Weekly Photo Challenge: Victory (#2)…victory on le Tour

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you’ll know that my husband loves cycling and we both love watch bike racing, in particular, the Tour de France.  Despite all the drug usage and Lance’s nose-dive from fame, the fact that anyone can complete this race is a miracle in itself.  Cheating, in one form or another, has been taking place since the race began, when some riders took a bus for part of the trip!  There are now riders who pledge that they’re riding clean.  Understandably, thanks again to Lance, many are skeptical of this, but I hope it’s true.  Once you understand bike racing even a bit, it becomes a fascinating sport to follow, particularly when the long hours are enlivened and enlightened by the knowledgeable announcers.

Last year, my husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to be in France during the time of the Tour.  Even better, we were able to be at the end of one of the stages.  It seems funny, even weird, that people would gather for days just to see cyclists whiz past in a matter of seconds, but that’s all part of the fun.  We hiked up over 7km, the end of which had the steepest grade, even including all the mountain stages, of the entire race, just to reach our vantage point 25m from the finish line.  We also sat or stood out for hours for this privilege.  The weather was terrible and we had a blast!  We’d do it all again in a heartbeat, this time hoping for better weather and maybe catching the end of a sprint stage.

Here’s a photo of the winner of the stage and, ultimately, the entire race, Vincenzo Nibali.  This flat bit was at the end of well over a hundred kilometers AND that last, terrible climb.  The cost is written on Nibali’s face.  But the victory is worth the cost.