1993, a genuineTour de France for the Boeke brothers...

1993, a genuine Tour de France for the Boeke brothers...

Unmanaged, no support staff, no massage, just basic equipment, let the data speak louder than words:

Ville d'étape Saint Agil was a necessary break, since Luc's rear wheel axis had broken on a railroad crossing down a steep descent. The local garage (must have been Peugeot, Citroen or Renault...) helped us fix it, the spare part had to be fetched in Vendome at some 40km's bike ride.

At Burgos, Jochem decided to take a lef turn to continue to Portugal, Luc made a right turn for another uphill challenge in the Alpes. Col de la Bonnette, at 2802m, definitively satisfied his ambitions.

A day some people in Belgium may remember is August 8, 1993: le Roi triste mourut.
I remember the freezing cold morning at Attert (close to Arlon), almost crying for my painful fingers at 7:00 AM, every sunny patch on my track in the woods was a relief...  Victory was complete that night at Nijmegen, the finish line after a stage of 295km's, at sunset.

To close this Spartan epic, a couple of photographs...

luc & jochem upon departure, in Nijmegen

Luc in Les Landes departement (Bordeaux/Biarritz)

Luc exchanging latest news with a couple of Camineros, young Catalans on their way to Santiago de Compostella, close to Burgos.