Racers battle through rain

Armstrong will be encouraged by news of the Alpine deluge. His rivals, in particular Jan Ullrich, may be equally depressed.

The German dreads the sort of damp mountain day like the one he suffered in 1998, when Marco Pantani sealed his Tour victory and Ullrich suffered terribly.

Armstrong's love affair with cold rain goes back to pre-cancer days, and the 1993 world championship in Norway, and such conditions have assisted him in the mountains for the past two Tours.

The BBC Online weather forecast for nearby Grenoble predicts a dry day on Tuesday's Alpe d'Huez stage, although there might be more rain for Wednesday's time trial up to the Chamrousse ski station.

So perhaps the Tour has seen the worst of this year's weather before Armstrong has had the chance to use his traditional advantage.

Those of us on holiday would like to think so.

The inclement weather has followed us all the way down from Dunkirk and the damp, windy Grand Depart last weekend.

Ullrich: Nightmares in 1998

The three days in the north were dominated by small groups of British cyclists riding miles across wet and windy flatlands.

Just how many was confirmed by the cry of "Millar, Millar" as Britain's great hope began his ill-fated ride around Dunkirk on Saturday evening.

It was a chant that echoed around the prologue circuit like an audio Mexican wave, and was easily as loud as the cheer for the win by home favourite Christophe Moreau.

Such a shame our man fell off, although his determination to stay in the race since then has been appreciated by everyone.

The rest of the opening weekend confirmed just how many British club racers and tourers had ferried their bikes over the Channel.

"Good morning" rather than "Bonjour" was the preferred greeting on the roads, as mini-pelotons made their way to numerous vantage points.

Most of the Brits went home as the Tour went into Belgium, and we headed south, to what would become a familiar meteorological pattern.

Tour hits the big screen

Northern rain turned to a warm afternoon on arrival in Verdun, yet, by the time Laurent Jalabert got there 24 hours later, the wind was whipping across this historic city.

Another day later, there was driving rain for the team time trial, although staying near the drier end of the course allowed time to head for a bar and see those at the finish get really soaked on the television.

Then it was full speed ahead south, via a torrential deluge, before arrival in the Alps for a baking hot Bastille Day.

And after putting off my own ascent to Alpe d'Huez because of tiredness on Saturday and the rain on Sunday, a break in the weather cannot come fast enough.

If I do not start climbing that steep road soon, I may still be trying when Lance and co arrive on Tuesday.