RACING will never be quite the same again for a 14-strong party of Crabwood CC members just returned from a week's holiday in the French Alps.

Based near a ski resort chosen for the finish of a mountain stage of the Tour de France last Tuesday, they were there to see Lance Armstrong take the yellow jersey which he wore for the rest of the race, culminating with his historic sixth consecutive victory in Paris on Sunday.

They took their cycles with them to ride sections of 'La route du Tour' and, like hundreds of other British cyclists drawn to the world's greatest sporting spectacular, they chose the hardest stage of this year's race as their principal objective.

This was the 15.5km stage which the Tour covered last Wednesday as an individual time trial - a form of racing well known to members of the Crabwood CC. Not so familiar was the type of course chosen for this particular stage, for it consisted of one continuous ascent round a series of hairpin bends to a height of 1,850 metres.

Wisely they chose to tackle this formidable climb two days before the race was due, but even then thousands of other fans were already there, camped out on the mountainside to secure good vantage points for what became one long street party all the way up the mountain.

Their presence assured the Crabwood CC of plenty of vocal support as they rode up to the summit and, for the record, it was the club's American domiciled member, Shaun Wallace, who outsprinted Pat Lafford to the top.

Long distance enthusiast Roy Budd, the only member who opted to ride out to the Alps, is now cycling back across France and doesn't expect to be home at Winsor in the New Forest before the end of this week!