Unlike my sister, who follows cycling, I was initially unaware that we had a distant relative who was a famous six-times gold medal-winning cyclist or even that the cyclists who I photographed smiling at us as they rode past our local Vietnamese restaurant were world famous.

Sir Chris Hoy received the freedom of the City of Edinburgh in 2009

In 2009, our seventh cousin once removed Sir Chris Hoy, six-times gold medal-winning cyclist joined other Olympians and Paralympians on an open-top bus parade through Edinburgh before attending a civic reception where he become part of an exclusive club that includes the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Sean Connery and Nelson Mandela who have received the freedom of the Scottish capital.

Sir Chris changed from his Olympic tracksuit that he wore on the bus parade into a traditional kilt for the private ceremony in the Assembly Rooms where he was presented with the honour by Edinburgh Lord Provost Donald Wilson.

Hoy said: “I’m immensely proud, but this award is for all the people who have helped me through the years, from the little seven-year-old racing BMXs to racing for Olympic medals in London, it’s been an amazing journey.

“It’s quite hard to take it all in, it’s an emotional day and one that I will never forget.“

The parade is the third celebration Sir Chris had been part of in the last week but he said his home town parade was “more personal and emotional.“

“It’s very emotional to see just what it means to the public, in particular in your home town, to come back to Edinburgh, my home city, and get this kind of support on a day that’s not been that kind to us weather-wise, it’s just amazing.

“You can’t really put it into words what it means but it’s our chance to thank everybody for their support.“

Sir Chris was joined on stage by his wife Sara to receive the freedom of the city and former rugby player Gavin Hastings paid tribute to his achievements.

Edinburgh city councillors unanimously voted to give the honour to the cyclist. It is granted to people who have distinguished themselves through their work or efforts, or to recognise the respect and high esteem in which they are held by the people of the city.

Sir Chris also led the official celebrations for all of Scotland’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes in Glasgow. A parade led more than 50 athletes into George Square where they were introduced one by one to a crowd of around 17,000.

Thousands again turned out in Edinburgh despite heavy rain and Sir Chris took time to sign autographs and talk to the crowd outside the City Chambers before boarding an open top bus that had been painted gold for the occasion.

Chez Thu

Not being a particular follower of cycling, I nevertheless turned out for the 2006 Tour de France when the final stage that would end at the Champs Elysees in Paris started at Antony in France on 23 July 2006 and I took a photo of the cyclists as they passed our local Vietnamese restaurant, Chez Thu.

True Vietnamese-only restaurants are quite rare. In 2006, Chez Thu was part of this category of restaurant that only served Vietnamese cuisine and had been run by the same family for more than 25 years. The restaurant was located in Antony, a few kilometres south of Paris, along the old National 20 road. Here everything breathed Vietnam from the decoration of the room (with its magnificent lacquer paintings) to the kitchen. All the great specialties of Vietnamese cuisine were represented and there were dishes that could only be found at Chez Thu, such as Banh Daph, Xa Xiu Pork or Grilled Pork Balls with Rice Cakes. When I returned to the restaurant after a ten year absence I was still greeted by the staff as I had only been away a week.

The Winners of the 2006 Tour de France

The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling’s Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Landis. Due to the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcing on 24th August 2012 that they had disqualified Lance Armstrong, a former teammate of Landis, from all of his results since 1st August 1998, including his seven Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005, this is also the first Tour to have an overall winner since 1998. By terms of margin of victory the 2006 Tour was the 3rd closest of all time.

The Tour began with a prologue in Strasbourg, on the French-German border, and ended on Sunday 23rd July in Paris. The distance of the course (run counterclockwise around France) was 3,657 km (2,272 mi). The race was the third fastest in average speed. Along the way, the cyclists passed through six different countries including France, The Netherlands (a stop at Valkenburg in Stage 3), Belgium (at Huy, Stages 3 and 4), Luxembourg (at Esch-sur-Alzette, Stages 2 and 3), Germany (though not stopping there, Stage 1) and Spain (Pla-de-Beret, Stage 11). The presentation of the course was made by the new director of Le Tour, Christian Prudhomme. For the first time since the 1999 edition, there was no team time trial.

The event, as with some of the Tours of the late 1990s, was marred by doping scandals. Prior to the tour, numerous riders – including the two favourites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso – were expelled from the Tour due to their link with the Operación Puerto doping case.

After the Tour, the apparent winner, Floyd Landis, was found to have failed a drug test after stage 17; Landis contested the result and demanded arbitration. On 20 September 2007, Landis was found guilty and suspended retroactive to 30 January 2007 and stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title making Óscar Pereiro the title holder. Landis appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld the ban.

Pereiro was also suspected of having taken a forbidden substance during this Tour after failing a drug test. However, his use of the substance in question, salbutamol, was approved by the UCI for medical reasons.

Of the six Americans to complete this Tour, four of them had their results voided. The results of Chris Horner and Christian Vande Velde remain official, although Vande Velde had previous results voided. American Sprinter Fred Rodriguez did not finish the Tour, but his results remain valid.

Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the Saeco Macchine per Caffè, Lampre–Merida and Nippo–Vini Fantini–Europa Ovini teams.

Cunego’s biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d’Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007 and 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the 2008 UCI ProTour. Primarily a climber, he improved his time-trialing and was characterized by great sprinting ability, unusual for a climber.

Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He finished first at the 2006 Tour de France, and would have been the third non-European winner in the event’s history, but was disqualified after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The competition was ultimately won by Óscar Pereiro.

Robbie McEwen AM (born 24 June 1972) is an Australian former professional road cyclist. McEwen is a three-time winner of the Tour de France points classification and, at the peak of his career, was considered the world’s fastest sprinter. He last rode for Orica–GreenEDGE on the UCI World Tour.

A former Australian BMX champion, McEwen switched to road cycling in 1990 at 18 years of age. He raced as a professional from 1996 until 2012. 

McEwen retired from the World Tour after riding the 2012 Tour of California and is now a cycling broadcast commentator on the Tour Down Under and the Tour de France

Michael Rasmussen (born 1 June 1974) is a retired Danish professional cyclist who competed in road racing and mountain biking. His most notable victories include four stages of the Tour de France, one stage of the Vuelta a España and a win on the Italian classic Giro dell’Emilia in 2002. He also won the best climber classification in the 2005 and 2006 Tour de France.

Specializing in climbing, Rasmussen showed a propensity for attempting spectacular wins in mountain stages in which he broke away from the peloton early and rode alone for most of the stage. Michael Rasmussen was known for his care for detail when considering weight. With a low weight (60 kg) he was usually one of the lightest riders in his class.

In the 2007 Tour de France, Rasmussen while wearing the yellow jersey and well on his way to winning the Tour, had his contract terminated by his team and was removed from the Tour. He served a two-year ban from July 2007 to July 2009 for lying about his whereabouts. At a press conference on 31 January 2013, Rasmussen admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs and methods, including EPO, growth hormones, insulin, testosterone, DHEA, IGF-1, Oxyglobin, cortisone and blood doping, for most of his professional career.