Tour de France 2024 part 2 (Travel related)

I’ll look for you on the stage highlight YouTube clip. Thanks so much for sharing. We were in Bayonne in May and loved it.

The France 2 channel has had some post-stage programming, the “Velo Club,” with commentators sitting around a big, multi-colored roulette wheel. A few afternoons ago, a big snail was sitting on the wheel, which was never spun. With all the commentary in French, I couldn’t tell what was going on. The commentators all seemed to be delighted by the snail, and I thought that b m subacute the snail stopped, some winner would be predicted.

Lots of interviews of riders were happening, although most of the riders (including Jasper Phillipsen and Tadej Pogacar) didn’t seem to speak French. You could hear them answering questions in English (sometimes pretty accented), but then being overdubbed in French. In the end, it was all unintelligible, like people talking over each other.

Something pretty exciting is that one of the commentators on the Velo Club is Thomas Voeckler, a retired French rider, one of the (few) French standouts from 16 years ago. I wouldn’t have recognized him with his beard now (and eye wrinkles from being a bit older now, and undoubtedly from thousands of miles of riding with sun exposure) except that his name was plastered up on the TV screen. My first time seeing the Tour de France live, in 2008, standing at the top of the Mur de Bretagne climb south of Saint-Brieuc, he was the first rider to crest the hill. That stage was won by Alejandro Valverde, who just retired from road racing in 2022, and is now gravel racing, still with Team Movistar, at age 44. We drove a side route from that roadside position to the finishing town, missing the actual finish by a few minutes, but were able to wander among the presentation stages and interview areas. I stood maybe eight inches from Australian sprinter Robbie McEwan while he was being interviewed. He’s now a commentator for EuroSport, which broadcast the Giro d’Italia this spring over a MAX subscription.

Patty, we’re packed much more heavily than usual, because of hiking plans. My husband couldn’t fit in 2 American flags he’d gotten last year, so we won’t be as conspicuous as we might’ve been. Our normally carry-on-sized bags are expanded so they’re too thick to meet carry-on dimension limits (boy, are hiking boots bulky!), plus we’ve got folding trekking poles that fit inside them but would likely not make it thru Security. The flagpole rods would’ve been too much.

As far as Travel goes, the Tour de France is part of the French identity, and any travel in France in July will involve the Tour de France on some level. Following the Tour from wherever someone is located is “traveling” - either literally or virtually.

Cyn, thank you for this, I was so disappointed to find Hank’s posting locked this morning. I know bike racing is not technically travel but it is so French! I was enthralled with all the local details and flavor. And Hank obviously can give the details on racing which I know zip about.

How difficult is it traveling by car around tdf areas? Are there lots of road closures to deal with? Your trip is focused on hiking with a side emphasis on the race? And how has your weather been? Much hotter temperatures than expected?

I was sad to see Hank’s thread locked as well, especially since it’s so difficult to keep up since they dropped the daily coverage on NBC. It was on last Saturday am, so that was a wonderful surprise. We live in a hotel during most of July so other avenues are restricted (and we’re not technically savvy).

Keeping it travel related, I was interested to hear what it takes to actually view it in person. Certain spots, especially those in the mountains look like they would be difficult to access and difficult to park for. How early do you need to arrive for a spot?

Also keeping it travel related, how many casual bike riders are likely to encounter gravel like tnat on their route? I can’t remember Hank mentioning that on his ride last summer. Watching that gravel stage gave me a whole new appreciation for those guys at the back!

For those who are in France or who have a VPN, I am posting the France TV link again.

The entire race is broadcast live without commercial breaks. Live images/sound of the 5 TV motorcycles in the race can also be selected.

The entirety of all the stages are also available in replay.

Everything is available for free provided you open an account on France TV. (it takes 1 minute, it's free)

https://www.france.tv/sport/cyclisme/tour-de-france/

A recommendation for extreme bicycle travelers is the NorthCape-Tarifa bicycle adventure: By bike from the northernmost to the southernmost point of the European continent. Through 15 different countries, different cultures, languages and landscapes. 24 hours of daylight in the north and a finish on the Mediterranean in warm temperatures and sunshine with a view of Africa just a few kilometers away.

This year: Crossing the finish line - after around 7,400 kilometers, 20 days and 19 hours. Christian Englert has made it: he is the first of 55 participants to cross the finish line in Tarifa, Spain, after the longest cycling race in the world.

JoLui, thank you for posting the France TV information again. I signed up (had to enter a French postal code, so I used our hotel’s), and was able to get some footage for a couple of days.

I’m currently using the Tour Tracker app, and get a few days for free. It has route information and lots more details about riders. Helpful for behind-the scenes info.

Then there’s Lance Armstrong’s *The Move * podcast. He’s usually joined by George Hincapie, his long-time support rider, and often by Belgian Johan Bruyneel, former pro rider and Team Director and one of the best cycle racing strategists ever, as well as fluent in several languages, and currently also Sir Bradley Wiggins, Tour de France Winner in 2012, Gold Medal winner in four separate Olympic Games, and record setter in 2015 for traveling 33.88 miles in one hour. That last record has since been broken, but “Wiggo” remains a major champion. A Brit, he’s currently in Aspen, Colorado (where Lance lives) and was surprised to spot a moose in town, which he says you don’t often see in London.

For anybody not in France, there’s a pre-race broadcast each day, on Channel France 3. It has the same commentators as on the Velo Clib post-race show, sitting around the same outdoor set, but without the roulette wheel in the center. The racing coverage starts around 1:00PM. They do discuss many of the historical sights, churches, chateaux, mansions, etc. that Bob Roll covers in the U.S., but probably in more detail, and only in French.

Patty, we’ve found the roads in France on this trip, so far, to be in remarkably good condition. Watching stages of the Tour de France, it often looks like lots of sections of road were just freshly paved (or repaved) - probably to make that part of France look particularly good - and maybe extra funding is provided to areas where the Tour is routed.

I understand that Tour organizers this year were concerned that there wouldn’t be enough gravel on the road for the race, so they brought in truckloads of fresh gravel, but there wasn’t time for traffic to pack down and distribute it. So rather than bikes simply going on dirt roads, they were sinking in pebbles. Imagine riding a bike through a giant fish tank, with tons of the loose, deep stuff found at the bottom of an aquarium. That’s not a normal bike environment, so it made for an unusually tough stage. A casual bike rider would never encounter that.

As far as accessing spectator viewing points, more in a moment …

Lyndash, the weather’s been surprisingly pleasant, and not severely hot. Yesterday (Friday) in fact was cool, with a misting rain in the Pyrenees. By the time we get to Nice in a week, though, I expect it to be scorching.

As for viewing, the “real” Tour de France for many starts tomorrow - climbing suited only for the top General Classification racers, who may wind up getting lots of polka-dot Mountain points as well, being out in front. Parts of the roads leading from Pau (where Friday’s stage ended and Saturday’s starts) and the big climbs on Saturday closed Friday at 11:00 AM. Anybody who wanted to be parked up on the hairpin curves on the Col du Tourmalet - an iconic, long, punishing, steeper than 7% gradient climb in the Pyrenees, needed to get past the road closure point yesterday, and they’re camping up there tonight. Pedestrians and amateur bicyclists can probably get up the mountain (as far and fast as they’re physically able) in the morning - but no unofficial cars.

Tomorrow, we’re planning on leaving our rented apartment in Cauterets, a 30 minute drive from the small town of Luz-Saint-Sauveur (where a mid-stage Sprint section will be located, for the Green Jersey competition), by 8:30 AM. We’ll try to drive as far beyond Luz and hopefully also beyond the even smaller community of Barèges (population something like 150), which is at the start of the Tourmalet climb. If the road hasn’t been completely closed off, we’ll try to get to a parking spot, then wait several hours for the Caravan (trucks with promotional trinkets being tossed to spectators), then eventually the riders. If we can’t get past some point, we’ll park, then walk as high as we can, to find a place to wait. It’s supposed to be overcast, so hopefully not too much sun, nor drenching rain. We’ll have lots of water, rain jackets, and extra layers. Got 2 baguettes and lots of meat, cheese, and olives for lunch. It’s still relatively early in the Stage, so we can head home mid-afternoon. Trying to be on the Pla d'Adet, the mountain after the Tournalet, would’ve required booking a ski condo for a full week (one week minimum) at an enormous price, and kind-of in the middle of nowhere outside of ski season. We’ll hopefully get to see some climbing on the “Queen Stage” (the most significant), even if we’re not at the very top, but got to enjoy a real town for the rest of the week, without the limitations that being at the top would involve.

That’s the plan for tomorrow, Stage 14. Stage 20, in Nice, we’ll be at the starting area, watching riders prepare for the ride, then see them start off. Our apartment will be something like 2 blocks from the beginning of the stage. Stage 21, the Time Trial, our apartment by the Old Port will again be very near the route, this time close to the finish, so we can watch riders go past, one at a time, throughout the day. If we need to use the restroom, get a cold beverage or some food, or sit in the A/C to cool off, the apartment will be just a couple of blocks away. Talk about Location, Location, Location!

Well, it’s after 2:00AM here in France, and I need some more sleep, because tomorrow’s TDF day, so I’m signing off …

It’s nearing noon, France time. We’ve been parked for a nearly 2 hours at a pull-off just before a curve onto a bridge, by a power plant. We left our apartment early and easily headed out of Cauterets, going northeast for several miles, before taking a hard right onto the D921 road, which the Peloton will be following. At once, we were suddenly behind traffic - cars and vans, with lots of bike riders hugging the far right, minimal shoulder of the road. A low stone wall marked the right edge of the road, and it looked like precarious place to be on a bike, with so many cars rushing down a twisty road with a lot of blind corners. We passed bikes when possible, with everybody clearly trying to get down the road as quickly as possible.

There wasn’t going to be any passing of cars - we were in a long queue at this point. Certainly, all the bike riders were going to be pedaling up the Tourmalet, and cars were all going towards the same place. We started passing campers and motor homes that were parked at spots on the side of the road big enough to hold them. In some places, plastic tape or ribbons had been stretched across the rest of a big space, apparently to prevent anyone else from parking in “their” space. That’s not nice - claiming extra real estate for an event with general admission.

With the campers, it seemed as if things were going to start getting congested just ahead, and I was getting antsy to pull over soon, before we hit a closure and would be turned around. Seeing the wide place at the edge of the road, I had Scott pull over, just past an SUV with people sitting in folding chairs outside of it. The cars and bikes behind us went past, and have just kept coming. License plates from the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, etc. Most of the bikes seem to be high-end carbon fiber racing models, and lots of cyclists are dressed in kits that look like teams in The Tour, or matching outfits from some other team or bike club. That’s one thing about most outdoor people in Colorado - we’ve got good outdoor gear (breathable, waterproof, durable, and adjustable), but things aren’t color-coordinated or matching, and with clashing brand names. That’s what happens when you get stuff on sale at the end of the season - jacket from one place, pants from another at a discount, hat, shirts, and everything else acquired individually, without being an “outfit.”

Well, I’m surprised that cars have continued to come past. Bikes I can understand - there will be room to squeeze people in. Somehow vehicles haven’t hit a roadblock, and haven’t started getting turned around to where we are. Maybe there’s more room up the road than I thought, but we do now have some company - other vehicles with lots of occupants, who’ve gotten out and are sitting in folding chairs, next to folding tables. It’s cool and a bit windy, so we’ve stayed in the rental Citroen, rather than sitting out in the chill. Some of our neighbors are all wrapped up, and look cold. But then, people in London will have dinner outside at tables on the sidewalk in March, I guess just for the al fresco experience, except I think their food’s getting cold as they’re getting cold, too.

I understood that things would be blocked off at Luz-Saint-Saveur, and didn’t want to be told to turn around. Apparently, with all the cars that have come past (we were ahead of them, at least), there was a lot of room still up there. We pulled off maybe 2 miles before Luz, where the Sprint section will be, and before the major climbing begins. At least we have a place on the route for the stage. We might walk up the road a bit to scout for any better viewing point, but we may be in a good (enough) spot. Wish we had those American flags to wave, but they’ll be at home for Next Time.

We brought lots of water, but the more you drink, the more you have to pee. I imagine it’s harder to find a place for “a natural break” (bike racing term) if you’re in a crowd with no bushes around.

So interesting to hear about the logistics of watching the race live,, Cyn! I watch it every year on TV in the UK and have been tempted to time my summer hols to coincide with it to watch it as you are, maybe next year. I’m not a cyclist, so I’d definitely be one of the ones watching from somewhere my car could get to…

AmandaR, for the mountaintop finishes, there are sometimes gondolas or chairlifts that can whisk bystanders to the finishing area. We were at the Alp d’Huez, maybe the most iconic of the French peaks used in the Tour, and reached the top via lifts from the opposite side of the mountain than the riders were coming. Our hotel was ideally located for getting to/from the top.

OK, so today, the Caravan came past, about 45 minutes ahead of the race, and many of the trucks sped by (as in really fast), while others drove slower and tossed out goodies to the crowd. Compared to 10 years ago, when we were in Valence and atop the Alp d’Huez mountain finish in the Alps, the whole advertising Caravan is shorter now, and the companies comprising it are giving out less stuff. But it’s arguably nicer, less useless stuff.

We’ve found that certain French foods have a Nutri-Score label on the front, rating the contents from A (dark green, and the best) to E (junk food).
Cereal at the local supermarket is pretty much all flavored with chocolate, and many varieties have big chunks of chocolate. Frosted Flakes at home are practically artisanal health food by comparison. Well, the cereal was almost all “C,” with oatmeal being “A,” and Quaker Cruesli (kind-of a granola/muesli/honey nut clusters hybrid) a “B.” Packaged sliced ham was mostly “C,” but the lower sodium version was a “B,” as was packaged sliced chicken. “Next to checkout was a wall of crackers and snack foods - all “E.” Well, the Caravan tossed out some “D” crackers (not the absolute the worst for you), some shaped like a bike jersey, some the shape of France, and others round with the figure of a bicyclist stamped in them. We got 2 cute key fobs shaped like bikes, with a bottle opener built in. Then a reusable shopping bag (handy, now that our supermarkets charge if you don’t bring your own), a wristband that says Biofreeze on it, but no Biofreeze sample or coupon tucked inside, and some shortbread cookies with chocolate inside (yes, those were “E.”. Oh, some Haribo big jelly beans (no artificial colors!) - but candy doesn’t get a rating scale. Apparently it’s implied that candy isn’t nutritional. Cans of non-alcoholic lime-flavored beer (main ingredient after water is sugar) were being carefully handed out from a truck that slowed way down to likely customers. Bucket hats with logos were ubiquitous. But the flimsy refrigerator magnets, foam batons, and useless, inflatable puffs from 10 years ago weren’t distributed now. Hey, it’s free, and much of it isn’t needed, but there less absolute waste being thrown to the crowd to generate interest in the race and its sponsors.

The riders had broken into three groups by the time they came past where we were waiting. The first breakaway group had maybe 8 riders, trying to get ahead for winning Sprint points at the Sprint line a couple of miles ahead. The second group was a minute or so behind, and included Biniam Girmay, the current Sprint leader (he’s waaaay ahead of everyone else in Sprint points), in the Sprint leader Green Jersey.

The main group, with everybody else, came thundering by a couple minutes after that. I picked out Welsh rider Geraint Thomas in his conspicuous white sunglasses, Yellow jersey General Classification Leader Tadej Pogacar, and Polka-dot Jersey wearer Jonas Abrahamsen (Pogacar is the King of the Mountains points leader, but since he’s also the GC leader and was wearing Yellow, the second in line for the Mountains gets to wear the polka dots), but the pack whizzing by was pretty much a blur.

We waited for a while after the racers had all gone by, and eventually a van with a “Fin du Route” sign in the back window drove past. That’s it, right? The whole procession must have gone by, and we can turn around and go back, right? Well, we started back on the road we’d driven in on, and after a mile or so, reached an intersection where a police officer was a the sending. We stopped, and he asked (vitally in French) if we’d gotten authorization to be driving the direction we were going. It was determined t see t c c we needed to wait for h i s authorization, which wasn’t going to come right away. He had us drive forward to a wide spot in the road. Soon other cars were directed behind us, along with some cyclists. After maybe ten minutes, he let us all go on down the road, bikes first.

At the g i est roundabout, everybody else enacted in the direction of Lourdes; we were the only ones headed back to Cauterets. We made it back to catch the riders on TV, just getting to the summit of the first climb, the Col du Tourmalet. Later, we saw on TV some of the rider/spectators who’d passed us as we sat waiting for the tour to come by. It was a long day, but not as long as for the people who’d been camping along the route since at least yesterday morning.

Cyn,

I'm really sorry for you that you didn't have some mini Cochonou sausages when the caravan passed :))
It's the emblematic brand that has been in the Tour de France for decades

Just for information about the roads and facilities on the Tour de France .

These are the cities that pay to host the arrival or departure of a stage of the Tour. In 2023: €130,000 to receive an arrival and €80,000 to receive a departure. But the economic benefits are much greater

Cities also often have to modify some sections of roads at their own expense. I remember in 2022 a town near my region where they had just installed speed bumps, Le Tour asked for them to be demolished...

I am also reposting the link to download the official Road Book in its English version given to all TdF members.

Please note this is a 175Mg PDF file

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MC1EIbJI-xsip9pid1WMzVyqs_o_NyjX/view?usp=sharing

The Tour de France is a large liner and a huge organization of several thousand people sailing for 3 weeks across France.
I myself participated and followed the Tour de France for several years (and quite a few other cycling races) but not as a cyclist! Only in technical communication and broadcasting services. I even received specific driving lessons to be able to drive in the race among bikes, motorcycles and cars.

JoLui, that is so cool !

Cyn, thanks again. I’m reading every word. I’m still so amazed by the cars, motorcycles etc. in amongst the bikes. Unbelievable to me in this most important of races. Do they fly a lot of drones? It seemed like there must be drones watching the Netflix series. So cool you were so close.

And the A through E rating is an interesting idea but junk cereal getting a C is very disappointing.

JoLui, getting paid to follow Le Tour? The sounds like a dream job!!!

Maybe we can score some saucisson at Stage 20 and/or 21 in Nice … heading there in 4 days, after 3 nights in Toulouse.

We got in a great hike today up to an old, now closed thermal baths complex (not sure why it’s no longer open, but they haven’t demolished the magnificent-looking 19th century luxury bathhouse), then came back down into town in time to see the last 28 km today. Pogacar has put a possibly unreachable distance between himself and every other rider, including Vingo, who’s maybe still not fully recovered from his injuries earlier in the year. Get out your popcorn for watching the next week, though, ‘cause it will be mesmerizing, and with more fantastic scenery to come! Gersint Thomas tested positive for Covid yesterday, but was still riding today, and don’t think he dropped out. That’s rough for him … hopefully not a problem for the other 150+ riders. Apparently it’s being treated now like the flu or another respiratory setback. I also expect some riders who will be representing their countries at the Olympics might drop out early, to prepare.

Lyndash, they fly a lot of helicopters (I believe at least two, maybe more), but I don’t know about drones. We saw ‘copters flying back and forth yesterday, covering sights and town views before and after the riders came by. Of course, they’re tracking the riders form directly overhead, too.

Driving up to our viewpoint yesterday, along the same road that the peloton would be riding 4 hours later, there were some utility towers that had somehow had the upper parts detached, and they were lying nearby on the ground. I’m guessing that had something do with helicopters expected in the area.

The Covid outbreak is affecting more athletes such that the Tour has now mandated masks for media and others in close proximity. Olympic athletes arriving at Orly today were seen with masks as well. The summer Covid wave is alive and well and a huge disappointment for athletes getting it after they have trained hard to participate in their events. Take care all.

We were in Toulouse today, lots of visitors (seemingly not many Americans), and caught the last 40 miles of today’s stage on the TB in our room. It was the last Sprint stage for this year. Biniam Girmay crashed just before the finish, with some EF Education riders. Jasper Philipsen won the Sprint again, third sssge this year. I couldn’t see Mark Cavendish anywhere in the Sprint bunch. They finished in Nîmes - an interesting city with strong Ancient Roman ties. I didn’t see any of its popular sights on TV near the end.

We’re heading to clNice tomorrow - it’s a long train ride. Plan to see the Tour again when it reaches Nice.

The Tour was in our area today, and the temperature was hotter than usual.

Tour Update:

We spent a good amount of Wednesday, July 17, on trains from Toulouse to Nice. Rough arrival in Nice, and Stage 17 was done long before we got to Nice. Sprint stage win for Jasper Philipsen - his 3rd Stage win this Tour, but he’s not taken the Green Jersey from Girmay. Taking the Tram towards our apartment in the old Port area, we could see big grandstands and yellow posters and banners, plus a relatively small trailer selling bike jerseys, Tour T-shirts, and other official merchandise, all in Place Messena.

Thursday, July 18, and Stage 18, a challenging day with lots of Category 3 climbs (not a difficult as Cat. 2, 1, or HC (Haute Categorie - the Highest (hardest/steepest/lengthiest)) mountain roads. The TV in our apartment was messed up, but with the air conditioning going full blast, it was the only place to avoid stifling heat and humidity in daytime Nice. We watched on one phone while using the Tour Tracker App (5 day free trial) to follow statistics and get other details in real time. the last part of the race, With a sprint between 2 of the 3 riders who’d been out in front of the Peloton for some time leading up to the finish, the stage winner was. Campanaerts. It was the first time he’d worn a Tour stage. He beat Mattaeo Vercher, a Frenchman on the French team Total Energies, who was devestated. He’d attacked with a kilometer to go, leading the other two who’d been racing with him. He ran out of gas before he could get to the finish line first. The team had a bunch of very expensive bikes stolen last week (wow!), and that included some of their best machines.

Friday, July 19, also Stage 19. We had a market and cooking class today with Rosa Jackson, originally a Canadian who now lives and teaches in Paris and Nice, at her Petits Farcis cooking school. It was educational, fun, and delicious, and she signed a page for us to tuck into our copy of her new cookbook, Niçoise: Market-Inspired Cooking from France's Sunniest City, which I have at home but didn’t bring to France for an autograph :-) but that meant we weren’t watching bike racing. Did I mention it’s really hot here? We got back to the air-conditioned apartment with jess than 40km to go today. At one point, EF Education’s Richard Carapaz was in a group in front, and looked as if he could win the stage. Not so, and he wound up finishing fourth. Still, the Ecuadorean Carapaz is now the Mountains leader with the polka/dot jersey, and was awarded the Most Combative (assertive/aggressive/gutsiest) Rider for the day.

American Matteo Jorgensen, who then was out in front until almost the very end, couldn’t hold off the top rider in Yellow. Tadej Pogacar flew by him at the end of the last climb of the day, putting all his rivals even farther behind, and padding his lead with 2 days to go.

Tomorrow the race will pass within a block or two of our apartment in Nice, at the start of the day, just after 1:30pm. We’ll have to find the best place to position ourselves, and hopefully the heat isn’t excessive.

So Pogacar did it again? He must be considered one of the all time greats by now? I’m curious about UAE sponsorship. Are there a lot of cycling enthusiasts in the UAE? Or is it just advertising for the country? Surely you don’t make money owning/sponsoring a cycling team? Or maybe I’m wrong about that.

Thanks for the reporting, Cyn. How’s Nice?

Hi Lyndash,

Nice has been nice. Wonderful market + cooking class experience, wonderful restaurants (although many old favorites from several past visits have closed - possibly business victims of the Pandemic), and exciting Tour de France viewing, but it’s been so hot. I expected that last part, and brought clothing expressly for Nice in the summer, but it’s been unpleasantly hot during midday, and A/C in the apartment has been much appreciated.

I started a post on each of the last 2 days, and each got interrupted, then disappeared before I could finish it. So I’m back at the beginning of describing 7/20/24, and the penultimate stage.

As for owning and managing a pro team, I’m not familiar with lots of the ins and outs. Lots of teams that had a single sponsor now seem to have several companies in the name, and lots of logos. Some owners/sponsors are financial companies, some are grocery chains, some are national lotteries (the Euros you spend on the lottery help feed hungry cyclists, and pay for tires and massages?), and there’s a big assortment of others. Bike manufacturers have long been major sponsors.

Alpecin is a shampoo that contains caffeine. Quick-Step makes laminate flooring, seemingly quick to install, and when we were remodeling our small place in the mountains, we looked at Quick-Step to redo the floor. With so much snow, dirt, and mud (not to mention cat hairballs and garp), carpet wasn’t going to be suitable, and expensive hardwood flooring wouldn’t work, either. Quick-Steo wasn’t the most expensive, but it seemed kind-of flimsy and looked kind-of cheap, so we went with another brand.

Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan (which the team now spells Qazaqstan) is a Kazakh team, apparently put together by and for the country. I understand that they let Mark Cavendish ride for them basically without paying him anything, essentially doing him a favor and being charitable. His teammates were really supportive, and he stuck out the entire tour, rather than abandoning the team as soon as he got his sprint stage win, so a good deal all around. They were Lance Arnstrong’s last Tour de France team, so it’s been around for a while. As for UAE, I don’t know. Arab countries are sponsoring soccer, too. Maybe it’s advertising for tourism, or corporate investments. There must some return on the investment.

The US Postal Service got lots of publicity during the Lance years. Maybe that got customers to use Priority Mail than to go with UPS or FedEx. When they pulled out of Pro Cycling sponsorship, the USPS sponsored a NASCAR car for one year. That didn’t go well, and maybe everybody felt the Postal Service should stop spending money on racing and keep the price of stamps down.

Riders didn’t make lots of money even just a few years ago, but I think that salaries are getting much higher now. Not like pro basketball, football, or baseball, but especially for winning riders, it’s paying well. Bikes, team buses, and support staff all cost money. It’s big business now, and maybe has been for longer than I realize.

As for wrapping up the travel-related report on the 2024 TDF:

Saturday, July 20, also Stage 20. - Checking the route map on Tour Tracker, it looked as if the Grand Depart, the start of the stage, would be passing very close to our apartment. I’ve rented it many times, on repeated trips to Nice. The owner, Jason, is an American jazz musician who moved to Nice and never left. The apartment’s now reserved thru Airbnb, and managed by a management company, so I don’t deal directly with Jason anymore. The place is showing some wear and tear, so it’s not in supreme shape now, but it turned out to be a perfect location for seeing the Tour live.

Parts of the Nice old Port area was pretty rough 15 years ago, even with big private yachts and sailboats docking in the port. It’s more gentrified now, and has lots of real estate offices and Michelin listed restaurants. “Our” apartment building seems to have more genteel residents, but maybe a lot of the apartments are now short-term rentals. Lots of people seemed to be having trouble with entering a PIN to open the gate out on the sidewalk for access. They seemed to be fellow tourists. None of the apartments have numbers on the doors, which seems weird. The place is tiny, but it works, and the location, 2 short blocks from the port, is perfect.

The riders were starting from the southeast corner of the port, where we’d actually strolled the day before, dodging scooters and cars and sidewalk restaurant tables and awnings in the heat, without knowing that. Our apartment was by the northwest corner, so they’d be coming by a minute after the riding started. The racing really doesn’t start until about 15 miles after they get rolling, when “Kilometer Zero” is marked, and the Tour Director waves a start flag while standing through the sunroof of a leading car. The Grand Depart is a chance for the Start town to send the riders off to great cheers, with the peloton riding together for the moment, and the jersey headers up front for all to see, as they whiz past.

The start was scheduled for 1:40 PM. My husband went to the corner bakery (which is in the same location as the beloved bakery that had been there for years, but that shut down during the Pandemic) for a baguette and a light lunch before we went out to see the Grand Depart. He was surprised to see the Caravan passing right in front of the bakery, not where the riders would be in two hours, so he stood out on the sidewalk (actually closed-off bike lane) and waved at passing vehicles. A few little sausage packets were tossed out, he said, but he didn’t get any. He went into the bakery and got a hot baguette that had just come out of the oven, and a tossed sakad with ham for me. At a quarter past 1:00, we headed out to view the Tour.

It was hot. We found a place along the railing, looking down at the Port. It’s a rectangle of water, closed on three sides by streets and walls, with the fourth side open towards the sea. A few enormous boats were in it, and lots of much smaller craft. There s a big staircase down to the water’s level, along with an elevator, but all were closed off today. It’s also a stop where the Tram to the airport starts, but that was temporarily shut down. The riders would be pedaling on the driveway that went along the edge of the port, at the level of the boats, before taking a ramp up to street level and along the Promenade des Anglais (Walkway of the English, so-named when English aristocracy would amble along it back in The Day), then onward to Kilometer 0 and a stage with lots of climbing.

The climbs were “only” Category 3, not as long steep as Category 2 or 1 climbs (or the toughest, theyBeyond Category climbs), but there were five of them, and tough in hot weather. Richard Carapaz, wearing the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey, was out front on the last couple of climbs before the finish, scoring more KOM points. But at the end, the top 2 riders, Pogacar and Vingegaard passed him.

And Pogi rode away from Vingo, adding to his lead.

Sunday, July 21, and the final stage, Stage 21 - today the Tour would ending in Nice, where it had started the stage on the previous day. This time, the tigers would be starting in Monaco, and riding 2 short blocks from our apartment, before finishing 5 kilometers later. It would also be an Individual Time Trial, with riders going one at a time, rather than the entire peloton starting at once.

Because of Pogacar’s and Vingegaard’s history over the last 4 TDF’s, and their Time Trial prowess, (and also Remco Evenepoel), this might have been suspenseful. it seemed back when the final stage was announced months ago, that if any rider was within a minute or two of first place at the end of Stage 20, if that rider had a superior time trial, they might snatch the TDF victory and Yellow Jersey at the end from the leader, if the leader (and maybe other riders ahead of that fastest time-trialist) didn’t ride the time trial so well. Since Pogacar had a 6-minute lead starting today, he’d have to have had a major crash and/or a dismal time trial performance to lose the 2024 Tour, but there was no way to know without holding the stage.

For maximum speed, time trials involve different equipment. Riding against the clock, rather than against other riders, aerodynamics are a big focus. Riders wear special suits, even slicker than the usual informs. They get special helmets to cut drag in the air. m Bikes have different handlebars and wheels, which are designed to produce faster straight-ahead speed, but those make the bikes handle worse in corners, and falls have to be avoided. Riders stay in a tight a crouching tuck as possible, for maximum wind resistance, but that’s uncomfortable and requires discipline.

Mark Cavendish was starting second today. The riders go in reverse order, from last place to first place after Stage 20. His Astana teammate, Davide Ballerini, was the first to start, at 2:40 pm. We watched the start on TV in the apartment, in the air-conditioning, then Cavendish, then several more. Seeing it on TV, even if all the commentary is in French, gave a different perspective than seeing them whizz by live. But the idea was to get to a spot on the street before Cavendish got to our neighborhood in Nice.

We left the apartment and passed a van that was handing out free T-shirts with polka-dots all over them. They also sport a Leclerc logo, from the grocery chain that currently sponsors the King of the Mountains competition. So that’s why so many spectators were wearing these T-shirts near the top of the mountains stages! I wondered whether E.Leclerc was selling shirts that many people had bought (maybe for €1 or something), but they were getting handed out as much as those silly bucket hats from other sponsors!

We went to the corner of our street, two short blocks from the apartment, and one short block from where we’d stood yesterday. We got a spot right in front, not 6 people deep! This time, we were up on the street that led to the Promenade des Anglais, higher than the Port at sea level. We were at a curve, just beyond the archway with signs indicating 5km to go to the finish. Some Danish fans with big flags were to our left, a French fan from the Voge to our right, and an Irish father and son just beyond him. Each particularly rooted for riders from his or her country, but cheered for every passing rider.

The Tour de France Club app showed real-time map, showing where each rider was on the course, how steep they were going up or down at the moment, and the speed in kph. Tour tracker had lots of data available, including ongoing commentary text, but a lot of using it was not intuitive, and I couldn’t take full advantage of it.

I especially wanted to see Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas go by, on what are likely their last Tours. My husband strayed for every rider, but towards the end, I went back to the apartment to see the TV coverage. Pogi beat everybody, and didn’t just win, but dominated.

After Pogacar passed by Scott, he made it back to the apartment to see him cross the finish line on TV. Again, we got an ideal apartment, without knowing that its location would be so ideal. The TV coverage, which started on Channel France 3, then went to Channel 2, went back to Channel 3 for the post-race analysis. It was funny to hear a question posed to Pogi in French afterwards (translated in English in his earphone), and he started to answer in good English, but after a couple of seconds, it was overdubbed in French for the TV broadcast.

Pogi won be more than 6 minutes, total. Some riders did move up in the rankings due to their time-trial times, but the top 9 didn’t change from the day before. Spots 9 and 10 did change, with 24 year-old Santiago Buitrago of Colombia riding 2 minutes faster than Giulio Ciccone in the time trial, to beat him by over a minute in the overall Tour.

Sean Quinn, who wore a special stars in stripes uniform the whole Tour because he’s the defending U.S. road-race champion, wore a regular EF Education EasyPost tine-trial suit, because he’s not the current one-trial champion. He rode a few seconds slower than the rider just behind him in the standings, but just fast enough to keep his place, 78th overall, by three hundredths of a second!

One last thought - It was interesting to see so many spectators, and an occasional policeman, grab some of the people who were out running alongside some of the riders, until they were grabbed or pushed aside. There were some ropes (basically strings) to contain dove of the mountaintop crowds, too. Spectators mostly stayed behind then.

This wraps up my report. Again, I’m sorry that the qoriginal Tour de France thread got frozen because it was deemed not related enough to travel. I hope this thread was informative and useful. It didn’t get updated the previous two nights because there wasn’t tine, and now it’s really, really late in agra de, and I gave a plane to catch tomorrow m, do I’m signing off and turning in.

Next Tour de France is in July 2025, and will be starting with a time trial in Lille.

Thanks so much for doing this report. I got such a kick out of your thorough description of stage 14 and where you ended up viewing that I used my map app and Google earth to try and figure out your position. I think I found the area and at some point I’ll look at the highlight reel to see that area during the race.

We were in Nice last year so maybe I’ll do the same for that! Anyway, thanks for the time and effort in bringing us along.

Thanks, Cyn, for taking the time and making the effort to write it all up. It was a real window into the Tour and why so many people follow it so closely.