Name dropping

At last I can indulge in some sort of name dropping, well nearly. My son's school mate, well not quite, has just won, for the third time the worlds most prestigious bicycle race the Tour de France. Chris Froome attended St Johns College a prestigious school in Johannesburg. He epitomises that quiet confidence that private schooling gives, always polite yet firm, always sure yet thankful always willing to thank his team mates but assured of his own star quality.
As the Sky Team rolled on to the Champs-Elysees to start the eight circuits, ending in a sprint to bring the three week marathon to a close, one could truly wonder at the path of this unassuming Kenyan/South African.
Not quite reaching the heights of that other Kenyan (through his father) Barack Obama, Froome has proved himself the real thing winning this his third Tour. Covering a period of three weeks the race is the severest test of endurance. Not only are the cyclists pressed into herculean effort day after day, Mo Farah for instance will not compete again until the Olympics but these cyclists are expected after physically burying themselves, climbing impossibly steep and long climbs through the Pyrenees and the Alps, draining the last of the reserves of energy, having to be helped off their bike they are expected to repeat the dosage the next day and the next for three weeks.
Cycling has for many years had the spectre of drugs hanging over it but is it any wonder given the extreme nature and what is called on the human body that some have used stimulants to keep going.
The overhead shots of Paris,  the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens and in the background the stately River Seine all capture the elegance of Paris. The helicopter view of the villages and chateaus across the country, the beautiful snow capped mountains and narrow valleys as the riders zoom their way through the country is the perfect holiday brochure, a superb marketing tool to display France.
The Tour is finished and the skeletal framed Froome is standing on the top step of cycling of rostrum. He and his team, for this is a truly team event. Men who were prepared to grind out their last oz of energy as the Sky Train picked up speed and overhauled the early leaders day in day out. Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Wout Poels, to name but three who we saw each day heading the Peloton keeping up the speed so that no other team could match them and bring their own top rider into contention. It was a thing of planned precision owed mainly to Dave Beresford the General Manager of the team who seems to have found the winning formula of team selection and discipline.
Well done Chris, Lux Vita Caritas (Light. Life. Love)