The other day I posted a lament that I, like millions of others, am being made stupid(er) by Google.
I take it back! I take it all back! I love Google.
The geniuses at Google Maps have created a facility that provides an unbelievably cool rider’s eye view of the entire route of the Tour de France. Not a map, but continuous on-the-ground images of the route for each of the 21 stages. You can click wherever you want to start and later, if you bonk during a mountain stage, you can click out. Missing, of course, are the bikes, the riders, and the millions of fans who line the route, but this is the closest you’re ever going to get to riding the Tour, so no complaints will be permitted
Try it out by clicking on this screen:
Or come back later to Google Maps, here
[Hat tip to Henry Farrell, who spotted this on the Foreign Policy blog]