Tour de France Viewing in Person- What to Expect (Part 1)
What does an HC (hors categorie, or "out of category") or even a
Category 1 or Category 2 climb feel like? Can I do it, or would
I need to get off and walk? How much of the Tour de France will
I get to see if I go there on an organized tour? These are just
several of the many questions cyclists ask while they are
contemplating a trip to France to see the Tour.
Experiencing the Tour de France in person can be the fulfillment
of a lifetime dream for many cyclists. Seeing the colorful
peleton swoosh by, riding the famous mountains like the Alp
d'Huez or Col du Galibier in the Alps, for example, are dreams
for many cyclists, both avid riders and weekenders. Watching the
Tour on OLN is not like being there, however, and those who have
the right expectations will get the most for their time and
their money.
How Much Will I See? One must first realize that being at
the side of the road for the Tour is not the same as watching
stages on TV. Television has great advantages, of course, due to
the cameras mounted on motorcycles and helicopters which follow
the riders. In that way one can follow the progress of specific
riders for several hours. When one is at the Tour in person,
however, the peleton goes by quickly, and many novices seem
almost perplexed by the obvious. Some say things like "Gee, that
was fast. I didn't get to see much at all." And this is true if
the location one watches from is on a flat area early in the
day's race. Even if there is a breakaway by then, one would see
only the small group of escapees and then the peleton zoom by
probably just a few minutes later.
View the Action At Climbs The best way to combat this
problem is to view stages at climbs. Getting to the route hours
before the riders arrive, one can ride a favorite climb, like
the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees or the Alp d'Huez, for
example. Expert cyclists can ride the whole climb, but novices
need only ride a portion so that they can get a taste of what it
is like for the pros. They can also pick out a good viewing
spot, although organized tours may stake out a spot for their
group. Some of the best spots are found after climbing several
switchbacks and locating yourself where you can look down the
hill and see the riders approaching from below. They will take a
while to reach you, and since the peleton is often spread out on
the climbs, your viewing time will be much longer, perhaps even
20-30 minutes on some stages. You will get a better look at the
individual riders as well, as they obviously move slower on the
upslopes. The frenzied mountain top finishes one sees on TV can
also be misleading for first time Tour viewers. Many of these
locations are not accessible on race days, and most of the
people who are on the side of the road at the top have been
camping there for several days or have hiked miles to see the
finish. They are only in a position to see one stage, so for
organized tours that wish to view several stages in succession,
this situation is not an option. If one is fortunate enough to
see a time trial stage, the whole problem is alleviated. Riders
pass by one at a time throughout the day, so the "vanishing
peleton" problem is not an issue in that case.
The French Police The French police, called gendarmes,
provide security along the race routes, and they can be very
arbitrary. The roads upon which the Tour is held will be closed
by the police sometime before the Sponsor's Caravan arrives.
This colorful parade of vehicles precedes the riders typically
by an hour, and samples of various products are tossed from the
vehicles to the spectators. Most of the gendarmes are tolerant
of the tourists who ride bikes along the Tour race route before
the peleton arrives. Sometimes, however, if one is riding a bike
on the Tour route for the day, a gendarme might be strict and
will tell that person he cannot ride on the road any longer
because it is closed. The best course of action is to get off
the bike, walk along until the gendarme is no longer in view,
and then take off riding again to get to where you want to go.
This technique isn't always foolproof, however. On one stage of
the 2005 Tour de France our guests were riding on the Tour
route, and they returned rather quickly saying that a gendarme
would not let them continue on the road. I later rode my bike in
the same direction they did in order to investigate. I passed
quite a number of gendarmes along the way, and all they did was
to tell me to stay well to the side and be careful. At about 10
kilometers from the finish line a gendarme stopped me and asked
where I came from. I told him "the United States". Somewhat
exasperated, he sputtered, "no, how far have you been riding on
the road, it's closed!" I said I came from kilometer 3 and
passed many gendarmes, none of them stopped me and all just told
me to be careful. He said "well, they are not doing their jobs,
but I'm doing mine!" This was the archetypical Frenchman, king
of his little plot of turf. He made me go off on a side road for
awhile before finding the Tour road again closer to our viewing
position. Fortunately the vast majority of gendarmes are more
reasonable than this person, but they are responsible for public
safety and are doing a balancing act between that and letting
the tourists enjoy themselves. Of course when the Sponsor's
Caravan arrives, one has no choice but to stop, as the vehicles
zip by quickly and are somewhat reckless at times.