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I rode the Piaggio Beverley 350 straight from work in Staines down to Portsmouth and took the overnight ferry to Le Havre, arriving at dawn on Tuesday 9 July. From there I headed south through Normandy — past Caen and Vire — and pulled into a campsite in Saint-Malo in the early afternoon. Good timing: Stage 10 of the Tour de France was finishing in Saint-Malo that very afternoon — Tuesday's stage, a flat 197km run from Saint-Gildas-des-Bois that ended in a sprint won by Marcel Kittel. I wandered into town and caught the finish, the podium ceremony, and the whole yellow-jersey circus before heading back to camp.
The next morning — Wednesday the 10th — I rode a few kilometres to Beauvoir at the foot of the Mont-Saint-Michel causeway for Stage 11 — a 33km individual time trial from Avranches finishing at the mount. I watched riders come past all morning before heading out to different points along the route, then made it back for the podium. Tony Martin won it, setting a time no one could touch. The atmosphere was electric: Norwegian flags for Edvald Boasson Hagen, crowds packed along the causeway road, the Tour caravan blaring through in a riot of colour beforehand. Mark Cavendish was there in the green points jersey, surrounded by cameras at the finish.
The following day, Thursday, I headed north via Dinard and Dinan, stopping the night in Bayeux — where I visited the CWGC cemetery in the morning before heading to Ouistreham for the evening ferry back to Portsmouth.
Places Visited
- Saint-Malo, France — campsite base, Stage 10 sprint finish
- Beauvoir / Mont-Saint-Michel, France — Stage 11 time trial
- Bayeux, France — overnight stop
- Bayeux War Cemetery, France
Stats
| Dates | Monday 8 – Friday 12 July 2013 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 5 days |
| With | Solo |
| Distance | ~1,000 km |
| Countries | UK, France |
| Route | Staines → Portsmouth → Le Havre (overnight ferry) → Caen → Saint-Malo → Beauvoir/Mont-Saint-Michel → Bayeux → Ouistreham → Portsmouth (evening ferry) → home |
| Transport | Piaggio Beverley 350 |
| Temperature | 14–25°C |
Photos
