up station on the inside of the final corner – a 90 degree left turn 500m from the finish opposite a fixed camera position. We unveiled our Union Flag; it was sunny and blisteringly hot and the crowds were huge, some Brits and Aussies around but mostly French locals. The caravane was the usual mad mixture of French brand advertising plus, for some reason, the sapeurs-pompiers in three cars advertising the jobs they had available.

Here's a box of salted snacks on wheels ....... very French !

Following the excitable commentary in French on the loudspeakers was a challenge but I managed to get the story of the breakaway that was charged down by HTC, the excitement in the crowd mounted as the last gendarmes roared through and then the TV helicopters came into view and finally a vast roar from the crowd as a blur of cyclists shot past riding unbelievably quickly. You may have seen the coverage – this was the stage where Mark Cavendish nearly came off on the last (our) corner and trailed in fifth, Tyler Farrar won for Garmin and the US on the 4^th July and a Cofidis rider did a spectacular somersault 10m away from us (we never saw it in the melee). It was chaotic on the course afterwards and, although we got the result on the loudspeakers it was only afterwards that we pieced together the story of what happened via the ITV4 coverage although, despite the camera shot panning across us and going through frame by frame, the speed was so great you can't see us or the flag ...... :o(

Anyway here are some of our pictures:

Geraint Thomas leading the peloton into the final corner trying to set up the win for Edvard Boasen-Hagen of Sky