Words by Claire Everett, illustrations Becca Goesling, Edited by Luke Batten
And so the Tour has ended, but like most things, beginnings come at the end.
Debut Un
Beginning with Becca, her computer is busting with heroic illustrations that have encapsulated highlights of the Tour through and through. The ever-lurking pinwheel on her screen does not stop the excessive use of illustrator that all began with the mock drawings of Hero Headquaters. And although summer is begninng to end (yet we are still in denial of this), Becca’s fingers have not stopped clicking and creating with the rhythm of the races as we have watched Brits beat and be beat this past week.
Debut deux
As for the Brits, the beginning comes with Bradley’s win at the 2012 Tour de France. After 75 years with no Britsh representation, the podium was honourned by the presence of Wiggins and his counterpart Froome. “Cheers, have a safe journey home, don’t get too drunk” Wiggings remarked, a clever quip from the otherwise determined man.
Debut trois
And drunk on exhaustion, perhaps, Wiggins may have been as he went into the Olympics. Plastered arcross the dramatic London papers: “Team GB’s red-hot favourite Mark Cavendish loses out to the nobody from Kazakhstan.” The nobody, otherwise known as Alexander Vinokourov, and even more known for his 2007 Tour de France blood doping scandal, defeated the “dream team” as Cavendish chose to jinx them as before the race!
Debut quatre
Les femmes. The women! Here is to them. After weeks of the Tour de France seeing the Olympic Women road race brought a most powerful transition. The rain seeped through the womens’ jerseys, the wet material rubbing against their skin, making every move more uncomfortable the next. The miserable conditions made what happened next all the more impressive. Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, Lizze Armitstead of Great Britan, and Olga Zebelinskaya of Russia broke away from the peloton and pushed each other to victory in an enthralling race to the finish. Marrianne Vos won the first medal for the Netherlands, and thus ends this rant of beginnings.
Except, beginning now, the heroes will conclude a day filled with cats, coffee, and cheese to go to the corner for ice cream. A perfect celebration to wait for the next Olympic cycling event.
