Le Grand Depart.......et Le Etape de Champagne

Following the months of planning and preparation it was with a great sense of relief, anticipation and excitement that the 10 riders plus guest rider for the day - Hervé Augustin (President of Ayala Champagne) finally pulled on the team jersey, climbed aboard our bikes and rolled out of the courtyard at Champagne Bollinger, Ay for the commencement of the opening day's stage to Bar-sur-Aube (125km)......... sadly a large part of that excitement evaporated when 500m later we reached the bottom of the hill and turned into a bloc-headwind from the south that stayed with us for (well 125km)..... but we were not to be daunted by such challenges and we knew what not to do... it was vital we stayed together as a team and did not splinter (as I well recall from my team talk shortly before the off.... something I was to be reminded of later)... but I was soon to find myself with a terrible ethical dilemma! Did I remain in the safe shelter of Jonathan Hobby's back wheel heading rapidly over the horizon towards Burgundy in the face of a gale or did I fall back to marshall the peloton??........ sorry guys, what can I say?

But it was to be any consolation, I and two other nameless fellow "drafters" were soon caught in another equally parlous dilemma......... did we admit to Jonathan that we'd prefer a slower tow (impossible), hang on and risk total burnout later in the day (high risk)..... or drop back into the dreaded "no man's land" between the lead group and the main peloton awaiting inevitable capture and a less than friendly reception (unthinkable)....... we all hung on.

All were reunited at lunchtime, the skies cleared a little, we gritted our teeth and headed into the final 50km of the day....... eventually arriving at our overnight stop in what seems to be a "Pirate of the Caribbean" theme park....... or perhaps I've had a couple too many gels today - pictures on tomorrow's blog of a talking parrot and a robot pirate crawling across the ceiling (honest).

But for now we must salute Hervé who rode all the way down here with us today to the outer reaches of Champagne and to Madame Augustin, who not only came to collect him but also brought us several most welcome bottles of Ayala.... looks like a tough day tomorrow guys...........