text:  almost unrecognizable apart from the fact that there were men on bicycles. The first year they rode six enormously long stages for hundreds of miles across different parts of France. They were given bottles of wine and even bottles of brandy to keep them going. It immediately caught on and over the years it became more and more successful and more and more of a feature of French life. Normally you write about politics. What made you turn your attentions to the Tour de France?