NED BOULTING BRITISH FANS HIT THE NORTH

I can't remember the last time that there were this many British fans at the side of the road for the start of a Tour that wasn't in either Yorkshire or London. Every finish line so far has featured pockets of support from vocal spectators with accents ranging from Caerphilly to Leicester.

- 

Of course, Britain's proximity to Lille, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Dunkirk is the primary reason; it's actually day-trip territory for many people with access to the ports or the Eurostar. But I think it extends deeper than that. There is a kind of affinity between the British and the people of the North, known colloquially as the “Ch’tis”, a nickname given to them by the French soldiers from further south during WW1. It is a kinship which has its roots in the unbearable loss of life on the Flanders battlefields, of course. But it also, in my view, reflects a shared 19th century history of industrialisation built on coal mining that has left a legacy of tightly knit and rightfully proud towns, villages and cities that bear a resembl