Summer 2001. Somewhere in France dozens of cyclists are making their way towards Paris, all hoping to bring the yellow jersey home. Hundreds of kilometers away, in the Dutch polder, a little blonde girl is staring at the cyclists of the Tour de France as they fly by on the television screen in front of her. Her green eyes are wide with wonder and excitement as she witnesses mass sprints, crashes and drug scandals unfold for the very first time.
Summer 2015. Dozens of cyclists are preparing themselves for the second stage of the Tour de France, which starts in the Netherlands. The little blonde girl has grown up, but her green eyes are still wide with wonder and excitement as she stands along the route of this second stage, patiently waiting for her heroes to cycle by. That girl, as you've probably guessed by now, is me.

Most people my age don't care much about the Tour de France. They don't want to waste their time watching some skinny men race each other on the French roads for three weeks. A part of me can understand that. A far bigger part of me, however, gets overexcited every July and wishes everyone would feel the same. The Tour is part of my life, just like this blog and travelling are parts of my life. I was born on a 'Tour day' and watching the race together has become a family tradition in teh Fisher household. And, when you grow up with the Tour de France like that, it's not boring to spend five hours in front of the tv during an uneventful stage, oh no. When the Tour flows through your veins, you see the tactical games the teams are playing, you see your heroes become legends or crash and burn before they reach Paris. You see alliances form and feuds come into existence. You see fights and crashes, you hear the rumours about drugs, you see everything. It's like a virus, and once you've caught it you can't get rid of it.

For years I've walked around with the Tour de France Virus. In 2013 half of my country got infected when two Dutch cyclists were positioned in the Top 10.
Today everyone seems to be crazy about the Tour. There's a very simple reason for that: the first two stages take place in the Netherlands. People have put up banners and signs to show their support. Everyone wants to be part of the circus that is the Tour de France.
Today's stage starts in Utrecht and goes to Zeeland, over Rotterdam. I've been looking forward to this day for months. Today the Tour will come close to my hometown: a mile from my front door to be exact. My heroes will race each other on their way to Rotterdam, on the same road I take to college every single day. Watching that happen, not on tv but in real life, is a once in a lifetime experience. And watching that happen is exactly what I'm going to do right now!

Stay Awesome!