The first full stage of the Tour de France races out of London into Kent on July 8: through maritime Medway to the hop and orchard country of the Weald , Tonbridge , Royal Tunbridge Wells, Tenterden , Ashford , then on to the finish line in Canterbury. Come and watch, or better still get on your bike - make Kent your escape route to freedom. All-ability, all-interest trails, including sections of the National Cycle Network, mean you don't need to be yellow jersey standard to have a magnificent time. Check out the Explore Kent website, choose a route that suits or plot your own using the interactive map. ( www.kent.gov.uk/explorekent ). Then you're off: maybe pedalling the Chalk and the Channel Way along the Dover- Folkestone Heritage Coast (take breathers beside the artworks en route) Ashford to Tunbridge Wells is 42 miles of quintessential Garden of England, while the 28-mile circuit of Romney Marsh is a hauntingly beautiful world apart. And what satisfaction when you c...