As mentioned in this latest blog post series, I headed over to the start of the 2015 Tour de France to capture the first four stages. Having juggled with the idea of renting a car, I finally decided to cycle the first weekend, covering 700km in the process. My journey began in Germany where I then cycled 200km to the start line in the Dutch city of Utrecht (stage 1). The following day was a similar day on the bike for me (stage 2), before I made the final push down to Antwerp for the start of Stage 3.Fatigued from three big days, I jumped on a train after leaving Antwerp and headed for the French border. Stage 4 would be my final stage of the Tour and arguably the most anticipated, for it would career along pavé sectors, through farmers fields along the route. Pavé, or cobbled stones, had featured in the 2014 edition with wet weather making the stage a deciding factor for many of the hopeful winners. The cyclists were praying for an uneventful stage this year, or at the very least a dry one.Having all of my belongings stored at a nearby campsite, I set of on the route myself hoping to cycle these famous lanes. Despite the initial adrenaline rush, these roads are pretty awful. Your bones rattle along for many kms, with you silently praying for no punctures or mechanical issues. It’s always a colourful stage of the Tour and below is a few images from the day.With torrential rain descending directly after the days finish, this marked the end of my four days on the Tour. The pavé seemed a good place to bow out so I jumped on a train South the following morning. I’ve been pushing a lot for the barriers between athlete and documenter to break down with some of my running work and I feel that this weekend briefly touched on the same idea with cycling. Of course, the Tour riders are in a completely different league to myself but The 700kms that I pedalled meant that I really worked for these shots. 
Leave a Reply