Hoeraaaaaaaaa!

Robbie Hunter het vandag die 11e skof van die Tour de France in Montpellier gewen - dis sy (asook Suid-Afrika) se eerste skof-oorwinning, en Barloworld se tweede.
Vermoedelik gaan hy ook die eerste Suid-Afrikaner wees wat die Groen Trui wen.

Ek weet nie hoeveel generasies van Suid-Afrikaners het gedink soiets is onmoontlik nie, maar vandag het alles verander.


[3 Aug: Robbie het toe net-net nie die groen trui gewen nie, maar Team Barloworld het oor die algemeen 'n ongelooflike Tour gehad deur 2 skofte asook die King of the Mountains trui te wen. Juan Mauricio Soler is sekerlik die span se groot hoop om in die toekoms die algehele oorwinning te behaal, en niks sal my gelukkiger maak nie. Hy lyk uiters komieklik op 'n fiets (asof daar 'n afleweringsmandjie voor op sy fiets behoort te wees, volgens een kommentator) en hy's bitterlik skaam, maar bowenal lyk dit of hy meer verras is met sy prestasies as die res van ons.]

Team Barloworld

Juan Mauricio Soler van Barloworld het vandag die 9de skof in die Alpe gewen. Hy's ook tans tweede in die King of the Mountain klassifikasie en, saam met 'n ander Barloworld-ryer, onder die top 5 ryers onder 25.
Robbie Hunter is steeds derde in die punte-afdeling - wat beteken hy't 'n goeie kans om die groen trui te wen.

Tour de France 2007, Stage 1 - London to Canterbury

Robbie Hunter se span voor die Millennium Wheel. Ek het gehoop dis hy in die middel, maar nadat ek al die scars op sy knieë met dié ou s'n vergelyk het, moet ek aanvaar dis iemand anners.

Kyk hier na al die foto's van Team Barloworld.

Allez Tour de France!

You would have had a hard time deciding what to do this past weekend, what with Wimbledon, Live Earth, the British Grand Prix, Henley Regatta and the Tour de France all happening in or near London.
Being spoilt for choice is, of course, what makes this city great. And even though it can take me an hour to decide which cereal to buy, the choice for me this weekend was an easy one. It couldn’t have been anything but the Tour de France. I’ve been watching it on TV for years and, as some of you may know, once you’ve watched a Tour on TV, you’re hooked. It’s probably a good way of learning what it’s all about, but to then experience it in real life, on our doorstep, was a rare opportunity.
It’s a great honour to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France and London truly pulled it off. The whole weekend was spectacular – helped greatly, perhaps, by the fact that Summer 2007 also fell over those two days.
Watching the Tour in real life usually means hanging around for hours, only to see the cyclists whizz by in two seconds (or less). So the main thing is really to soak up the atmosphere – and, with well over a million spectators travelling to the event, there was plenty.
I was fortunate enough to be let into the village départ (begging will get you everywhere!), which is where you can watch the cyclists as they’re warming up.
Even watching them do all the work can be quite exhausting, so I wandered over to where the VIPs hang out and where the corporate entertaining takes place. Scoffing muffins and slush puppies to recuperate, I caught a contortionist act by two dead ringers for the Cheeky Girls. It would be fair to say I could probably ride the 7.9km time trial prologue route in under nine minutes before I could ever do what they did. It looked positively excruciating.
I never dreamt that I would see the Tour in real life (kidding – of course I did!). Or that, when I finally did, a South African rider (Robbie Hunter) would be leading one of the teams (Team Barloworld). And so, last week, I wrote in a column for this paper that it would be a crying shame if there were no South African flags along the prologue route. But I needn’t have worried. I met a group of Saffas, with a flag, who told me the Union Jacks were far outnumbered by our flag.
Robbie, the first South African to ride and finish the Tour, also mentions this in his online diary, saying: "The other thing that was great was the amount of SA flags flying around the roads.
I heard London was half South African, but now I really believe it.
Let’s hope the support carries on throughout the Tour all the way to Paris."

You can read Robbie’s Tour diary at www.robbiehunter.net.

(SA Times, 9 July 2007)

What would Jesus do?

...as hy moes kies tussen agter-die-scenes toegang tot die Tour de France of die grootste konsert in die wêreld?

Hy sou natuurlik 'n bietjie van albei doen. Want hy kan!

En ek sou ook kon, vermoed ek, maar ek het die Tour de France gekies. En as jy hierdie storie gelees het, sou jy dalk verstaan hoekom. Dit kom daarop neer dat ek werklik nie 'n keuse gehad het nie. Madonna se ma, basies.

'n Paar Tour de France-toevallighede:

Ek het met Elizma, redakteur van die SA Times, se hulp 'n press pass gekry vir die Tour de France. My motivering (vir die organiseerders) was dat ons die eerste keer 'n Suid-Afrikaans-geborgde span in die Tour het, en dat Robbie Hunter 'n inspirasie is vir Suid-Afrikaners, ens.
Ek het intussen probeer om hom in die hande te kry, maar wag nog vir 'n antwoord.
Omdat ek hierdie naweek net gaan Tour de France, moes ek van my Live Earth kaartjies ontslae raak. Die eerste persoon wat op my advertensie reageer het, se naam is Robbie Hunt - wat my aanvanklik effens verwar het.

Ek het ook besluit om 'n langer lens te huur as die kit-lens wat ek het. Ek kry toe 'n plek op die internet, en toe ek dit gaan optel, is dit in die gebou waar die SA Times eers was.

Dit klink miskien nie soooo toevallig nie, maar dit IS.