The hallowed Tour De France, hit the road in the rain in Rotterdam this afternoon with an 8.9 km individual time trial prologue through the city and over the Erasmus Bridge. Geez EVERY time we go to watch a cycling event in Holland it rains. That’s TWICE now. But it never stops Le Tour fanatiques. The announcements and commentary are in French and Dutch so Sean and I, being bilingual, interpret the entire commentary for each other fluently (I’m slightly exaggerating).
There are nearly 200 cyclists at the start and they head off at 1 minute intervals. When we hang over the metal barriers we see the motorcycle precede the aerodynamic cyclist who surges past in a blur followed by the team car. We hear necks snapping as fans twist to keep their eyeballs on the blur.
We stroll up and down the barrier fences imagining that there will be a viewing platform waiting just for us with a birds eye view of the entire proceedings. Not to be. There is lots of restricted space for privileged people who wear white panama hats and VIP lanyards and shelter under fancy white carnival tents with drinks and glassware and seats. We join the mirth and merrymaking with the other common people in one of the “People Villages” that has big screens televising the race, pop up bars with plastic cups and food outlets. You can get patat met mayo (French fries with mayonnaise) or broodje Unox (a bread roll with a microwaved sausage and sauce). There’s a few Australian’s about and they cheer Rogers and Evans. But nothing can match the shrieking Dutch when a Rabobank rider shoots past. This is atmosphere, along with helicopters overhead, fans attired in fanwear which is sometimes cycling niks and jerseys, Rotterdam’s gleaming buildings covered in famous quotes by cycling greats, free yellow caps and security personnel on segways.
Well done Fabs- the World time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara won the race against the clock in 10 minutes flat. Lance came 4th fastest and Sean was happy with the “solid times” of Rogers 14th fastest and Cadel 23rd fastest. Many hours of television will occupy Sean for the next 3 weeks as Le Tour continues.
Sean’s Predictions for the General Classification: Maillot Jaune: Contador, Armstrong @ 2.53minutes, Evans @ 5 minutes.
Catherine’s Guess: Maillot Jaune: Rogers, Contador @30 sec’s, Evans @ 7 minutes.
The other massive sporting event that is happening in the Netherlands s at the moment is the World Cup football which is taking place in the pub next door to our apartment, not South Africa as widely believed. The Dutch are crazily yet courteously patriotic. They stick to an orange dress code, squash into pubs to watch the game , yelp passionately at regular intervals and toot car horns excitedly for hours after a win, but are always so happy and peace loving about it. There is no aggro to be seen. It’s an infectious enthusiasm. I hope they get to the final. Hup Holland Hup!
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