The scenery is stunning today and I can’t wait to spend a lot of time in this area.

Anyone not crying. Fabulous stage.

Raymond Poulidor (who died in 2019) was certainly crying in the afterlife because it is his grandson who is now wearing the yellow jersey. Poulidor is known as the "eternal #2" in France because that was his place during his entire career due to the fabulous Belgian Eddy Merckx. Mathieu van der Poel has cycling in his blood because he was born in Belgium with a champion Dutch cycling father (Adrie van der Poel) and the daughter of Raymond Poulidor. He is hoping to compete in the Tokyo Olympics in the cross country bike event, but he won't have time to train for it because of the Tour de France.

Amazing stage, and yes, I was crying! Such emotion and love for his sport and grandad's legacy. I love Alaphilippe, but I imagine he was OK giving up the yellow jersey to Pou Pou's grandson. God I love this sport!

Another catastrophic day for injuries -- the Tour is becoming very dangerous but is it because of the riders, their bosses or the organizers?

When you have 180 athletes on bicycles on local roads at 30 MPH a few inches from each other, not having accidents is the miracle.

It was really bad today. The face of that one rider as he slid across the pavement.

One of the major suggestions is to eliminate the radio earpieces. They are telling the riders what to do as though they are robots -- and all this from greedy creeps who can't even see the actual road conditions.

Spotters like a car race. That sucks.

Not an enjoyable race to watch, although the race passed through some lovely looking towns. We were relieved to hear this morning that Caleb Ewan only has a broken collarbone in 4 places, and that Geraint Thomas had a dislocated shoulder that they managed to put back in on the side of the road. We were expecting much worse news. Hope the riders who have had to abandon the race recover quickly.

The Tour de Demolition Derby.

Bravo for that little protest they just did. Some are bandaged like mummys due to road rash.

It's a relief not to see them killing each other today. Of course the final 3 minutes are the test.

They think they woman may have fled the country. That seems clearly illegal to me, to do something that causes serious harm/injury to others. In the US, seems like there would be laws that covered that even if under negligance, etc., and that it wasn't intentional. It was a deliberate action that was patently dangerous and caused massive injuries to others. Aside from criminal law, clearly one could be sued in civil court. I think she was German given the sign or else Dutch/Flemish. I suppose could be from Alsace region. Given what she was wearing, she sure got away quickly without being detected.

So happy that no crashes today and at the result! [which I won't mention in case it's spoiler for anyone]

Regarding the crashes, Chris Boardman, who at the time he was riding the Tour was that very rare breed, an English stage winner, told us today that he had a formula for reducing the number of crashes - go slower and keep more distance between the cyclists.

As he then said, that ain't going to happen.

Cheers to Cavendish! I'm not his biggest fan, but it was a great win today for a rider who thought his career was over.

“This race has given my life to me,” an emotional Cavendish said. “And I’ve given my life to the Tour.”

Can he possibly match Eddie Merckx's record? There are enough chances left in this Tour...

It was good to see a stage without all the crashes. We have enjoyed the four days in Brittany. One of the things we love about visiting France is the differences you see in the villages and buildings from one region to the next. We saw some wonderful churches and chateaux over the four days. The day from Tours to Chateauroux should be full of chateaux.

We are looking forward to some of the coming days when they will pass through areas we have stayed in and visited. Cheska, you must be excited to see some views of Nimes again in a few days.

With the time trial next, here's hoping the injuries do not take a toll.

rhon I am excited to see the part of France that brings back so many wonderful memories. We have been impressed with Brittany also, as that will be part of the next trip. We will probably apply for a six month visa and spend three months in Brittany, and the rest around Strasbourg.

Looking forward to everyone having a safe TT.

So much heart so far in this race!:love: I don't think I've ever been so emotional over this bike race. I love it when the riders have grace and passion when they win, the ones for whom the wins really mean something, not just "yeah, I won and I deserved it..." What a great moment for Cav, who has had a lot of adversity and didn't know if he'd ever get back to the Tour. And for Mathieu, as well. Who knows? Maybe Julian could pull off yellow this year??? Although I have to say, my heart still would like to see Primoz get his reward this year. That crash was such bad luck for him.

We are headed to Colorado for 5 nights to escape the 4th of July noise, and won't have TV, so I will be taking a bit of break from the board as we will watch the race when we get back! I'm enjoying chatting with everyone about it. And having been to France several times, I have NOT been to Brittany and wow, I can't wait to visit that part of my favorite European country.
A bientot!

"The woman" has been identified and arrested. She is in Brittany.