GREAT CYCLE RACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19976, 19 June 1928, Page 9

GREAT CYCLE RACE.

TOUR DE FRANCE STARTS. NUMEROUS COMPETITORS. United Service. PATHS, .Tune 17. One hundred rmd sixty-nine competitors in tlio Tour de Franco cycle race, of 3454 miles, started at 9 a.m. to-day from Levesinet. The riders were divided into two categories, firstly teams equipped by large firms, and secondly individual racers equipped by their own means. The grouped racers were divided into, five teams, namely, Alcyon, J. B. Louvet, Alleluia, Ravet and Fontan. One team is an Australian and New Zealand quartette. The individual racers were either isolated or formed nine provincial groups. The Tour do France is now divided into 22 stages of 157 miles a day. The course follows the coastline of the North Sea, the Channel, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the frontiers of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Luxemburg, and Belgium. The tofal distance is divided into three distinct sections. The .Australian and New Zealand team competing in the race comprises 11. Opperman (New South Wales}, L. Bainbridge (Victoria), P. Osborn (Victoria), and 11. Watson (New Zealand). FIRST STAGE FINISHED. WATSON IN 25TH PLACE. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received June 18, 8.'20 p.m.) PARIS. Juno 18. Opperman finished the first stage of the Tour de France race —Paris to Caen —in the 19th place. Osborne finished 24th and Watson 25th. It is expected that the team's form will improve as the race continues, but it is almost impossible to compete adequately without a larger team.