You might be forgiven for thinking that the riders in this years Tour de France had got a leedle beet leust. After all, London is not part of France and, by no stretch of the imagination can the riders actually cycle from France to London, unless they go by padalo. But the Tour de France having “guest venues” is all part of the great cycling tradition. And it isn’t as much of a cheat as you might think, as the other legs (or stages if you’re going to get into the French cycling jargon) that are actually on French soil don’t, in fact, join up. It’s not so much a tour as a set of individual races in as many different places as possible.

So, now is your great opportunity to get a taste of France’s national sport. Cycling has not as yet got many followers in Britain and most of us are, at best, a bit vague about what happens. Beyond the fact that a load of blokes get on a bike and pedal like hell.

If you are lucky enough to be in the South East of England on July 6, 7 and 8, you have a chance to get the real feel of the event.

The opening ceremony is in Trafalgar Square on Friday July 6 at 6pm.

On Saturday 7 July there is individual sprint racing round central London from 3pm till 6.20 pm

 The first stage is from the Mall to central Canterbury on July 8.

There is also a free event at The People Village on July 6, 7, 8 promoting cycling, food, arts and crafts and a cycling festival in Hyde Park.

If you want to enjoy the race in true French style, sit in a café with a glass of something, preferably alcoholic, from round about breakfast time and periodically cheer a passing cyclist. Occasionally ask “Where’s the peloton?” (Another piece of cycling jargon. The peloton is the main group) and don’t care too much about the answer.

If you were in France you might try you hand at some spontaneous graffito-ing of the course route, painting the name of your hero in large letters all over the road. This is a tradition that does not export all that well. At the Athens Olympics, the father of British cycling star, Nicole Cooke, got into a spot of bother with the Greek police when he was caught doing a little individualistic art work of his own all over the road. Probably best to lay off the paint if you want to avoid an ASBO.

Whilst watching live cycling is full of atmosphere and fun, it’s hard to appreciate the skills and tactics of the sport as you watch people in bright coloured jerseys shoot past at insane speeds and (preferably, from the crowd’s point of view) fall off on the bends. The best way to understand the sport and get inside the team tactics is to watch it on TV. Sadly, if you get hooked by the UK taster, you are going to be a bit pushed to find good coverage of the rest of the event, which continues until July 29,  on the main UK channels. ITV4 has a daily summary and highlights, often at fairly uncivilised times like just after midnight. If you have satellite or cable that receives Eurosport, then you are in luck, with a good fat wadge of the schedule devoted to the race most days, although you may have to spruce up your German to get the finer points of the commentary. On-line you can get race up-dates and schedules at http://www.steephill.tv/2007/tour-de-france/#tv-schedule