Sir, – Watching the Tour de France one is inclined to surmise, as does Stuart Smyth, that the citizens of that wonderful country have the highest quality and consistency of road surfaces one could wish for (Letters, July 18th). The Tour, of course, follows a preplanned but novel route each year, and considerable efforts are made to portray regions positively in what is often the most watched sports event in the calendar.
On holiday in France at present, the road outside my accommodation has dips, divots and mounds that can throw the contents out of the basket on my bike at a very pedestrian speed. I don’t think the original Citroen 2CV, which famously could drive across a freshly ploughed field, would handle the chemin in question. Usefully, the road carries a notice “chausée déformée” at each end, but it’s not a temporary warning of roadworks underway, but rather a permanent fixed signpost. Clearly there are, at least, some exceptions. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
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Co Cork.
Sir, – Your letter writer may have missed the comments of the great Sean Kelly on Eurosport as he warned about the hazards of cycling on damp newly laid tarmac. I’m old enough to recall the pleasure of cycling through Wicklow in 1998 on roads newly upgraded for the Tour de France of that year! – Yours, etc,
PAUL KILCULLEN,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.