We were up at 4:30 on the Sunday morning Le Tour de France was due to buzz through Leran. Back in Colorado, that gave us about an hour cushion, just in case we computed something wrong. We had the computer all set up, ready to stream it live on the internet, hoping to see familiar faces in the cheering crowd.
4:30 am came and went and no Le Tour de France was streaming live. Instead, some NASCAR-like British auto race was blaring away. Still auto racing at 5:00, 5:30, 5:45. At about 5:47, they award the gold-plated cup and switched to Le Tour de France.
The only thing was, that by 5:47 am (that's about 1:47 pm Leran time) Le Tour had just passed through Leran. That's right, when live action streaming joined Le Tour, the peleton was about 2 km past Leran.
When we arrived in Denver for our flight to France a few weeks after Le Tour, we learned from Doug's sister Peggy that their dedicated cable TV channel (VERSUS) also denied the entire United States from seeing Le Tour de France in Leran.
It is only because of our good Leranaise friend, Julian Gray, that we can imagine the excitement in the village that day. He hauled his step ladder over to the corner across from le boulangerie, climbed to the top for a bird's-eye view, and clicked away.Thank you, Julian, for documenting an historic moment.
3 comments:
I am happy to see those photos. That must have been amazing for the town. Vive le tour.
Now that's an idea...a ladder. I love these pictures. It is hard to imagine the boys, as Phil Liggett calls them, naviigating that turn and I would have loved to see it. From the looks of it, Leran would have been a perfect viewing spot because they couldn't come around those corners too fast. There's always next year, Doug and Nancy.
Merci Julian pour les photos, tres interesant. ( How is that for some bad French?)
Amy
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