Salon du Cycle celebrates the Tour and more

The 2005 edition of the Salon International du Cycle got underway on October 1, but with press allowed in the previous day, Cyclingnews took a little walk around the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles to see what takes the fancy of the French this year. This two-wheel extravaganza is repeating its "two shows, one event" theme, and will once again feature two specialised "two-wheeler" sections - the bicycle show from October 1-4, run simultaneously with the motorcycle show, which stretches the festival of two wheels until October 9.

Zipp, SRAM, Kuota and Lapierre make an appearance at the show, with lots of Tour de France 'specials' featured, including Michael Rasmussen's polka dot jersey, Thor Hushovd's green jersey and bike (complete with Ksyrium ES wheelset) and Bastille Day stage winner David Moncoutie. Moncoutie became the darling of French cycling as a Frenchman winning on the national day, and with changes at his Cofidis team, he's sure to take on a greater leadership role next season.

Fresh off his MTB world championship win, Olympic champion Julien Absalon was smiling for the cameras in Paris - another show favourite as France's most exciting cycling prospect, particularly in the MTB world. Tom Boonen's world championship-winning Time machine made an appearance, complete with race number and very comfy-looking white Regal saddle. Campagnolo unleashed the latest update of their premium Bora wheelset - the Bora Ultra set weighs just 1285 grams, which shaves a few grams off this year's version.