One month from today, on June 29, the 100th running of the Tour de France bicycle race will start in Corsica. Toward the middle of July the race will come through the Saint-Aignan area. Old friends of ours from Illinois will be here the same weekend (July 14 — Bastille Day).
I had visions of the peleton coming through our village and then through Saint-Aignan on its way from Tours down to Saint-Amand-Montrond, south of Bourges, on Friday July 12. Our village and both towns are on the Cher River. But it is not to be.
The route, now announced, goes a little further south. The peleton will ride through Azay-sur-Indre, Genillé (both near Loches), Montrésor, and Ecueillé on its local track. Those will be the towns closest to Saint-Aignan — 12 to 15 miles south of us — on the 2013 Tour de France route.
A couple of years ago the Tour de France rode through the nearby village of Orbigny, where American friends of ours have a house. We went there and sat by the road to watch the cyclists and support vehicles ride by. To see the blog posts, with photos and video, click here.
And here's the 2013 Tour de France web site in English
Walt just clicked the link above and told me out he could not find graphic descriptions of the different tour stages there. Click this link, then, to see graphics like the one at the right, listing each stage and the towns and villages the race will run through.
And here's the 2013 Tour de France web site in English
Walt just clicked the link above and told me out he could not find graphic descriptions of the different tour stages there. Click this link, then, to see graphics like the one at the right, listing each stage and the towns and villages the race will run through.
You know you have been reading a blog for a long time when you remember them writing about two previous Tours.
ReplyDeleteWait till my husband hears this! Genille used to be one of his favorites in that area. We used to stay at a great B&B near Azay sur Indre and love the whole area north and east of Loches, especially along the Indre.
ReplyDeleteWow! Such fun! (Even without Lance and with that whole thing kind of clouding the whole Tour for me, anyway.)
ReplyDeleteYou have an intruder or a troll
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Le Tour for the first time a few years ago, I really got into bike racing. Sadly, that's the ONLY race we get to see in the US.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy bicycling and especially enjoy it when I get to see the TdF on TV. My daughter's boyfriend is an avid cyclist and he's able to download the races(US) by watching it on steephill.com. There is a bit of difficulty getting to the right part of the site - I've had trouble - but maybe you can figure it out Starman! Bonne Chance!
ReplyDeleteThat's IN THE US! He also watches the European races: Belgique, Paris-Roubaix, Italia. He gets up VERY early to see those!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary!! I found the site but it's not the easiest to navigate. After I play with it for awhile, it should be okay.
ReplyDelete