Professional Cycling - Well done London!....

...and the UK. Not one usually prone to outbursts of patriotic pride, I thought that this years Tour has had a fantastic start in the UK. I went up to London for the prologue and the atmosphere was great; it certainly helped that the sun was well and truly out for the first time in ages, and that there were a handfull of Brit riders to cheer on.

The massive, mobile circus that is the Tour and entourage, is the apex of organization, as it decamps and sets up the whole show, daily, across Europe. Closing part of the city for 2 days is no mean feat, especially as there were the Wimbledon finals, and the Live Earth show at Wembley, both on Saturday, but the turnout was huge and very enthusiastic. The security and facilities were great and it was pleasantly surreal to see Gendarmes directing traffic around the route and speeding past on their motorbikes during the time trial!

"It was a colossal popular success. It is not possible for us not to return". Christian Prudhomme - quoted in the Guardian.

2012 Olympics - bring it on!! (but please, please change that damn logo!..check out the Tour de France graphics..that's a logo!!).

I only watched it online but I agree, it was a fantastic start and was very well run. I hope they do return soon to London, it was exciting to watch.

One question: what has been the reaction of people there in the UK? Is everyone talking about the TDF at work? Do you think it got more people excited about it and cycling than usual?

Have to admit, I was skeptical about a prologue/stage 1 in the UK...but wow, the crowds looked amazing. And the organizers couldn't have asked for better weather.

Ditto to dh's question regarding the buzz around the Tour. (what other major sporting events are occuring around this time over in the UK? F1 racing?)

Would have been a crazy weekend in London - Live Earth concert in Wembly, TdF in London and Wimbledon?!?

Wimbledon is a long way from Wembley which is a long way from the West End which is a long way from Silverstone

Missed home so much this weekend that I'm flying home tomorrow and I'm packing the bike.

Good old Blighty

I heard that around 3/4 of a million people lined the route from London to Canterbury. And I have to say after watching it live, there seemed more spectators lining the route in England it than in today's French stage. As for a knock on, I don't know. Every July around the tour you seem to see more people in Lycra out on the road, but I don;t know if they're always there and you just notice them more.

I heard that around 3/4 of a million people lined the route from London to Canterbury. And I have to say after watching it live, there seemed more spectators lining the route in England it than in today's French stage. As for a knock on, I don't know. Every July around the tour you seem to see more people in Lycra out on the road, but I don;t know if they're always there and you just notice them more.

A shorter stage, and especially TT's, will always have "deeper" spectators lining the streets. A 100+ mile stage might have sections with zero people or one-two people deep because it's long and full of boring, eventless riding.

But getting back to the question for Londoners: what has been the buzz around the UK? Are more people interested this year than previously? Is it getting them excited about cycling?

Wimbledon is a long way from Wembley which is a long way from the West End

Wembley is only 7.5 miles away from Serpentine Road. Wimbledon is only 8 miles away from the time trial route. I wouldn't say that is a long way with three major events happening in the same city, less than 10 miles away from each other, all on the same day. Especially with all the road closures with the tie ups with the Tour.

^^ I hear you but having lived in Wembley and Wimbleldon and worked in the West End for 20 years I can assure you that 8 miles in London is a long way!

Still a great effort by the City - very proud, wish I'd been there.

^^ I hear you but having lived in Wembley and Wimbleldon and worked in the West End for 20 years I can assure you that 8 miles in London is a long way!

Still a great effort by the City - very proud, wish I'd been there.
True, true. I lived in Queen's Park for a few years and 8 miles can be a stretch. Big kudos to London for pulling off a few major events all on one weekend. Great practice for the Olympics coming up as well.

I still can't believe I missed the Tour in England. When I was living in London, I took a trip over to France to watch the Tour live (L'Alpe D'Huez stage) and went and watched Paris-Roubaix as well. If only I stayed for a few more years...

I only watched it online but I agree, it was a fantastic start and was very well run. I hope they do return soon to London, it was exciting to watch.

One question: what has been the reaction of people there in the UK? Is everyone talking about the TDF at work? Do you think it got more people excited about it and cycling than usual?

During the build up to the prologue I noticed a lot of drivers on the road were a bit nastier. Drivers in Britain don't like their roads being closed off for cyclists and I think the prospect of cyclists taking over made quite a few drivers angry.

After the success of the two days, though, I've noticed a dramatic change in attitude from a lot of drivers - room being given to me on the road and drivers not blowing their horns at every opportunity. Don't know how long this will last though. Inviting the Tour to Britain was part of our mayors plan to increase commuting in London to 6-million journeys per day by 2010 (10 times more than it is currently). I for one hope it works, though it will take a lot more than having the Tour here. London's infrastructure needs to change to accommodate more cyclists.

People in general seem to be more interested in cycling since the Tour was here - a few have taken an interest in what has happened with the Tour since leaving British soil. Still, no one in my workplace but me is commuting by bike. A couple of people in my building who do commute by bike, however, have taking things one step further and will be participating in mass start events this summer.

Would have been a crazy weekend in London - Live Earth concert in Wembly, TdF in London and Wimbledon?!?
Have to say, it was crazy at Le Tour, don't know about anything else. Although the organizers of Wimbledon complained that their numbers were down as everybody was watching the cycling :) :) (hey idea - perhaps they should take some of the millions of £ they get each year through TV, Blue Chip sponsorship, crowds etc and invest it in a coaching program that turns out successful athletes :eek: ) .

Any way brilliant 2 days - police estimate was 3.5 - 4 Million people on the route :)
On the prologue I was stood between a racer from Texas who'd brought his family over, some casual cycling fans and non cyclist who were just interested and excited by the event

On the 1st stage I took a mate who although a keen cyclist had never seen a bike race before (amazingly such people do exist ;) ) - he had a great day and described the finish of the 1st stage as 'like sex' !
Oh yeah.....:D

A fantastic two days all in. Went down on Sat with my GF who also loved it. Even my ageing Mum went down on her bike! The atmosphere on Sunday was also good watching the event on the big screens in Hyde Park. Well done London!

Cool! Good to hear that it's having some lasting effect. Even if it only reaches 1% of the kids, that can make a big diff.

Too bad it won't ever start in the U.S. ;)

I read somewhere recently that they recently (or maybe not so recently, I can't remember) mooted starting it in New York, but the logistics of getting everything back to France was just too great. A shame really, can you imagine a New York prologue?

Yeah, everybody would be pissed off that they closed the streets.

I read somewhere recently that they recently (or maybe not so recently, I can't remember) mooted starting it in New York, but the logistics of getting everything back to France was just too great. A shame really, can you imagine a New York prologue?

Quebec City wanted the prologue as well for a big anniversary - I believe it might have been this or next year.

Seriously, though, what city would want next year's tour start now?