Bryn Lennon, Getty Images Sports Photographer

PARIS - JULY 23: Floyd Landis of the USA and Phonak (C), Oscar Pereiro of Spain and Caisse d’Epargne (L) and Andreas Kloden of Germany and T-Mobile (R) stand on the podium after the final stage of the 93rd Tour de France, on July 23 2006 in Paris, France

It’s been one of the most interesting Tour de France races for over 40 years and now it’s finally over with the best man – Floyd Landis – taking to the winner’s podium in Paris. I even managed to stay in the next hotel room to Landis (talk about a small world!). He has to be one of the most humble guys I’ve ever met, let alone photographed, so truly deserves to take the 2006 title away with him.

Next year’s Tour proves to be a really exciting one with the event starting on home turf (in London). We’re not sure how the cyclists are going to make it over the English Channel yet – maybe they’ll build a bridge in the mean time!

Another image from me along with some more answers to you questions. Keep them coming!

“MORZINE-AVORIAZ, FRANCE - JULY 20: The peloton make their way through the French countryside during Stage 17 of the 93rd Tour de France between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Morzine-Avoriaz on July 20, 2006 in Morzine-Avoriaz, France”

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Q & A

How many pictures do you usually take in one day at Tour de France?

The number of frames I take really varies from stage-to-stage during the Tour de France – some days have more going on than others. On slower days I usually take around 400 frames. On busy days, it can be anything up to 700. Naturally, only the select few make it onto the Getty Images site.

If you use the 400mm 2.8 on the finish line, who bring this lens to the finish line? I think that you don’t bring a 400mm 2.8 on motorbike

If I’m on the bike I use a 300mm lens, f2.8. However, if I’m in the car (shooting in particular the start and finish line) I take with me a 400mm lens, f2.8. During the race, I usually alternate between motorbike and the car with another Getty Images photographer.

Look out for my final blog from Sunday, in Paris. Floyd Landis is the hot favourite to win!

Today, a couple of contrasting images and some answers to some questions from me. Hope you find them interesting.

“GAP, FRANCE - JULY 16: Rik Verbrugghe of Belgium and Cofidis lies in the bushes after he crashed on stage 14 of the 93rd Tour de France July 16, 2006 in between Montelimar to Gap”

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

“GAP, FRANCE - JULY 16: The peloton make their way towards Gap during stage 14 of the 93rd Tour de France July 16, 2006 from Montelimar to Gap”

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Q&A

Have you ever had an accident when you took pictures during a cycling competition like Tour de France?

This is only my second Tour de France and I’m pleased to say I haven’t had any accidents…yet! Amazingly, there are very few accidents involving photographers during this race – it’s mainly more police motorbikes which tend to have a few prangs. It’s all down to skill at the end of the day and we employ very good drivers to ensure we’re as safe as we can be. Sunday was a bit of an eventful day…check out this aftermath photo resulting from a collision between two riders

What kind of stuff are you using for picture transfering during the race? PocketPC? Or do you stop somewhere and transfer it by laptop via email? tnx for answering

This answer varies according to if I’m on the bike of not. If I am on the bike, then there’s no way we can send pictures throughout the day – it’s just too busy and we have to keep up with the riders to capture everything. I wait until each stage has finished for the day and use a 3G card (or GPRS signal) and laptop to send the images and captions. If I’m not on the bike, I use the Press Centre, which has ADSL lines.

“The peloton makes its way towards Pau during stage 10 of the 93rd Tour de France from Cambo-Les-Bains to Pau”

I like this helicopter shot, carrying a French TV camera crew. The helicopters don’t ever usually get this close to the riders, so I was a little surprised to capture this image as they all cycled around the bend. I jumped off the motorbike - after whizzing past the riders - to take this shot (on a 200mm lens) as I often achieve better shots when I’ve got a bit of time to set up a picture, rather than constantly shooting from the back of the bike.

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

“Number 16 of Bremen is challenged by number one of Leer during the Friendly Match between Germania Leer and Werder Bremen at the Hoheellern Stadium”

The life of a Getty Images sport photographer is often full of contrasts (like the world of sport itself) and it couldn’t have been better illustrated than my assignment last night. Having just finished with the World Cup, my task was to take pictures of a certain Mr Zidan and a few friends. Whilst you may hold your breath wondering what world exclusive has this boy stumbled upon, I sadly have to say this was no super scoop as the Mr Zidan in question was not the now famous head-butting Zinedine Zidan but that of Mohammed Zidan (who plays most of his football in the reserves of the German Bundesliga club of Werder Bremen).

I covered the match of Germania Leer, an amateur league team verses a team made up of Werder Bremen reserves, youth team players and few of the first team who felt like stretching their legs on a beautiful summers evening. The last match I covered was played in front of over 66,000 people - this match was just 1,000 spectators. Gone were the magnificent modern stadiums with all the facilities. Instead, we had a multi-purpose playing field with a tent at one end. Gone also, was the high speed internet cable to send my pictures to the editors. I edited my own pictures and spent a long time trying to work out who on earth these people were (I wasn’t surrounded by several hundred photographers either!). And, there were no national anthems before the start of the match – we were treated to Robbie Williams at half time instead…

It was more garden fete than carnival atmosphere but still the football fever remained. For the record, Mr Zidan scored two goals in the first half before being replaced at half time. As I started my two and half hour journey back home, I looked forward to one final contrast to the World Cup - a good night’s sleep in my OWN bed!

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images