Convicts participate in Tour de France

4th June 2009

Nearly 200 (mainly non-violent!) French prisoners set off from Lille today, 4th June 2009, in the first Penitentiary Tour de France. For the next two weeks they will cover 2,300 kilometres of French countryside – that’s 1,400 miles to us Brits. There will be 17 legs and each of the towns has a prison…

For those of you who find this announcement a little concerning you will be pleased to hear that they are accompanied by 124 guards. One wonders if they will be riding tandem with the more serious offenders. You will also be reassured by the official announcement that ‘no breakaway sprints will be allowed in this bike ride’.

One of the toughest and most popular Exodus cycling holidays is the Classic Cols of the Tour de France on which budding ‘Kings (or Queens) of The Mountains’ can ride a stage of the tour for themselves. Next advertising drive to be Wormwood Scrubs?

Interestingly, Andy Ross our Cycling Programme Manager (pictured), is out of the office today. Just a coincidence we wonder…