Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Tour de France

The legendary Mont Ventoux (1912 m. high). Petrarca climbed up and described it in 1336. I knew the mountain, dubbed the "Giant of the Provence" ("Géant de Provence") since I followed the "Tour de France". During the Tour the mountain is often called the "Beast of the Provence", as it is the scene scene of one of the most grueling climbs in bike race. In 1967 the British cyclist Tom Simpson died here, a victim of heat exhaustion and amphetamin drugs. Some years later Eddy Merckx collapsed just after the finish. Marco Pantini won the stage in 2000. He only survived for four years and was found dead in a hotel room in 2004. - British author Tim Moore whote a very humrous book about the Tour the France. He just got out his city bike out of the garage and started to find our how dificult is the Tour. His book is titled "French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France". And as the Tour is much harded, than he had expected, he has to find ways to cheat a bit around the mountains.

The "Tour de France" (aka "La Grande Boucle") is the world wide most famous bike race held in France every year in July. It consists of 21 day-long stages and covers about 3.500 kms. To find encouragements, sprayed on to the roads is quite normal. Here somebody supported Julian Alaphilippe, who in 2018 won two stages and the overall mountains classification. So he obtained the polka dot jersey.

Richard I of England (aka "Richard Lionheart") was taken prisoner on his return from the Third Crusade by Leopold V, Duke of Austria. He was imprisoned was imprisoned in Dürnstein Castle and later Trifels Castle and was finally released after Emperor Henry VI had received 100,000 pounds of silver as ransom. During this time his brother John Lackland revolted against him with the aid of Philip II of France. Richard Lionheart, who was King of England and Duke of Normandy had this castle built in record time of only two years from 1196 on. After Richard´s death in 1199 the Château Gaillard was taken in 1204 by Philip II, after a lengthy siege. The castle changed hands several times in the Hundred Years' War, but in 1449 the French king captured Château Gaillard from the English definitively, and from then on it remained in French ownership. Henry IV of France ordered the demolition of Château Gaillard in 1599. .. and during the "Tour de France" the wall of the castle is decorated "with a giant "maillot jaune".

Just like us, the "Tour de France" crisscrosses the "Hexagone" in summer. So from time to time, we notice the "Tour" - and leave the place, to avoid the fast moving crowd.

...the Tour de France had just passed a week or two ago..