Tour de France Prologue photos

A huge crowd turned out in London this afternoon to line the route of the Tour de France Prologue. In a lot of places I saw it was four and five deep which meant those at the back only got a glimpse of the riders speeding past. I eventually got a pretty good spot by climbing up between the raised pillars of one of the archs at Hyde Park Corner. The weather obliged after all the rain of the last couple of weeks and it was a sunny and warm day. Below are some photos from around the Prologue course.

Saunier Duval/Prodir team bus along Horse Guards Parade. All the team buses were parked along here and Bird Cage Walk.

Bouygues Telecom bikes await their riders.

Fans gather around the Discovery team bus.

A Gerolsteiner team car almost ready for the race.

And so is crowd favourite Aussie Robbie McEwen.

Liguigas riders head for the start.

A Lampre and a Discovery rider compare notes before the start.

The podium on The Mall awaits a winner.

The finish line before the start of the Prologue.

Riders coming past Buckingham Palace on a warmup lap.

Thousands of fans wait at the bottom of Constitution Hill.

Ludovic Turpin of AG2R leans into a bend at Hyde Park Corner.

Fans wait at Hyde Park Corner.

Anthony Chateau of Credit Agricole at Hyde Park Corner.

Here he comes.