The Peleton July 17, 2011

Le Tour de France is over and the Aussies are well into celebrating the long-awaited victory of Cadel Evans. I thought I'd post this video of the peleton wizzing by just to give you a sense of the fleeting nature of Le Tour when watched from the roadside. On television, the camera pans the peleton and follows it along the road for miles at a time. There is a difference. Stage 15 started in Limoux on Sunday, July 17. By the time it reached St. Hilaire, 10 km away, a small breakaway pack of 5 had emerged. The peleton took less than 15 seconds to pass us. After all the support vehicles and gendarmes had also moved on, the crowd dispersed. "Is that all there is? Is it really over?" Amy questioned in disbelief. An hour+ driving there, an hour's wait for the publicity caravane, an hour's wait after the publicity caravane, then 15 seconds of peleton. Worth it? You bet. The real motivation was knowing that afterwards we were having lunch at Chez Marie's La Table Cathar in Fanjeaux---cassoulet et chevre chaud. Le Touring so works up an appetite.