Geoff Thomas Foundation

STAGE FIVE

CHABLIS TO AUTUN 182.5 km

BASTILLE Day the biggest holiday in the French calendar and instead of
spending it relaxing in the beautiful countryside north of the Alps, we're
slogging on our bikes through there in the roasting sun.

Actually, today was the first real taste of what is to come in the mountains
as we covered eight categorized climbs, including a cat two after 135 km.

To my surprise, that climb wasn't particularly problematic but there was a
cat three near the end that to an experienced Tour cyclist such as myself (!)
was definitely worth a cat two and which caused a few of the lads some grief.

But they all battled gamely through, none more so than Bully Phil Bullas, one
of our riding team from Solihull. Bully had a niggling knee injury which has
been hurting for most of the week but he got through the day on sheer guts and
perseverance and that is exactly the sort of spirit I want associated with what
we're doing.

As soon as we started climbing today, Bully was in real discomfort but by the
end he was riding with the strongest in our group. That's why I have invited
these four cancer survivors along with me on this Tour because, with no
disrespect to anyone else, I think a lot of people would have given up and got
off the bike had they been suffering as much as Bully was.

The reason for me doing the Tour two years ago was more a gesture than
anything else, me saying thanks to all the doctors and medical staff who had
helped save my life by trying to raise some funds for leukaemia research. Of
course, the reaction we got then convinced me to set up my Foundation and to do
the Tour again although this time I wanted people like Bully to be able to
experience it along with me and to help get the message out there.

I spent more hours than I care to remember in hospital waiting rooms when I
was being treated and met many people who showed the same sort of courage that
these guys have shown every day on Tour and they should serve as an example to
others.Too often in fund raising, the attention is one the famous person the
athlete or the TV star and for obvious reasons. But, in many ways the guys
riding the Tour with me are a more relevant inspiration to the thousands of
brave people who are fighting cancer in Britain every day. And that's why I want
this Tour, in many ways, to be about these four guys and the experiences they
have been through.

Bully, in case you were wondering, suffered from non-Hodgkins lymphoma and,
as if his very survival wasn't a heart-warming enough story, he and his wife
gave birth to a beautiful daughter, Yasmin, six months ago, even though all the
medical wisdom was that he would never be able to have kids because of the
treatment he had gone through. If that's not an inspirational story, I don't
know what is.

The spirit all those lads Bully, Griz, Steve and Dave are showing on Tour is
really bonding us all together and the scene at the finishing line today was one
of great satisfaction, a little emotional even because it was a hellishly hard
day and Dave, for one, was choking up a bit at having seen us all succeed. I
think and hope there will be a few more finishes like that before we reach
Paris.

Mind you, I might not have been feeling quite so charitable towards one of
the survivors, who shall remain nameless (alright, if you insist it was Griz!)
Halfway through the day he cut in front of me unannounced and almost sent me
tumbling towards the tarmac. Luckily, I escaped though the air was blue and the
radios that we use to keep in touch with the support vehicles transmitted my
feelings on the subject in no uncertain terms!

That minor complaint aside, it was a tough day but a successful conclusion.
Aside from the climbing and a strong wind, the scenery was actually quite
stunning today as we passed through mile upon mile of forests and
picture-postcard French villages with the whole day being made slightly surreal
because it was Bastille Day and everywhere was deserted.

Of course, that made for the usual Team Thomas problem at the end as we drove
for an hour to Dijon I should make a mustard joke there but I'm too tired and
found the routes into town barred because there was a firework display being
held at a lake in the city.

As they had done all day, our excellent support staff saved the day by
finding a tortuous way around the diversion so we could get some well-earned
rest.

We'll need it. The Alps are just a couple of days away and, after all the
climbing we have done today, I can almost smell them!