Adam Yates, Tom Pidcock and Sepp Kuss all bring their four-legged friends to the race
Dogs of the Tour de France, a yellow jersey to match(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
"Hear me out. Gallery idea: Dogs of the Tour de France."
My on-a-whim message to our editor Peter was sent almost entirely as a joke, but when the response came, my time at the race changed for the better.
"Love it," it said. But I had to clarify. "You know I'll do it. Be careful about joking."
We settled on an agreement. "I will photograph the dogs I see," – caveating that I'd do that anyway so it was no extra work – "and if I see one wearing a cycling jersey, a cap, or something else novelty, we run the gallery."
If ever you thought there was a deep thought process behind deciding absolutely every single one of the features we choose to write here at Cyclingnews, the harsh truth is that we're all just a bunch of normal people – cycling fans – writing for the most part about what we love. You probably already know I love talking about tech – see the Tour de France tech gallery for evidence of that – but I also love dogs; I have two of my own. If you asked me for an honest hierarchy of things I've seen here at the Tour, the riders are roughly third, the tech is second. Dogs sit at the top. Always.
Given the terms of our agreement, you can imagine my elation when, at the start of stage 2, Adam Yates' dog Zoe strutted off the UAE Team Emirates bus wearing one of his yellow jerseys and a matching neckerchief. This was more than just a novelty piece of cycling kit, it was the real yellow jersey. I didn't even paws to seek confirmation; the gallery was a go.
Pulse racing, I grabbed my camera, dropped to Zoe's level and pressed the shutter not once, but 37 times. Most of the photos, like the moment in itself, were a blur, but a few came good. Zoe was a natural in front of the camera, heading straight in for a boop.
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Zoe is a Samoyed. Adam tells me she's a big personality at home, and she's here to bring him extra morale. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Rain had threatened to plague the start of stage 2, but there was only one cloud in sight. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
She certainly wasn't camera shy. And she handled the crowds like a natural, despite Adam saying that she's not used to people, given they all live in a quiet area of Andorra where she likes to run in the forests. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Adam, who can run a quick marathon alone himself, doesn't run with Zoe. He leaves that to Lisa, and the pair (Lisa and Zoe) enjoy canicrossing. They want to try running her in the snow, true mushing style. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
At two years old, Adam says Zoe is "still a bit young" to freerun alongside a mountain bike true #traildogsofinstagram style, and he hasn't yet tried bikejoring with her. For now, he prefers to walk her, saying "It's something different to the bike. Near where we live is a lake, so we walk her around the lake. She goes in swimming and really enjoys herself. She has a good life". (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Brother Simon has a dog too, a miniature poodle called Tinker, which is much smaller and presumably much less of a floof. I'm told the pair are friends, and they love to play together, but unfortunately for me and this feature, Tinker was at home in Andorra, away from the crowds.
But at this point, the feature was officially happening, so I could no longer just passively photograph dogs that I saw, I needed to seek them out. Luckily, Adam isn't the only rider with a four-legged friend here at the race. Fellow Briton Tom Pidcock's Daschund Chestnut is also here, chaperoned by Tom's girlfriend Beth.
Sadly I didn't manage to speak with Chestnut before she and Beth left the race, but here she is in all her glory.
Chestnut didn't sit still for long among the thousands of spectators at the start of stage 1, but a brief respite provided enough time to take this photo. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
It wasn't until stage 3 that I started telling my fellow journalists in the press room of my upcoming feature. The freedom of stepping away from the Tour de France journalistic machine is infectious, and others were keen to help.
Fast forward to 5km to go on that same day, a sprint stage which Jasper Philipsen won. Dozens of my peers and I were standing at the Jumbo-Visma bus watching the finale on the small television screen. "That's Sepp Kuss' dog," came a whisper from one of them, pointing to the Toy Poodle over my right shoulder.
To their amusement given the fast-approaching finish, I stepped away from the television, missing around two of those final five kilometers, to introduce myself.
Meet Bimba. She is five months old, and has been here since stage 1 with Sepp Kuss' girlfriend Noemi. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
She was an affectionate soul, and spent a good 30 seconds licking my hand as tried to get this photo. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
At this point, I have papped the pups of three pro riders, but let's not forget that amid the search, I was also photographing the very good dogs that I spotted while roaming the paddocks. Here are the ones that managed to sit still long enough for a photo.
This police dog in training was among the crowds at Thursday's teams presentation. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
It wasn't all work for the young German Shepherd though. Here, he enjoyed a game of tug of war with one of the UAE Team Emirates staff. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Despite evidently being a playful boy, he was very good when required. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
I spotted this handsome chap among the crowds on stage 3. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Likewise this sheep. I'm not sure how he sees through such a fluffy face, but it didn't seem to stop him having a great time. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
He spent a while hanging around outside the Astana Qazaqstan bus. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Does this count? I think it counts. It's a picture of Victor Campenaerts' pup on his top tube. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
This was another, sitting somewhat precariously with its parents on the ledge of a second-story window, watching the riders sign on for stage 1. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
This good pup, meanwhile, spent time at the Barkea Samsic bus. (I'm not even a little bit sorry). (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
