Tour de farce

Here’s a question.  What country does the Tour de France start in?  Easy isn’t it…. Belgium apparently.  If my memory is correct, the Tour de France has even popped across le manche and seen a bunch of lycra-clad drug takers pedal their way through a part of the UK.,

All of which is curious.  France is a pretty big country and cycling has lost most, if not all its credibility.  So why are they taking their tour to different countries?  Publicity I suppose.  And if I have noticed, then it must be working.  But all it does is draw attention to a ludicrous event.

Although maybe this year some of those brave Brits will get a bit of publicity – as long as they manage to pass their drugs tests.  I suppose you have to admire the fitness levels of people that can relentless pedal thousands of miles up and down hills and mountains in extreme heat.

But at the end of the day, cycling is a bit like athletics.  No matter how extraordinary the feat of the athlete involved – you wonder what is behind it all.

The extraordinary thing about cycling is how popular it seems to have become.  Wherever you go you will see lycra-clad men and women huffing and puffing their way  up hill and down dale – usually on some expensive piece of kit.  You know the sort of thing… a colour scheme that speaks volumes to those in the know – and a foreign sounding logo that is more expensive the more unpronounceable it seems to be.