Stephen Branley's photos with the keyword: Tour de France

Some interesting people pass by when you're waiting for the race to come into view. The gendarme on the right is a member of 'Les Groupes d'Investigation Cynophile'. They are part of the Departmental Gendarmerie, where they are officially attached to the gendarmerie's surveillance and intervention platoons. The Cynophile Investigation Groups are made up of at least three Gendarmerie career staff, all dog masters. The Cynophile Investigation Groups were created in regions where a request for police intervention was superior to the capabilities of the dog masters present in the Gendarmerie's surveillance and intervention platoons. Unlike the latter, these gendarmes perform only missions where the dogs must be employed, they will not then do roadside surveillance, investigations or any other activity specific to gendarmes. Amongst other tasks they search for narcotics, weapons, ammunition & explosives. The Cynophile Investigation Groups consist of two dogs per gendarme, and one for the unit commander. All members of these units are NCOs. They then all received continuous training at the National Dog Training Center of the Gendarmerie1. Oh and just in case the dog's not enough, he has an automatic weapon...

Early morning shot of the finishing straight 150m from the line...

Setting up ready for the interviews...

My Janice watching Team INEOS on the big screen 75m from the finish line during Stage 12 in Bagnères-de-Bigorre. We spent 5 hours down there and the big screens up and down the finishing straight kept us in touch with the race...

It was a crush and it would've been better if they were on the other side of the road, but Simon Yates leaves Gregor Mühlberger (almost in shot on the left), and the impressively named Pello Bilbao López de Armentia, trailing in his wake 75 meters from the finish of stage 12 here in Bagnères-de-Bigorre...

Straining every sinew, is Rui Costa of UAE-Team Emirates...