GEUELLING CONTEST

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 8, 10 January 1930, Page 4

GEUELLING CONTEST

TOUR DE FRANCE,, 102S

The Tour De France, the greatest road cycling event in the- world, is known to mo *; sporting enthusiasts in Now Zealancl by namo only. Something of .the strenuous riding it provides, the country which is passed through, on the route, the tremendous enthusiasm it creates in France,' aiid other very interesting sidelights were dealt with in a chatty lecture, illustrated by lantern slides, which was given principally f<>r the benefit of local cyclists by Hubej-t Opporman, the noted Australian professional rider, last evening. Opporman captained the Australian rind New Zealand team- of four xidors (H. Watson being the- New Zoalander) which competed in the 1928 contest and gave a good account of itself against heavy odds. The fact that the Australian and New Zealand team comprised, through lack of funds, only four members, while all the other teams had ten, was a big;■ handicap, and then, too, placing the team at a further disadvantage was the fact that' at Marseilles, the halfway mark, the other teams had fresh riders ,to call upon. The Australian and New Zealand team was told it had an impossible task, but, nevertheless, was encouraged by very sporting tributes. Team spirit counted, and according td Opperman, the members of the^ team he captained were well endowed with this attribute. Having to leave at midnight on mountainous stages, among big bunches of rjders was one of the trying features of the race. There were 22 stages in the contest, and the roads for the most part were good, but the grade, particularly in the mountains in the South of France, made the going heavy. Out of 169 competitors, 39 finished. Another thing which impressed Opperman was the manner in which the foreign riders negotiated difficult descents and hairpin bends at reckless speed, which gives some idea of the perfect handling of the machines. Opperman's slides gave an added interest to the lecture. They showed different parts of the route, and the members of the various teams, including thie winner of the race, Fra-ntz, to whom'Opperman paid a high tribute.