The Tour de France in the Indre

We missed the Tour de France the last time it passed through the Indre in 2008 - Mark Cavendish won the stage as I remember, so this year we were determined to be there. Along with a group of British friends, we decided to go and wave the flag(s) - literally! We planned a picnic near the spot and duly set off. The picnic was a very civilised affair which lasted a couple of hours and drew lots of toots from French drivers passing by.

After lunch we made our way to Ecueille to take up a position just outside the town. The publicity caravan came through first throwing all sorts of stuff out

Eventually, the cyclists themselves came through - a group of 4 leading and then quite a gap before the main group. John managed to get a snap of Mark Cavendish who was at the back of the HTC team then they were gone!

There were lots of helicopters buzzing overhead, and then we saw them circling about a kilometre away. We since learned that there was a crash (and I'm not surprised really, as they were so closely bunched together!) and unfortunately, Bradley Wiggins sustained a broken collarbone. I hope it doesn't spoil his chances to defend his Olympic title next year.

When we got back to Chris and Julia's house we turned on the TV to watch the end of the race and were pleased to see Mark managed to win the stage - well done!