Geoff Thomas Foundation

STAGE ONE

CANTERBURY TO LONDON 203 km

The first stage proper today took us from Canterbury to London and I'd like
to say that, as the first stage of the Tour, it was an enjoyable ride.

Unfortunately, after doing it three times in the past four or five weeks,
I've probably seen enough of this route! Everything went smoothly and the
weather was probably the best it has been on the three occasions we have ridden
into Canterbury but I'm looking forward to some new scenery over the next three
weeks.

We had one small navigational hiccup, a reminder of the problems that plagued
us when we did it two years ago, and that cost us a small delay and a few extra
miles but nothing too serious.

On Sunday when the pros rode the course, it was great to see David Millar win
the King of the Mountains jersey and bring a bit of British success to "our"
Tour and I was thinking of him as we went over the three short but tough-ish
climbs on this route.

In fact, it was a pleasure to meet David on Friday at the Tour Team
Presentation in Trafalgar Square. Charlie Wegelius, from the Liquigas team, was
another Brit who was introduced to me by Pete Slater, one of our riders who
works for SIS, the sport nutrition people and works with the pro guys all the
time.

They were really nice fellas so I'll be watching their progress as closely as
I can over the next few days and hope they can get some stage wins and podium
places for the Brits.

Back to our Tour and the best part of our ride today was the fact we rode
together so well as a team for so long. Eventually, Ian Wright fell off the back
a little bit but he battled on bravely to the finish, aided by one of the guys
Ian Whittell. The two Ians came in about 15 minutes behind the rest of us - as
opposed to last week when we all rode the same course on the Sportif ride and
Wrightie was over an hour behind.

It was an heroic ride by Wrightie and the amount of attention, support and
media awareness he brought with him over the first couple of days was worth its
weight in gold.

He has gone from barely ever riding a bike to rattling off a 120-mile Tour de
France route twice inside a week. I know how hard that is and I'll never forget
the contribution Wrightie has made so far. I said several times a couple of
years ago that it's times like this when you find out who your true friends are
and the same applies this time around with Ian.

Of the other guys, Steve Timmins took a long turn on the front this
afternoon, along with Pete Slater, which helped share the burden for all the
guys so it was a really good team effort.

"Grizz" - Mike Grisenthwaite to give him his proper name - had been on
antibiotics for a chest infection and struggled all morning, sounding like his
lungs were packing in but staged a Lazarus-like second half comeback and
finished so strongly that it raised major doubts about the seriousness of his
original "illness." I'll be keeping tabs on Grizz the rest of the way.

Aside from that, there were some good media opportunities along the way, a
nice piece on BBC South-East by all accounts, for example. Though, being greedy,
I was a bit disappointed in the response at the start line in Greenwich.

I am just so desperate to get the same response - better if possible - to the
one we got in 2005 and I want as much publicity and awareness out there about
the cause and what we're trying to do.

So, the first of many begging entries that you'll read over the coming weeks
- please spread the word to anyone who might be interested.

As for the next couple of days, I'm currently writing this on the Norfolk
Line Ferry crossing from Dover to Dunkirk ready to start Stage One in the
morning - although, after a 5.30 alarm call this morning, it won't be an early
start.

Norfolk Line have given us our crossings free of charge which is a tremendous
gesture and Wrightie, myself and the rest of the boys had the privilege of
meeting Captain Parvin on the quayside at Dover for a picture opportunity before
we left. Thanks Skipper!

Tomorrow is a flat, easy - well as easy as it ever gets on the Tour - stage
of 105 miles from Dunkirk to Ghent in Belgium. It should be the chance for us to
get more practice in riding as a group and, far more importantly, to have a
lie-in!