Twenty minutes from Revel, the clouds win and pour buckets of warm water. A few spectators take cover under big roadside trees. I am alone, soaked with the hiss of tires on smooth wet blacktop. It is sunny at the finish line. I dry out.
Lance stands in yellow.
It is July 12, a rest day for the Tour. We meet Lance, Frankie, George, Tyler and the rest of the team in a little town square somewhere in Provence. Photos and autographs all around. OK, so I weasel out on the Ventoux climb and pedal in Provence collecting souvenirs and photos. Later, French TV shows Lance give the stage to Pantani.