Off the road, there's no contest. An Italian rider called Mario Cippollini is Mr Tour de France.
Last night at the grand launch of le Tour he also became King of the Castle when he perched his derriere on the eminently out-of-bounds red throne in the State Apartments in Dublin.
What really clinched it though was the Saeco team member's announcement shortly afterwards that he has a little surprise in the short Lycra trouser department lined up for tomorrow.
As all 189 Tour entrants strutted their stuff in front of 500 people on the open air-stage in the Dublin Castle courtyard, proceedings took a beauty contest air.
It was a kind of Rose of Tralee with wheels. RTE's Mary Kennedy did Gaybo's bit and replaced the world peace section with a question as to whether the contestant had any chance at winning the Tour.
"Yeah, I think so," said one of the favourites, Bjaarne Riis, indicating that bike riders leave their talking for the track.
The biggest cheer was for the hot favourite, 24-year-old Jan Ullrich from Germany. Stephen Roche engaged in good-natured slagging with Richard Virenque, France's biggest Tour hope, saying the rider was a big hit with "little girls and old ladies".
Throughout, Mario Cippollini could be seen sticking his head from a first-floor window, brandishing a long-lens camera with which he put other contestants off their stride.
While the current Tour hotshots were introducing themselves, stars of past tours had already met the President, Mrs McAleese, at a reception in Aras an Uachtarain that afternoon.
Also present were Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith, Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne, the Tour director, Mr Jean-Marie Le Blanc, and ambassadors from France, Germany, the United States and the Netherlands.
The Minister for Sport, Mr McDaid, chatted with his French counterpart, Ms Marie-George Buffet. It would be a memorable weekend, they agreed.
Perhaps most of all the Tour will be remembered for putting smiles on taxi-drivers' faces. Yesterday they released a statement saying that because of the traffic restrictions they were able to offer 25 per cent more business. Happy taxi-drivers? Vive la France!