When watching the Tour de France on tv, you really have no idea how much the sponsorships and advertising plays such a huge role! We went out to watch the Tour in Antwerp, and for a full hour before the riders came through, we saw advertisement after advertisement drive by.
The funny thing is that all these ads were in the form of cars that had been dressed up (like we would do in North America for a parade) but these were being driven by at 50-60km/h! While I was impressed that nothing fell off these cars at that speed, even more impressive was the fact that people were actually RIDING these floats! Here is a brief selection, many were going too fast and too close to get a good shot.
yes, someone was actually riding the horse…
I was fairly shocked that this car could go as fast as it was going…
While the shear aerodynamics baffle me, I’d love to have seen the look on the face of the guy at the body shop, “so let me get this straight, you want me to make this car look like a chicken?”…
Yes, you’re seeing that right, there is a girl riding the water bottle, with a giant hose spraying down the crowd…. I’m glad I took this picture, as you’d have all called me crazy while trying to explain this one…
99 Days in Paris 