Croydon cyclists mixed with elite riders from the Tour de France before the world's biggest annual sporting event got under way in London. Last week, members of Addiscombe Cycle Club were given the chance to ride with members of the French Caisse d'Epargne team, one of four Tour teams who stayed at Selsdon Park Hotel in the build-up to the race's prologue stage at the weekend. The local riders were led by Addiscombe's George Brent on a three-hour, 90km ride through Merstham, Reigate, Leigh, Box Hill and Coulsdon.
George said: "It was amazing. I was towing the whole Caisse d'Epargne team around. "Every time I looked behind me, I was riding with Valverde, Pereiro and Karpets - three of the sport's well-known names.
" The Addiscombe cyclist also got a taste of the huge media interest in the mammoth event. "At the start there was a paparazzi motorcycle taking lots of pictures of us and even a journalist who had hired a taxi to shoot us all together," he added.
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