Visiting Tour De France stage
Discussion
Planning on getting to France to watch a day of the Tour de France. Work and family limit scope of trip. Don’t want to waste the rare visit to Brittany area.
Will be Stage 8. Planning on going into start town early and getting out before the start to get to Vitre about an hour away to see it roll through, then stay and have a night out there.
Was thinking about simply being in Vitre and cut out driving or anxiety about hold ups or access.
Though I thought seeing the set up at the start might be interesting with the team buses and maybe see some riders.
Anyone with experience of attending the race?
What time do teams kick into action in start area? Out of the race route are things pretty much normal? Is hopping around the route asking for problems? Better to just take in atmosphere in the one place (Vitre).
Any insight welcome. Thanks.
Will be Stage 8. Planning on going into start town early and getting out before the start to get to Vitre about an hour away to see it roll through, then stay and have a night out there.
Was thinking about simply being in Vitre and cut out driving or anxiety about hold ups or access.
Though I thought seeing the set up at the start might be interesting with the team buses and maybe see some riders.
Anyone with experience of attending the race?
What time do teams kick into action in start area? Out of the race route are things pretty much normal? Is hopping around the route asking for problems? Better to just take in atmosphere in the one place (Vitre).
Any insight welcome. Thanks.
Seen the Tour many times in France. The roads close very early due to all of the services and the advertising caravan passing through. 2019 in the alps the road was closed in the morning when the peloton was due at 4pm, the year it got cancelled. If you want to see the start area and then roadside you need to plan your route very carefully probably across country on the back roads
This photo was taken around 11:30. When the peloton was due at 4
This photo was taken around 11:30. When the peloton was due at 4
Seen it a few times and made plenty of mistakes trying!
Generally, if on the route then roads are closed very early and crowds build from quite early on if not the night before in motorhomes. That makes getting around difficult so I'd advise finding an area of interest to you on the map and plotting up early with all you need. The caravan will go through a few hours before, they have music and throw freebies out which is fun and nice for the crowds. One year I parked up in the ardeche next to a sprint section on the flat expecting marvel at the speed the leaders go through as they compete. I was there for about 8 hours before the actual race arrived, I was burned to a crisp but the atmosphere was fun. The sprint ended up being uncontested so the entire peloton went past in about 15 seconds. Moral of that is plan where you watch from carefully. Start and finish areas would be good but ridiculously busy.
My favourite is to watch a mountain section up an alp. Mad atmosphere but you need to either be there very very early or be able to ride into position while the road is open. You'll spend most of the day seeing normal folk drag themselves up the hill and then be amazed at the speed the pros do it. Appreciate this wont be brittany but one to remember for planning.
Keep and eye on the race leading up to the day you're watching and be dynamic around where you go is my advice.
Generally, if on the route then roads are closed very early and crowds build from quite early on if not the night before in motorhomes. That makes getting around difficult so I'd advise finding an area of interest to you on the map and plotting up early with all you need. The caravan will go through a few hours before, they have music and throw freebies out which is fun and nice for the crowds. One year I parked up in the ardeche next to a sprint section on the flat expecting marvel at the speed the leaders go through as they compete. I was there for about 8 hours before the actual race arrived, I was burned to a crisp but the atmosphere was fun. The sprint ended up being uncontested so the entire peloton went past in about 15 seconds. Moral of that is plan where you watch from carefully. Start and finish areas would be good but ridiculously busy.
My favourite is to watch a mountain section up an alp. Mad atmosphere but you need to either be there very very early or be able to ride into position while the road is open. You'll spend most of the day seeing normal folk drag themselves up the hill and then be amazed at the speed the pros do it. Appreciate this wont be brittany but one to remember for planning.
Keep and eye on the race leading up to the day you're watching and be dynamic around where you go is my advice.
Work for INEOS Grenadiers cycling team so will try and give as much info as possible.
Stage 8 looks like a fairly flat stage so at the start there won't be a massive need for the riders to do any warm ups outside the bus on the turbo trainers. That means most of the time riders try and stay on the bus as long as they can until they have to go to the official sign on. We try and get the riders to do half hour 'fan fun time' where riders will sign our freebies / giveaways etc but at the Tour it depends on how the mood is or even just the weather!
You should be able to get pretty close though unless the race organisers have barriered off the bus area then you'll need an official pass to get in. Even then though you will be roadside, the 'caravan' as it's known is like a parade of branded vehicles chucking out freebies and is great to see especially if you have kids.
If you can see it roadside as well, it's generally super easy at the Tour, I have driven right up to the race route and stood next to my car in the past, because it's so big you can always get a good view with not much stress and no crowds.
Hope that helps
Stage 8 looks like a fairly flat stage so at the start there won't be a massive need for the riders to do any warm ups outside the bus on the turbo trainers. That means most of the time riders try and stay on the bus as long as they can until they have to go to the official sign on. We try and get the riders to do half hour 'fan fun time' where riders will sign our freebies / giveaways etc but at the Tour it depends on how the mood is or even just the weather!
You should be able to get pretty close though unless the race organisers have barriered off the bus area then you'll need an official pass to get in. Even then though you will be roadside, the 'caravan' as it's known is like a parade of branded vehicles chucking out freebies and is great to see especially if you have kids.
If you can see it roadside as well, it's generally super easy at the Tour, I have driven right up to the race route and stood next to my car in the past, because it's so big you can always get a good view with not much stress and no crowds.
Hope that helps
mcrdave said:
Work for INEOS Grenadiers cycling team so will try and give as much info as possible.
Stage 8 looks like a fairly flat stage so at the start there won't be a massive need for the riders to do any warm ups outside the bus on the turbo trainers. That means most of the time riders try and stay on the bus as long as they can until they have to go to the official sign on. We try and get the riders to do half hour 'fan fun time' where riders will sign our freebies / giveaways etc but at the Tour it depends on how the mood is or even just the weather!
You should be able to get pretty close though unless the race organisers have barriered off the bus area then you'll need an official pass to get in. Even then though you will be roadside, the 'caravan' as it's known is like a parade of branded vehicles chucking out freebies and is great to see especially if you have kids.
If you can see it roadside as well, it's generally super easy at the Tour, I have driven right up to the race route and stood next to my car in the past, because it's so big you can always get a good view with not much stress and no crowds.
Hope that helps
Many thanks Stage 8 looks like a fairly flat stage so at the start there won't be a massive need for the riders to do any warm ups outside the bus on the turbo trainers. That means most of the time riders try and stay on the bus as long as they can until they have to go to the official sign on. We try and get the riders to do half hour 'fan fun time' where riders will sign our freebies / giveaways etc but at the Tour it depends on how the mood is or even just the weather!
You should be able to get pretty close though unless the race organisers have barriered off the bus area then you'll need an official pass to get in. Even then though you will be roadside, the 'caravan' as it's known is like a parade of branded vehicles chucking out freebies and is great to see especially if you have kids.
If you can see it roadside as well, it's generally super easy at the Tour, I have driven right up to the race route and stood next to my car in the past, because it's so big you can always get a good view with not much stress and no crowds.
Hope that helps
mcrdave said:
Work for INEOS Grenadiers cycling team so will try and give as much info as possible.
Don't want to hound you but ok if I ask a few questions? Genuinely love cycling, and view INEOS as our home team, which it is!!What do you do for the team?
Excited for the year ahead? Been in the fight so far.
FredericRobinson said:
Am I right in thinking all riders will sign on in a public ceremony before the stage starts for the day?
Yes they do, also it's a chance to see them warming up too, be prepared to get a good spot and wait though, we used to camp on Alpe D' Huez, the fans are next level hardcore.No worries at all Josh and it's nice to hear that about the team.
I'm the senior designer for the team so oversee everything from the bike design, kit, vehicles. Everything with a logo on it basically. A lot of colour matching and flying to see partners and occasionally I sit down and design some stuff too!
I've been with the team since the Sky days which seem like a lifetime ago now. The team have had a rough ride last season but we've had a good start to this year and it feels great to be back at the pointy end of the races again. So yeah I'm optimistic about the season for sure.
Hope I can get to a few races this year, at very least Tour of Britain.
I really enjoy chatting to fans and getting the real lowdown on how the team is perceived rather than the media!
What do you do for the team?
Excited for the year ahead? Been in the fight so far.
I'm the senior designer for the team so oversee everything from the bike design, kit, vehicles. Everything with a logo on it basically. A lot of colour matching and flying to see partners and occasionally I sit down and design some stuff too!
I've been with the team since the Sky days which seem like a lifetime ago now. The team have had a rough ride last season but we've had a good start to this year and it feels great to be back at the pointy end of the races again. So yeah I'm optimistic about the season for sure.
Hope I can get to a few races this year, at very least Tour of Britain.
I really enjoy chatting to fans and getting the real lowdown on how the team is perceived rather than the media!
joshcowin said:
mcrdave said:
Work for INEOS Grenadiers cycling team so will try and give as much info as possible.
Don't want to hound you but ok if I ask a few questions? Genuinely love cycling, and view INEOS as our home team, which it is!!What do you do for the team?
Excited for the year ahead? Been in the fight so far.
mcelliott said:
Yes they do, also it's a chance to see them warming up too, be prepared to get a good spot and wait though, we used to camp on Alpe D' Huez, the fans are next level hardcore.
Thanks, assumed they would, have been to similar ceremonies at the Tour of Britain but my only TdF experience was in Yorkshire when I was out on the stage.mcrdave said:
Work for INEOS Grenadiers cycling team so will try and give as much info as possible.
Stage 8 looks like a fairly flat stage so at the start there won't be a massive need for the riders to do any warm ups outside the bus on the turbo trainers. That means most of the time riders try and stay on the bus as long as they can until they have to go to the official sign on. We try and get the riders to do half hour 'fan fun time' where riders will sign our freebies / giveaways etc but at the Tour it depends on how the mood is or even just the weather!
You should be able to get pretty close though unless the race organisers have barriered off the bus area then you'll need an official pass to get in. Even then though you will be roadside, the 'caravan' as it's known is like a parade of branded vehicles chucking out freebies and is great to see especially if you have kids.
If you can see it roadside as well, it's generally super easy at the Tour, I have driven right up to the race route and stood next to my car in the past, because it's so big you can always get a good view with not much stress and no crowds.
Hope that helps
Thanks for the comments. Nice seeing Ineos come out fighting this year. Shame Tarling just missed out after a horrid day on Paris-Nice yesterday. Thought team (if able) might have formed a bit of a lead out train coming into final 2k. Stage 8 looks like a fairly flat stage so at the start there won't be a massive need for the riders to do any warm ups outside the bus on the turbo trainers. That means most of the time riders try and stay on the bus as long as they can until they have to go to the official sign on. We try and get the riders to do half hour 'fan fun time' where riders will sign our freebies / giveaways etc but at the Tour it depends on how the mood is or even just the weather!
You should be able to get pretty close though unless the race organisers have barriered off the bus area then you'll need an official pass to get in. Even then though you will be roadside, the 'caravan' as it's known is like a parade of branded vehicles chucking out freebies and is great to see especially if you have kids.
If you can see it roadside as well, it's generally super easy at the Tour, I have driven right up to the race route and stood next to my car in the past, because it's so big you can always get a good view with not much stress and no crowds.
Hope that helps
Looking at past stages, looks like this one could start around 1200-1300hrs.
Looked at route and plan to get to Vitre would be on big arterial N roads across to Rennes towards Laval and off to Vitre. I imagine these should be alright and be running normally.
Is there usually huge turnout of people in the smaller start towns?
Biggest anxiety is parking somewhere to get out of Saint-Meen. But looking at route, should be able to leave north and join those N roads without touching roads likely to be closed.
Plan will be to get to the town around 0700-0800. See whatever is going on and get out at least an hour before the roll out. Just over an hour to drove to Vitre.
Vitre is about 80-90km into the stage so should take riders 1.5-2hrs to come through.
It is a toss up between seeing as much as possible or just soak in the build up in Vitre.
Back up plan if delayed making progress is to punch ahead along route and try and get roadside. Won’t try and get to finish. Expect Laval to be much busier.
Excited to see the race live. Decades of TdF TV viewing and other races.
Alps would be lovely, but harder to justify a special trip compared to Brittany. Just wish I had a couple more days to play with to make it feel less rushed. Do a mid stage, start and a finish.
I've been twice to view as a walking spectator, 2 years ago in Paris, and last year, Nice.
The Police in Paris were very strict, with just about all side roads to the Champs closed with barriers, and most one way with bag searches etc.
In Nice, it was far more relaxed, with a good carnival atmosphere and security and Police happy to chat.
I hired a Lime bike and cycled out as far as I could to watch as they passed on the penultimate stage. As mentioned the cavalcade was passing a good 2 hours before the pelton came through, handing out caps, bottles Tshirts etc.
On the way back to Nice I followed the time trial route for the final stage. There was no mercy for any cars or scooters parked on the roadside. They were all being lifted onto fleets of lorries and taken away.
To the OP, if you can take a bike with you, and leave the car somewhere, you'll find it a lot easier
The Police in Paris were very strict, with just about all side roads to the Champs closed with barriers, and most one way with bag searches etc.
In Nice, it was far more relaxed, with a good carnival atmosphere and security and Police happy to chat.
I hired a Lime bike and cycled out as far as I could to watch as they passed on the penultimate stage. As mentioned the cavalcade was passing a good 2 hours before the pelton came through, handing out caps, bottles Tshirts etc.
On the way back to Nice I followed the time trial route for the final stage. There was no mercy for any cars or scooters parked on the roadside. They were all being lifted onto fleets of lorries and taken away.
To the OP, if you can take a bike with you, and leave the car somewhere, you'll find it a lot easier
We did a five day trip to catch 4 stages of the TDF last summer.
It was amazing, way better than I expected. Took a fair bit of organisation to know what and where to go, but one of the other guys did most of that for us!
We went in his motorhome and took our bikes. We camped in 2 locations to catch the four stages, and by using bikes, managed to get to the route very late on if catching it mid-stage - and any waiting times were spent relaxing in the warm sunshine. We were in and around some of the best wine growing regions of France so enjoyed that side of the French culture, rode almost 1000km, had a great boys trip. Weather helped too!
The caravan is fun, but once you've seen it once, it's a bit tiresome IMO. We did a couple of finish lines which are crazy busy, but by working out the obvious route from finish line to team buses, you'll get to see all the riders go past at touching distance. ITT was great (and a longer viewing slot meant we saw several different areas, cycling between them.) We got to see two gravel sections (and rode one) plus that day's finish.
We had a couple of friends working for teams so we got some limited access to the team buses, but you can get to see them anyway, just not as close.
(Disclaimer: These are one of the other guys photos of our trip, not mine, except the dusty Cav picture at the end of the Gravel stage)
It was amazing, way better than I expected. Took a fair bit of organisation to know what and where to go, but one of the other guys did most of that for us!
We went in his motorhome and took our bikes. We camped in 2 locations to catch the four stages, and by using bikes, managed to get to the route very late on if catching it mid-stage - and any waiting times were spent relaxing in the warm sunshine. We were in and around some of the best wine growing regions of France so enjoyed that side of the French culture, rode almost 1000km, had a great boys trip. Weather helped too!
The caravan is fun, but once you've seen it once, it's a bit tiresome IMO. We did a couple of finish lines which are crazy busy, but by working out the obvious route from finish line to team buses, you'll get to see all the riders go past at touching distance. ITT was great (and a longer viewing slot meant we saw several different areas, cycling between them.) We got to see two gravel sections (and rode one) plus that day's finish.
We had a couple of friends working for teams so we got some limited access to the team buses, but you can get to see them anyway, just not as close.
(Disclaimer: These are one of the other guys photos of our trip, not mine, except the dusty Cav picture at the end of the Gravel stage)
I've seen a couple of stages - watching on Alpe D'Huez for the double ascent for the 100th anniversary was amazing, as was riding up in the morning getting cheered on by all the fans. Watching the mountain stage is great, you get to see lots of riders all strung out, and really close up. Highly recommended!
As someone said above, don't underestimate the speed they'll go by. They'll breeze up pretty much anything that isn't an Alp or a 20% wall, so on a flat stage if the peloton is together you might just see a 15 second blur. We watched on around a mile long 5% uphill stretch in Lyon and they flew along at what I'd consider a speedy downhill pace! Pray for echelons on a flat stage
I've not been to the start of a tour stage, but I've seen a Giro one in Vinci, and it was great - seeing all the buses arrive, watching the riders go up and down to sign on, the crazy Italian fans cheering on their local favourites, and a mad guy dressed up as Leonardo da Vinci running up and down the street! There was a lot going on at the Giro start with Europop, countdowns and so on, so I'd guess the Tour would be on another level. For a one-off visit, there was more to see at the start than mid-way through a flat stage.
I've never been to a finish but that's next on the list.
As someone said above, don't underestimate the speed they'll go by. They'll breeze up pretty much anything that isn't an Alp or a 20% wall, so on a flat stage if the peloton is together you might just see a 15 second blur. We watched on around a mile long 5% uphill stretch in Lyon and they flew along at what I'd consider a speedy downhill pace! Pray for echelons on a flat stage
I've not been to the start of a tour stage, but I've seen a Giro one in Vinci, and it was great - seeing all the buses arrive, watching the riders go up and down to sign on, the crazy Italian fans cheering on their local favourites, and a mad guy dressed up as Leonardo da Vinci running up and down the street! There was a lot going on at the Giro start with Europop, countdowns and so on, so I'd guess the Tour would be on another level. For a one-off visit, there was more to see at the start than mid-way through a flat stage.
I've never been to a finish but that's next on the list.
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