The Maillot Orange

The Maillot Jaune is perhaps the most famous single jersey in sports. The sight of it gleaming in the July sun as the cyclist careens along the roads of France is a truly magnificent sight and one that we got to see very close and personal recently.

Le Tour started this year on the northern shores of the English Channel for the first time in history and London treated the cyclists to a truly Grande Depart. More than 3 million people showed up to line the routes of the Prologue in central London on Saturday and the first stage from London to Canterbury on Sunday. It was truly an amazing sight, not least of all watching these incredible men power their bikes at upwards of 40 mph!

We actually volunteered to act as a crowd safety marshal for the Prologue and were rewarded with a truly minted spot. We were stationed in Parliament Square, just across from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and literally in the shadow of Westminster Abbey. Anyone visiting couldn't have missed us in our bright orange tabbards - our own take on the maillot jaune.

Not only was the setting wonderful, but that corner was the first on the course, so the riders came charging out of the start house down Whitehall and then screamed around that corner onto Victoria Street. Let me tell you, they have incredible control of those machines. The angulation and power of going around a sharp corner is phenomenal!

We unfortunately didn't have the camera with us, since they had asked volunteers not to bring personal items like that and we obeyed the letter of the law, however we do have a couple of pictures that a really friendly South African couple took. They are huge cycling fans and we had really enjoyed ourselves by their side chatting to them and watching the racers went charging by.

This was the killer first turn - if you look closely just below the rider's wheels you can see quite a few professional photographers. They got some amazing shots which were splashed out across the papers in the following days showing the amazing angulation of the riders and Big Ben as a backdrop.

Just in front of us was Parliament Square seen here where loads of people sat to watch the big screen.

Thanks Pauline and Etienne for sharing some of your pictures!

We also managed to go into London to see the peloton go by on Sunday, though they were merely ambling past us, as this was the pre-start warm-up area on their way to Greenwich for the real start. Oh well, still neat to see 189 riders go by!

So, we have now partially fulfilled a lifelong dream of seeing the Tour de France in person, now CW wants to dress up like a devil and charge alongside a rider as they grimace and torture their bodies up one of the big climbs in the Alps... maybe next year!