Firstly the thoughts of us all are with the friends and family of all those who have suffered from the indiscriminate terrorist attack in Manchester.

What a fantastic feeling to arrive in Karlsruhe last night to an enthusiastic welcome from a large crowd of supporters! Our last day was 50 kms including the 500m crossing of the Rhine into Germany, and that was quite enough!

We succeeded in riding 230 kms from Nancy to Karlsruhe in 5 days as a mark of respect to Baron Karl von Drais, who invented the Draisine in 1817, which was the first man propelled riding machine. The Velocipede followed in the early 1860s, then the Penny Farthing, before the cog and chain enabled the safety bike closer to the ground and the tricycles in the 1880s. From these Karl Benz evolved the first motorcar in 1886 and the age of modern transport was born.

‘Chapeau’ to Karl Drais!