One of the things people regularly say when they first stand at the side of the road for the Tour de France, or any big bike race for that matter, is that it "goes by in a blur". That's what I tried to capture here, with this image.

Bike racing is a sport that respects and cherishes its past and its traditions. The yellow motorbike transports the 'blackboard girl' (always a girl for some reason, never a boy) who sits on pillion with a blackboard, on which she displays to the riders the time gap to the groups behind them on the road. Once upon a time this was a vital function, but these days, with riders equipped with radios and getting constant updates from their team directors, it is effectively redundant. But it is traditional, and so it remains.

The camera is handheld, but thanks to image stabilisation I was able to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/15, creating the blurred effect.