THE Grand Départ for the 2011 Tour de France will take place in Vendée, with a coastal start from the Passage du Gois and an expected sprint finish at the Mont des Alouettes.
More on: Vendée to host opening stages of Tour de France 2011
And yes, this will be final Tour de France. It's been a great ride. Looking forward to 3 great weeks.
Lance Armstrong
lancearmstrong
More on: Armstrong says this will be his last Tour de France
IF you enjoy motorsport and want to experience a rally around the roads of south west France then head to Sauveterre la Lemance (map).
A number of teams will be heading to the village for a day of racing on Sunday, June 27, with drivers from across France expected to attend.
The video above features last year's competition, and you can read more at Racing through the French countryside.
THE French football caption, Patrice Evra, has said that the team has become a small footballing nation after a 2-0 defeat to Mexico in the group stages of the World Cup.
The side looked short of ideas, pace and interest as they created few goal scoring opportunities during the 90 minutes, succumbing to two second half goals.
I'M sure you've spotted them, groups of people with long poles striding purposefully down the road, I know I have here in the Dordogne.
Nordic walking, or la marche nordique, is proving to be a very popular past-time in France with thousands taking up the challenge, and walking themselves fit.
The marche-nordique.net website offers comprehensive resource on the equipment and techniques, but also lists contact details for clubs across France.
France are in Group A alongside Uruguay, Mexico and the hosts South Africa, after reaching the finals thanks to Thierry Henry's infamous handball which saw then squeeze through a play-off last November.
More on: A guide to France in World Cup 2010
FORMER French football captain, and current UEFA president, Michel Platini has announced that France will host the 2016 European Championships.
FANS of rugby in France can get their fill of the latest results and news, in English, on the Le Rugby website.
The site, which features reports from a crack team of reporters including Lee Monde and Ray de Galles, covers the Top 14 and Pro D2 leagues with match round-ups, fixture lists and current standings.
There are also feature articles on both the players and clubs that make up the French rugby scene, television listings and a Twitter account to follow.
FANS of the Tour de France, and in particular seven-times winner Lance Armstrong, have the chance to take a peek at the prototype jersey he will be wearing next season.
Team Radio Shack will be the new sponsor of the team featuring Lance Armstrong at its head, and the jersey is expected to get its first official showing early next year.
And by the time le Tour sets off from Rotterdam on July 3 both the new look jersey and full squad will be known.
You can see a full size image of the Team Radio Shack jersey, as well as take in some of the comments left by cycling fans.
Related article: Route for the Tour de France 2010 laid out
THE mountains of the Pyrenées dominate the Tour de France 2010 route with the Col du Tourmalet set to be climbed twice from both directions.
A BUDDHIST master, based in the Dordogne, has written a book saying la pétanque, or boules, helps in the art of meditation.
The Times newspaper reports on a book by Maître Kaisen called L’Esprit de la Pétanque where he says that similar skills are required when playing the game to those in Buddhist meditation.
Maître Kaisen set up the Ho Sho Ji temple, near Larzac with the website featuring some of his writing, as well as a link to an audio section with some extracts.
WHAT should be a quiet Sunday morning as the sun beats down on the French countryside is anything but as the turbo on a Renault 5 GT rattles my ribcage.
IF you enjoy motorsport and want to experience a rally around the roads of south west France then head to Sauveterre la Lemance (map).
A number of teams will be heading to the village for a day of racing on Sunday, June 28, with drivers from across France expected to attend.
And if you want to get an idea of the race take a look over the photographs and videos on local website http://mcracing47.skyrock.com/
Update 28/06/09: Racing through the French countryside
THE cricket season in France has started and the organisers have laid down a challenge for the England team.
The official France Cricket organisation has said it wants to play England ahead of the London Olympics in 2012, in an attempt to even up a competition that stretches back to 1900.
Because it was then that the only cricket match was played during an Olympic Games, and which the England side won by 158 runs, so now a rematch is planned.
The France Cricket website features fixture lists and news from the matches, as well as information on women's cricket and junior cricket.
Related article: The work of France Cricket
AROUND 35,000 runners are expected to compete in this year's Marathon de Paris, which takes place on Sunday, April 5.
It is the 33rd staging of the event which sees the course stretch across Paris, starting at 8.45am on the Champs-Elysées, runners head past the Place de la Bastille and around the Bois de Vincennes.
This takes them through the 20km mark as competitors head back along the Seine, around the Eiffel Tower and finish at the Bois de Boulogne.
There are many events and shows taking place in Paris throughout the day, but even if you can't make it then you can watch the race live over the internet.
THE French Olympic committee has put forward Annecy as its candidate to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
It beat the rival bids of Grenoble, Nice and Pelvoux, but in making its award the French Olympic committee said it hoped the whole of the Alpine region would benefit.
The host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be announced in July 2011 in Durban.
A BRITISH cycling team, sponsored by BSkyB, has set its sights on competing in next year's Tour de France.
The squad will be overseen by Dave Brailsford, the performance director of GB Cycling, and it is hoped feature some of the best young British talent, as well as enjoy state of the art training facilities in Manchester.
Team Sky will hit the road in 2010 and look to gain entry to the Tour de France, as well as help boost cycling in the UK and promote a 'clean' image for the sport.
THE French really love their sailing and over the past couple of months the media has been following the ups and downs of the competitors in the Vendée Globe round the world yacht race.
Just past midnight yesterday (February 14), British yachtswoman Sam Davies, came in to the port at Les Sables d’Olonne in third place after spending 95 days at sea.
More on: A day at the Vendée Globe village
THE French Football Federation (FFF) has said it will put forward plans to host the European Championships in 2016.
In a statement the FFF said it had sent its application to UEFA, promising to invest in football grounds around the country, although it recognises that it is a 'formidable project'.
France hosted the European Championships in 1984 and the World Cup in 1998, winning on both occasions.
IF you have a bit of quiet time over the coming week then why not take to the seas and compete in the Vendée Globe yacht race?
You can take part as a virtual participant alongside thousands of others, as the real competitors sail around the world single-handed.
The Virtual Regatta equips you with a yacht, and drops you off in the middle of the race where you can compete with friends or just sail along with others.
THE Tour de France 2009 will drop in on six different countries, visit Barcelona and the day before the finish in Paris send competitors up the stunning Mont Ventoux in Provence.
The race will set off from Monaco on July 4 before heading across the south of France to the Pyrenees and spending two days in Spain.
There will be a leap from Tarbes to Limoges before the race heads towards the Jura mountains and then the Alps, with the dramatic Mont Ventoux, at 1,912m, providing the backdrop for the whole race before the Tour ends in Paris on July 26.
More on: Tour de France 2009 route laid out
During the singing of the Marseillaise before the game between France and Tunisia on Tuesday, the crowd jeered, whistled and booed as it was sung by pop star Lââm.
LANCE Armstrong has confirmed he will race in next year's Tour de France.
Following speculation that he would soon announce plans to compete in le Tour, Lance Armstrong issued a statement saying he wanted "to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden".
The seven times winner of the Tour de France will join his fellow cyclists on the start line for the Grand Départ in Monaco on July 4 - seems appropriate really
ACCORDING to the VeloNews website, Lance Armstrong is to come out of retirement and compete in next year's Tour de France.
Citing unnamed sources, the magazine said Lance Armstrong will take part in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphine-Libere and the Tour de France.
If the story is true, Armstrong would race for the Astana team and receive no salary or bonuses, however a spokesperson for Astana has said they have no plans to work with the seven times Tour de France winner.
YOUNG British cyclist Mark Cavendish has become only the ninth Brit to win a stage of the Tour de France, as he triumphed on the race into Châteauroux this afternoon (July 9).
He worked his way to the front of the pack with around 100 metres to go and then put his foot on the gas to take the stage win, his first victory in the Tour de France.
GOOGLE has added a new feature to its maps service that provides you with the view from a bike seat for this year's Tour de France which starts tomorrow (July 5).
More on: Organising the Tour de France
FOR biking enthusiasts the time to become passionate about the cycling championships has come round again.
Semur en Auxois, Cote d'Or, which staged the 7th stage of the 2007 Tour de France, is the venue for Les Championnats de France de Cyclisme sur Route (the French road cycling championships) which comes to Burgundy for the fifth time.
The championships run from Thursday, June 26 until Sunday, June 29, in Semur en Auxois itself and surrounding villages. This being the last chance for the professionals to achieve their best times before the Tour de France which starts on July 5.
More on: French road cycling championships
More on: Guide to France in Euro 2008
A number of protesters in Paris were arrested, while officials twice extinguished the torch and put it on a bus for safety reasons, more on the BBC.
More on: Olympic flame route through Paris
THERE is a very interesting article on the Guardian website which looks into the number of young footballers from West Africa who are promised riches in European football.
Teams in France are very often used as a carrot to tempt families to pay unscrupulous 'coaches' thousands of dollars to get their children trials, but many youngsters often end up on the streets of Paris.
THE route for the Tour de France 2008 has been announced, but major changes have been introduced to try and shake off the problems of recent years when drug use tainted the sport.
The first stage will set off from Brest, in Brittany, on July 5 and will be a straight race instead of a prologue like previous years, time bonuses have also been dropped throughout the competition in an effort to ensure more than a handful of riders are in with a chance of winning.
DESPITE the Rugby World Cup ending in defeat for England in the final, Paris based photographer Simon Kirby has had a busy few weeks following the competition.
And for those who need one more fix of the sport, or in some cases one more look at Jonny Wilkinson, he has put together a collection of photographs on Flicker.
THE weekend has been a bad time for French sport, not only did the rugby team get beat by England, the World Conker Championships ended in defeat as well.
The BBC reports that the battle between the two sides lasted just two swings of a conker, when Ady Hurrell, of Whittlesey, beat John Ingram, representing France, in the final.
The championship has so far raised almost a third of a million pounds for charities and you can find out more on the official website.
WOULD you try and toss back a smart answer to Sébastien Chabal? This journalist clearly thought better of it.
A FEW weeks ago Coral interviewed Dave Szumowski, entraîneur national of France Cricket, just before the team travelled to Bristol to take part in the indoor world championships (see France cricket team to play at indoor World Cup).
Well the squad went on to finish fifth, ahead of cricketing giants Pakistan, and next year France will compete in the ICC European Indoor Championship in Finland and the European Outdoor Championship in the UK.
THE opening game of the Rugby World Cup got off to a great start for the neutral, but it wasn't so good for the French fans.
The hosts went down 17-12 to Argentina, as les Blues suffered a bout of stage fright, letting the Pumas sweep up the pieces and gain a deserved victory.
Under the gaze of President Sarkozy, who has practically said he expects France to win, the French XV struggled to find any rhythm, while Argentina had confidence in their game plan.
More on: France suffer stage fright
IF you associate cricket with just Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, South Africa and England; think again.
Cricket in France is becoming more and more popular and is overseen by France Cricket, the governing body for the sport which works with 56 clubs and has issued over 1,000 cricket licences.
The French cricketing calendar includes the forthcoming Indoor Cricket World Cup in Bristol, England, from September 20 to 30, where a team will compete, but I was keen to find out more about the future of the game, and how indoor cricket differs from the game we all know, so spoke to Entraîneur National, Dave Szumowski.
JUST a week before the start of the Rugby World Cup a warning has been issued about the dangers of buying tickets from unofficial websites after people have paid for non-existent seats.
With many matches already sold out the BBC website reports that Cardiff trading standards has said people should only buy tickets from the official World Cup website.
If you are still keen to savour the special atmosphere of the competition but can't get hold of a ticket don't forget that the host towns and cities are staging events throughout the month of the tournament.
VALLAURIS GOLF JUAN is hosting the World Championships of women's jet ski, 14 -15 September, following Monaco last year and the level of competition is at its highest this year.
Italian Sabatino Elisa, holder of the World Champion title in 2005, is favourite in the skiing competition. She is determined to win back her title after missing the competition in 2006.
More on: Alpes-Maritimes welcomes womens' jet ski championship
WITH the Rugby World Cup set to start in a little over a month's time, the first game will see France take on Argentina in the Stade de France on September 7, there will be much to celebrate right across the country.
Many of the host cities are rolling out the welcome mat for the teams and their supporters with special events and festivals marking the sport and the French way of life.
It is also the first time that the Rugby World Cup has been hosted by a French speaking country, and is the biggest sporting event to take place in France since the football World Cup in 1998, which les Bleus went on to win.
WE have lived here in the Limousin now for nearly three years and have noticed some interesting differences between French and British anglers, and their approaches to fishing, writes Tony Scott.
The following observations are to be taken light-heartedly, with tongue firmly placed in cheek, as no offence is meant to any angling brethren from either side of the Channel.
The most glaring difference is the French attitude of “I catch, therefore I eat” as opposed to most British anglers who prefer to fish more for sport. Of course there are exceptions to this, but on the whole most fish caught in UK waters are returned to fight another day.
WHEN we joined the rest of the enthusiastic crowd to wave and cheer the Tour de France competitors from Semur en Auxois, we already knew there had been controversy surrounding the Tour but the revelations of late have, some what, turned our excitement sour.
Doping scandals seem to surround athletes what ever their sport, although sometimes it seems the officials are a little over zealous. I am an asthmatic and I use inhalers which allow me to live a pretty normal life. It is not uncommon to find asthmatic athletes but the problem arises when the inhalers contain steroids. As asthma is a condition that, even in a mild state, can kill it is imperative that sufferers continue to take their medication. However, it is part of the regulations that the inhalers used by competitors are declared on a form and permission is given for the use.
IF your faith in the Tour de France and cycling needs restoring you can lift your spirits with the tale of Luke Bream, and his mum, as they battle the course a day in advance of the pros.
"He does take some cod liver oil tablets, but apart from that he's doing this largely on Coca Cola and jam butties," said his mother Carolyn.
AFTER writing this morning about the damage being done to the Tour de France following recent failed doping tests by cyclists, current race leader Michael Rasmussen has been kicked off the Tour by his own Rabobank team after he lied about his whereabouts in June.
INCREDIBLE scenes at the start of today's stage of the Tour de France saw current leader Michael Rasmussen booed by the crowd as French and German teams joined together in a show of unity to press for the competition to operate clean of drugs.
The Eurosport website reports that the start of the 16th stage in the Pyrenees was delayed as some cyclists staged a protest, but when Rasmussen passed them the watching crowd booed him, before applauding the members of the group.
More on: Doping charges haunt le Tour again
IF you have watched a stage of the Tour de France in the past few days and thought "I could do that", well you can but be warned.
Each year one of the stages is opened up to cyclists for l’Étape du Tour giving mere mortals the chance to experience the climbs and descents of one of the mountain legs.
More on: The hell of l’Étape du Tour
SEMUR en Auxois has spent weeks, if not months, preparing for its biggest moment of the year; the arrival of the Tour de France in this mediaeval town in the middle of Burgundy.
Every time we have recently visited the town something has been painted, cleaned, or flags erected, while road works have caused diversions, and souvenirs have been on sale.
So it was only natural that when the Tour is set to almost pass your front door you want to experience the fever that surrounds it.
IF the staging of the first two days of the Tour de France in the UK has whetted your appetite for the great race, where can you head to online to keep up with events?
More on: Hit the web for a taste of le Tour
EUROSTAR is now taking bookings for travel to the IRB Rugby World Cup in France during September and October.
Direct Eurostar travel to Paris or Lille, with connecting SNCF TGV services, can be booked via their website with fares from London and Ashford to Paris starting at £59 return.
More on: Eurostar tickets for Rugby World Cup
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