After Mark Cavendish crashing out at the very end of Stage 1, today comes the equally sad news that Chris Froome has withdrawn from the Tour de France after crashing twice on today’s Stage 5. There goes Team Sky’s chance of winning the Tour for the third year in a row for the UK.
Poor old Froomey getting into the team car after crashing for the second time. He looks pretty banged up.
Oh well, the cycling will still be fantastic and the scenery wonderful. Allons-y!
To use the words of Big Chris: It’s been emotional. The Tour has finished its three-day sojourn in England—and what a fabulous three days it has been. Stage 3 ended with the first rain shower of the whole period and an exciting chase: Jan Barta and Jean-Marc Bideau were out on their own from the start, Barta right up to the last 8 km with Bideau, and Bideau on his own to the last 6 km, when the merciless peloton finally caught him. Then in a tightly-contested sprint up The Mall, Marcel Kittel won out, his second stage win in three days. Bravo!
The Tour passes through Finghingfield, Essex. Amazing crowds! Photo by PA.
Another view of the Tour passing through Finchingfield. Photo: Tour de France.
During the race, ITV had a brief interview with Danny Boyle, who was in London to watch, and he made the point that the feeling of communities joining in the spirit of the Tour throughout its route is reminiscent of the way the country responded to the Olympic Torch Relay two years ago. He’s so right! The flame passed quite near to us, along the A30 and into Shaftesbury. I didn’t get to to witness it in person, but watched on the live coverage from the BBC vehicle right behind the torch bearer. There were flags and balloons and masses of bunting, and people were really getting into the spirit of it, just as they have over the last three days.
Then a little while after that interview, the Tour passed by the Olympic Park and the Olympic Stadium, which of course reminded me of the fantastic opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle. He mentioned during the interview that Stephen Frears had just made a film about the Tour, and a quick bit of google-fu tells me it’s an as-yet unnamed biopic of disgraced Tour drugs cheat Lance Armstrong.
Merci beaucoup, Tour de France, et revenir bientôt! Photo by PA.
So au revoir to Le Tour, and merci beaucoup. I can’t say enough what a thrill it has been and how proud it has made me to see the Tour de France over the last three days in England. The sun shone, the crowds were massive and the scenery beautiful, all providing a great backdrop to the biggest and best cycle race in the world—and the largest annual sporting event in the world. (I’m not sure how this is calculated—number of participants, duration, number of spectators, number of people who watch it on tv, or a combination of some or all of these?) Christian Prudhomme, the Tour Director, has called the last three days ‘the grandest Grand Départ ever’: what a compliment. I hope the Tour will be back on British shores before too long. We’ve loved having you!
Yesterday’s Stage 2 from York to Sheffield was an exciting watch, through more gorgeous countryside: and the rain held off too, which was a wonderful bonus. I thought the route designers were rather mean putting the Jenkin Road climb right at the very end of the race, but of course the riders were up to it. Vincenzo Nibali put on a great sprint at the end to leave the others behind and take his first ever yellow jersey.
So after two glorious days in God’s Own County, the Tour moves south today to Cambridge, Essex and London.
The start of today’s Stage 3 in my old student stomping ground of Cambridge will provide scenic photo opportunities a-plenty, though the flat ground of the route won’t prove too taxing compared to yesterday’s hilly climbs. The Tour will pass through the picturesque town of Saffron Walden, named after the saffron industry that used to dominate there in the 16th and 17th centuries—fields were full of the pretty purple saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) produced the expensive spice (each crocus has three stigmas, which have to be collected by hand and dried to produce the spice).
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Church Street, Saffron Walden. Photo by Stuart Logan.
Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), with the three long orange stigmas visible. Photo by Kenpei.
On its way into London the Tour will pass the Olympic Park, scene of both the fantastic 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. Then it’s on into the City, ending on The Mall. The Mall is becoming quite a venue for important cycle races: the London 2012 men’s road race started and ended there.
And that will mark the end of the Tour’s three days in England: then it’s back across the Channel for tomorrow’s stage start at Le Touquet.
Such sad news this morning that Cav is out of the Tour after crashing 250 m from the end of yesterday’s stage—the very first of the Tour. I feel so, so sorry for him.
Poor Mark Cavendish slowly cycling to the finish after his crash.
Apart from that miserable end to the day’s racing, yesterday’s Leeds to Harrogate stage was fantastic. I watched the whole thing (much to Chap’s disgust, as it was a beautiful sunny day outside)—but hey, how often does the Tour come to the UK, and when it does, how often does the sun shine? Yorkshire looked stunning, and the aerial shots from the helicopter cameras showed the countryside to its best advantage. The sun shone, the grass was an unreal green, the drystone walls and stone buildings looked chocolate box perfect. Best tourism advertising Yorkshire could hope for! The crowds were amazing, too—estimates are between 1 and 2 MILLION people lining the course. I love the way the people have embraced the Tour with all the fun decorations to the houses and walls and lampposts and fields and sheep—pretty much anything that can be decorated.
Approaching the top of Buttertubs, 5 July 2014. Photo: Le Tour de France.
The Peloton passes through the Yorkshire village of Muker. 5 July 2014. Photo by Owen Humphreys/Press Association.
I’d have loved it if Jens Voigt had won after his brave breakaway, especially as this is his last Tour, but he was reeled in and it all came down to the mad dash into Harrogate, where poor Cav came a cropper and Marcel Kittel won the charge for the line.
Today the Tour carries on its journey through Yorkshire. The stage passes through Haworth and Brontë country, and climbs the splendidly-named Blubberhouses (renamed the Côte de Blubberhouses for the day). My sister and her hubby will be somewhere along the route watching. They thought they would try to get to High Bradfield (Côte de Bradfield in Tour speak) near the end of the stage.
High Bradfield Church and village. Photo by Terry Robinson.
I hope the weather is good today and the rain holds off. Allez!
Watching the first stage of the Tour de France travelling through Yorkshire today reminded me of what I had always thought of as one of the most ‘Yorkshire’ television ads of all time: a young lad pushes his bike up a cobbled hill, on his way to deliver a basket full of Hovis bread loaves, while a brass band plays Dvořák’s New World Symphony (Symphony No. 9). The advert was directed by Ridley Scott in 1973. A few years later he went on to start his movie directing career with The Duellists and then Alien. The advert was voted the nation’s favourite in a poll a few years ago (albeit in a poll of just 1,000 people!).
However, my memory has failed me—I had always remembered it as being voiced by a man with a Yorkshire accent. I think the brass band would certainly have added to the general impression of ‘Northern-ness’. On re-watching it the voiceover is by a man with a West Country accent, and so is perfectly fitting for the location: Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset.
We live in the south-west corner of Wiltshire, so we spend a lot of time in the neighbouring counties of Somerset and Dorset. One of our nearest shopping towns is the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury. 41 years on, Gold Hill is still known as ‘where they filmed that Hovis ad’, and a giant Hovis loaf stands outside the Town Hall, a collecting box for money to go towards the restoration of the Hill. Many of the older buildings in Shaftesbury are built with the green-coloured and well-named greensand stone.
Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, overlooking the Blackmore Vale. 15 June 2014.
The Hovis bread loaf collecting box, outside Shaftesbury Town Hall near the top of Gold Hill.
Shaftesbury Town Hall (right) and St Peter’s Church (left), on Shaftesbury High Street.
There were two other Hovis ads using the same music and a Yorkshireman doing the voiceover, which might help to explain my confusion:
and the first one in this sequence, with a boy walking up a cobbled hill (with his Mum):
Hovis do a nice line in ‘nostalgia’ advertising, and in 2008 they made a fantastic and very moving ad, celebrating 122 years of Hovis and British history:
They get an extra ‘yay’ from me for including the fight for Women’s Suffrage and the miner’s strike, as well as the brave men and women of both World Wars. Four years later Danny Boyle did something similar, but on a far grander scale—but that’s for another blog post!
I’m going to be glued to the box for the next 23 days watching the Tour de France. It’s doubly exciting this year—the Grand Départ and first three days are in England, and Team Sky is going for its third consecutive win for Great Britain. I’m very sad that Bradley Wiggins won’t be competing, but watching Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte and the other Team Sky members supporting defending champion Chris Froome’s bid for the title is going to be gripping, as well as Mark Cavendish riding for Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
The wonderfully-named Buttertubs Pass, which the Tour will climb later on today.
The first two days are through the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. The fantastic ITV coverage of the Tour provides great aerial views of the scenery: armchair travelling through gorgeous sunny lands.
Fingers crossed for the Manx Missile winning the stage and the first yellow jersey today.