Only found out that the Tour Méditerranéen existed this week… Lazy journalism I know but hey! it’s Sunday so this is what Wikipedia says about the race:

“Le Tour Méditerranéen is a professional road bicycle racing event held in southern France along the Mediterranean Sea. The Tour Méditerranéen is a five-day stage race that began in 1974 and since 2005 has been a part of theUCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event. From 1974 to 1977, the race was named Trophée Méditerranéen.

The race has been won by many notable Grand Tour and world champion riders including Eddy Merckx, Gianni Bugno, Gerrie Knetemann (three times), and Paolo Bettini.

The 2012 edition of the race was nearly cancelled, due to a licensing problem between the organisers and theFrench Cycling Federation. However, a deal was reached and the race went ahead as scheduled.”

The interesting thing (this is me now, not Wikipedia btw) is that the pictures of the race are all winter snaps and the cyclists look well wrapped up… Hopefully when I cycle through the south of France in summer 2013 the sun will be shining bright…