life Around Tour de France – Stage 10

Petanque – a French pastime !!

As we made our way from Monaco to Issoudun, we saw what is a familiar sight to us now, a group of people standing around a small patch of hard soil, each of them with small steel balls, throwing them around from a stationary spot – all just like how we played marbles when we were young. The difference here was that there were very few young people playing this game and most of the players are often in the 50’s & 60’s!!

So here we went to a group that was playing this and got some details on this game. The game is called Pétanque and is a form of Boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet. The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel, but can also be played on grass or other surfaces. The current form of the game originated in the early 20^th century in Provence in Southern France. The name of the game usually means “feet together” or “feet grounded”. We tried playing the game, but found it not easy as it looked!!

The casual form of the game of Pétanque is played by about 15 million people in France, mostly during their summer vacations. But there are clubs which are licensed all over France with a National body & over 3 lac professional players!! In this game the players have to stand at one end and then throw the boule, for which there are specifications one after the other. The teams compete for points and it’s a highly competitive sport. They even have the World Championships & over 52 countries participate!! Am sure that India can do good in this sport if introduced there, as we all were expert marble players in the schooling days!!

Limoge is famous around the world for fine Porcelain boxes which are treasured by the collectors for its fine finish. There is the Alain Doubuche National Museum where you can see over 10,000 pieces of fascinating porcelain. There are also many famous makers who give you guided tours around their factory and workshops, like Royal Limoges & Haviland , whose crystal champagne flutes are fine pieces of artistry.

The 10^th Stage of the Tour de France started off in Limoge, after a rest day & had its own share of controversies. And for a change the controversy was not due to the cyclists, but due to an Official notification by the organisers that there was to be no radio contact between the riders & the team cars / directors!!

For those who are not familiar with the sport, racing today is as much a manager controlled sport as football!! Every rider is wired and during the race his actions are mostly controlled by the team director who is in a car at the end of the peleton and who monitors every other team and their strategies. So almost always the riders move up or down the order based on the directions given from the team car. A decision to chase some one down or to break away from the group or to protect a leading rider, every such action is based on the director’s vision. Yes, the rider must have the ability to follow those orders too!!

Lance Armstrong in his Motorola team days in the late ‘90’s was one of the first to use radio contact while racing, and from there on today its become part an integral of the cycling sport, so much that many of the younger generation of riders have never raced with out the race radio wired to their ears!!

So the notification of not using radios is was to make the race more exciting, but almost all teams have opposed the move with 14 of them signing a petition against the order. Most of the riders have strong reservations against this order and have voiced serious concerns.

In his tweet today morning Armstrong had prophesied that the race was going to be won by a Brit and that was not much to the liking of the French media who wanted a French rider to win on 14^th July, otherwise celebrated as Bastilles Day all over with grand fireworks.

But the race did not turn out to be interesting as the riders all stuck to their teams and except for Kurt Asle Arvesen (Saxo Bank) who broke his collar bone in a fall & has left the tour.

For the record in Stage 9- the Race course was 194 kms and the winner was once again Mark Cavendish of the British Columbia Team, the third Stage win for him & the team in this tour (am sure Armstrong meant him!!) The individual standings at the top remain the same. The Yellow Jersey remains with Rinaldo Nocentini of the AG2R team from France. Alberto Contador & Lance Armstrong maintain their 2^nd & 3^rd spots, just 6 & 8 seconds respectively from the top.

The Tour de France next stage tomorrow is from Vatan to St. Fargeau a distance of 192 kms and it will be another day for the peleton & the teams. And we hope the weather will permit a good display of fireworks in the night!!

Au revoir!!…

Email : mrq@planningfactory.in