TdF 2013 Epilogue

 Some wise thoughts from Chaiman Mick...

Riders of The Illustrious Bunch and Associates!

And so, another Tour de France has come and gone - just like the old, cherished, adventurous and footloose friend who visits infrequently and leaves a sense of vague emptiness, and at the same time relief, at their departure.

One always parties hard with good friends from far away, hanging on every word of their wonderful stories and exploits. There are late nights (and work the next day) and the liquid refreshment flows freely, as does the laughter, frustration and envy of their peripatetic lifestyle - and what might have been, what could have been.

All there on the screen to remind us. Youth, legs like carved walnut, fabulous machinery, breathtaking scenery, speed, danger, a wealth of mangled metaphors from the commentators ('he's thrown a curve ball into the tactics bag', 'Froome has pulled on the Yellow Jumper', 'that rider has arrived at The Tour with a whole lot of silver bullets', 'the team leader is not walking the talk', 'he's throwing caution to the wall', 'I wouldn't mind being a fly on the shoulder when those two riders talk" etc etc) as well as their staggering breadth of knowledge of The Tour route, the chateaux, Gabriel Gate, the idiot in the mankini, a reminder that even the best have a bad day on a climb, is he or isn't he on the juice?, Bernard Hinault on the podium, les belles femmes, and the absolute sportsmanship of the Australians in selflessly handing on the maillot jaune for someone else to have a go (could you ever imagine Voeckler handing the 'yellow jumper' to Valverde?).

 Bye bye Tour old mate, see you next year.