Twelve stages down with nine to go and it feels like an update on the health of the riders is in order. In fact I submitted an update 4-5 stages ago and it was so inconsequential that our website editor rejected it! I couldn’t argue though, because except for Magnus and his difficulty, the guys have been amazingly uninjured and well. It’s been a real pleasure to see.

A couple of our riders have been involved in crashes “sans gravite apparente” (daily Tour health update-speak for “no apparent seriousness”). A couple have had mild tendonitis and a couple more with some allergy-related breathing issues. All in all, very much a “so far, so good” scenario. If our luck holds, I’ll hope to have an equally inconsequential report at the end of this grand drama. Please wish us continued suceess and good luck.