Le Tour de France - coming our way?

Le Tour, speeding through the nearby village of Bessan

Another week and details of the route for Le Tour de France will be unveiled.  October 24 is the day chosen for the announcement and aficionados and the general public alike wait with bated breath, hoping the tour will pass through their town or village.  If it does it makes for such a carnival day, waiting for the Tour to pass.  The excitement of the 'caravan', with all the helpers throwing publicity goodies to the crowds lining the streets and roads and then, whooosh!  There they are, and then they're gone!  Beautiful.

Whilst everyone is tight-lipped about the exact route the tour will take, some details have already been announced.  Certainly there was an official announcement that for the very first time, to coincide with the race's 100th edition, the starting point will be in Corsica, with the start date of Saturday June 29 2013.

There will be three stages on the island, including some strenuous mountain climbs, after which the cyclists and all the entourage take the ferry to mainland France.
Once landed, we're hoping that once again the tour will pass near Margon, as it has on many occasions recently - nearby Roujan and Pézenas being favourites.

Of course, for our British tourists Le Tour now has an added dimension, following the success of Team Sky in 2012, particularly with the overall Tour winner Olympic star Bradley Higgins and his close team mate Mark Cavendish.  It was amazing last year to see so many union flags lining the route, wherever the tour passed. 

We're hoping for another successful year for the UK team and fingers crossed they will pass near us.  This is the world's the world's biggest cycling event, one not to be missed.