Watching the highlights of this year's Tour de France has become a daily ritual for us and yesterday we got the chance to see them for real on Stage 18, Cahors to Angoulême. So we got up early, threw some pork in the boot and headed to St-Cyprien to see the riders go by. We were quite pleased with our excellent time keeping and we thought we had arrived with 20 minutes to spare only to find that the peleton was two hours away. Sunburn turned out to be a valid concern. Being smacked in the head by various promotional samples was also a bit of a worry. Sim got hit in the face by a packet of nuts. I did manage to catch some coffee which we thought we might be able to swap for some water or a baguette (for the pork) or something. Unfortunately we were no match for the honed skills of local freebie grabbers (you need to know which catching strategy to employ for the different brands). After an hour or so, some helicopters approached (nice dramatic effect), a 4 man breakaway went past (one of whom was all scratched up, having earlier crashed into a dog at full speed). At least 3 seconds of cheering and happiness ensued! 10 minutes later the peleton zoomed past just as quickly. I managed to spot David Millar (mostly because of his sun-blocked white legs) and Sim spotted Mauricio Soler (polka dot jersey). I don't think any of us spotted the yellow jersey.