Leader of the pack!

Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain came through the village again today.  Being short of a blip I made the effort to wander the couple of hundred yards or so to my chosen vantage point.

For about 20 minutes before the riders there was a steady procession of police bikes, marshals bikes, Safety officers bikes (in this context bike means motorbike) and a few team cars.  Next came a loudspeaker car telling us the 15 leaders would be with us in minutes and the rest of the field was 3 minutes behind them.

Suddenly there they were - gone!  I did manage a few shots as they zoomed past.  Then came the main body of the cyclists again with police out riders.  Very close behind the pack came what I can only describe as a circus.

What seemed like dozens of support cars with frames and dozens of wheels on top, more police, two ambulances, an AA van and a fire engine.  In among all that were two racers frantically trying to doge round them and catch up.