If you want to go and see the Tour de France here are some tips and suggestions.
If you are hesitating, go. It is really different from what you see on TV, there are so many details to observe and remember. And France is glorious in July.
Plan
The route is unveiled every October. Detailed maps get published on the letour.fr website in May. This can frustrate if you want to book a place right on the route.
You can guess the roads for the mountain stages when it’s obvious there’s only one road. But the whole route has to be approved by the layers of local government in France and sometimes the decision whether the race passes through this village or that one can take months so the route isn’t signed off until March and the graphic design for the maps starts.
Which stage to see?
If you’ve got free choice then the mountain stages are tempting as they offer a longer show with up to 40 minutes between the first and last rider and things you don’t see on TV such as the dropped riders and the gruppetto. You can see the riders up close as they go past at 15-20km/h rather than 50km/h. So far so good but it can be a big logistical challenge as the roads are closed early and you have to invest the whole day or more, more on this in a moment.
A time trial stage means there’s a lot to see as the riders come past every couple of minutes for the whole afternoon and you can feel things build as the big names approach. But helmets and visors make it hard to see the expressions, it’s as if you’re standing further away.
The easy option is a plain flat stage in the middle of nowhere. Time it right and you can approach the route from the side, park close then get into position for the publicity caravan and then see the race go by in the space of two hours.
The Start
The Tour de France segregates riders from the public more than any other race. But we’re talking waist-high barriers, not walls so there’s still plenty to see.
The start offers access and visibility as riders mill about between their buses and the signing-on podium. The start line and the road behind for a couple of kilometres is lined with barriers. With about an hour go to this space is full with team buses, show up before and you get some caravan goodies and see the logistics at work, the scale of the event.
If you pick the right spot and are enthusiastic about it you might get an autograph or a selfie. If you’re going tomorrow well Tadej Pogačar is in demand so try another rider, shouting their name or waving the right country flag seems to help.
You can see the team cars as well and all the bikes on the roof if you like the tech up close, including small details like how so many UAE riders have their saddles perched forward or which team has scuffed chainsets and derailleurs rather than sparkling models. The start line has the signing-on podium and is surrounded by some other things like stalls handing out freebies and official souvenir boutiques.
The Finish
You’ll get to see something decisive but this requires patience, show up with an hour to go and you’ll be lucky to see anything except for the back of someone else’s head unless you’re tall enough to play in the NBA. You might need to be in place by lunchtime, so think if the wait is worth it although the longer it takes the more the thrill of seeing the riders approach.
Pick wisely and you can stand near the line and within sight of a giant TV screen so you can watch the race otherwise you risk standing for hours only to see the publicity caravan and the riders flash by.
Once the race is over don’t leave. Because beyond the finish line is a cordoned off zone but keep going a couple of hundred metres and you’ll find team buses and vehicles – the configuration varies, they could be down in the valley for a mountain stage – and you can spot the riders and staff, some giving post stage interviews.
VIP pass
You need to have some connection to the race, to know a race sponsor or someone linked to the start or finish for your lanyard sesame… or you can buy one from a Tour travel operator, expect to pay a few hundred euros. It doesn’t give much more access and almost no riders enter this zone.
Roadside
Outside is free and perhaps the best way to see the race is to find a scenic spot and enjoy a picnic, assuming the weather is nice. Thinking of it as a day outdoors rather than being a sports spectator is probably the secret to a successful day.
However it’s no picnic for the planning. The race route will be closed to traffic in the morning, if it’s a big mountain pass then at sunrise. You can approach by car on a side road, park and walk to your spot, probably following many others too, the side road might have cars parked along it for a kilometre or more. This is not possible for many mountain passes, there’s no side road joining the top of the Tourmalet so you’ll have to park near the foot and make your way up: be prepared for a long walk.
You can ride up too, the police will tolerate people walking and riding into position but with about three hours to go the gendarmes won’t let anyone cycle. If you take your bike think about where to stash your bike, there are crowds around and it can get knocked over or trampled. It’s unlikely to get stolen but you may want to lock it to something.
Take a backpack with clothes appropriate for the day’s weather. Pack food, drink and some shoes so you’re not click-clacking in your cleats. A bike lock is handy too and think of finding a place to park your machine where it won’t get knocked over or trampled on.
Pick your spot helps, a small hill won’t slow the bunch much but if it’s on a straight bit of road it can allow you to see more. Also try to imagine the racing line taken by riders when picking your spot.
If the weather is good set up camp with food, drink and sit back. Whatever you bring, you’ll spot Tour pros with parasols, BBQs, perhaps even a TV and a portable fridge for cold drinks. If the weather is bad then a local café is a good idea as it will probably have warm drinks and TV and all the locals will dash out in time for the action.
Waiting game
The publicity caravan comes two hours before the riders, it’s a must-see. The sight of the giant floats going past in the countryside is absurd and joyous. It’s fascinating anthropology to watch the way people buy in to the marketing in a festive way, donning freebie polka-dot t-shirts, diving into a ditch to grab a keyring, adults duelling for a Haribo minipack.
Things go quiet apart from vehicles driving past, soigneurs on their way to hand up drinks and so on. The whack of helicopter rotors announces the race is coming. This is the point of the picnic, aim for a day in the countryside rather than thinking you’re going to see the race unfold.
When the riders come past you’ll want to take photos to record the day but then invariably turn out bad, so take photos if you want by pointing your camera and shooting but don’t look at the screen, see the riders with your own eyes.
The crowds can overwhelm the phone network, draining bandwidth to the point where it’s impossible to refresh a page; in some places like the finish they even add extra telecoms masts to cope but not in the countryside. A pocket radio can work here, with RMC probably having the most live coverage but there’s also RTL, France Info and Europe 1.
Tips
- It’s worth seeing for real rather than on TV, you’ll see lots of details you don’t notice on TV from decorations to the scale of the Tour and the logistics behind it
- Maps appear online in May
- The stage start and finish are obvious destinations, sections are cordoned-off for VIPs but it’s still reasonably open even if riders prefer to relax on their bus
- Treat a roadside visit as a long picnic rather than the chance to see the race unfold
- Plan the visit, don’t just hope to turn up in time but think of access, timing, parking, clothing
- The roads are closed several hours ahead of the race, mountain passes can be closed to traffic at dawn
This blog has so many great articles, but on very few occasions, I can’t agree with the author.
In my opinion, the publicity caravan is one of the reasons why I’m not interested in going to see the tour again on the side of the road.
Seeing those vehicles driving by with the most abominable sounds while throwing all kinds of merchandising is quite depressing. Merchandising is an euphemism of rubbish and indeed sooner rather than later it will all go into the bin, if not scattered in nature. And that show is done for the whole length of the stage, all stages. 3 weeks of littering over 3500km.
I don’t want to go deep into environmental issues because it’s obvious that both the organizers and the UCI are not interested in this matter beyond the odd greenwashing anecdote, but I think the caravan is pathetic.
I’ve been to 4 stages this year having not seen it live since 2018 and as far as I could see all the tat from the caravan is now handed out directly to the crowds lining the course and not just chucked out as was my previous experience. Its more hats and T shirts with the odd key rings deliberately given directly to people or groups who want them. The sponsors want the crowd in their sponsored kit ready for the TV cameras. Tourtel were even sending their team through the crowds at the finish to collect their drink cans. Obviously there is a commercial element and excess to all this and the resources and sheer size of the whole circus are mind blowing and we can have an opinion on that but it’s no longer the mass littering exercise it was in the past.
Perhaps it’s no longer the mass littering, it’s still the mass production of dumb fast fashion, fast trinkets, bric-a-brac trumpery. Meanwhile, we are 1.5 over and counting.
Best find yourself a bunker somewhere and hunker down from the approaching apocalypse.
By all means skip the caravan but as suggested above it’s a moment of anthropology to watch it at work. If a company came up to people in the street and gave them a branded hat or t-shirt they would be suspicious about taking it. At the Tour people compete to grab it and put it on. Marketing experts could earn a psychology doctorate studying this.
Also there’s very little litter, as Alec says they throw the objects to people. One of the things to observe is how people fish a wooden spoon or a keyring out of a ditch.
Woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, did we? It’s all just a bit of fun mate. Tour is a drop in the bucket, environmentally…
I completely agree with you.
One of the most memorable experiences is with my family when kids were 9 and 11. Stage start at Pinerolo, all the riders milling about, Rui Costa and his partner with their little puppy, Thomas Volecker in yellow riding around in the paddock. My kids getting autographs from the stars of chasing legends, Brian Holm and Rolf Aldag. Then they roll out, we follow, walking through the center of town to our car. Drive to Briancon and the publicity caravan showers the kids with more swag than 10 Halloweens! Then we wait and the riders come through. First an Astana, then Andy Schleck, finally cav and the big group behind.
Absolutely incredible!!!!
We were on the stage that started in Pinerolo this year, with 10 and 13. Treated it like a picknick. Also saw Cav riding the bus. It was awesome. As an added bonus, we were in the zone de revitalement, and kids got 4! bidons.
Thanks INRNG for sharing the breadth of your cycling acumen.
For spectators WITH their bicycles at the tour, I’d suggest riding part of the stage a few days prior to the tour come thru, especially a climb – the regalia and barricades are about, the hardcore ‘tour-istes’ are setting up their motorhomes, the graffiti is fresher (and more ribald than one sees on the feed) and it’s good recon for a preferred spot.
It really is a fun experience. We are from Australia and what worked for us was finding a cafe on the race route and parking ourselves there for the day. Obviously we chatted to the owner about this and bought food (and beverages!!) during the day. This allowed us to watch the stage on TV, be out of the out sun and step outside to see the caravan and race go by. In fact the stage was about 10yrs ago when they went over the Tourmalet. We also did the climb the day before and that itself was an experience as all the vans were already along the road. We got lots of encouragement on the journey up. We did the climb the same direction as the race, which meant we could have a reasonably fun and safe descent!
This takes me back. I’ve seen the Tour live twice. Once when I was a student working on a farm outside Toulouse and the second time on the Champs when I was living in Paris. I got a better view the first time but the atmosphere was amazing the second time.
I’m glad that the Tour came through my village a decade ago so I was able to tick off seeing it live with no travelling. Cambridgeshire being flat, it was a blink and you’ll miss it viewing of the riders, & I was not very enamoured of the caravan. I’d never go all the way to France to see the race.
If people spend all day part-way up a mountain waiting to see the race then what on earth do they do about loos?
Al fresco is all the rage up there!
Making a day of it is definitely key, whether that’s taking a picnic or riding yourself into position somewhere. My one experience was a week in 2013 – Cycled up Ventoux on 3 hours sleep, we had no idea what was happening in the race, then first sighting was Froome being chased by Quintana while Daniel Mangeas was barking out of a nearby speaker at the 800m-to-go mark. Incredible day.
Crisp man arrested, thankfully.
I was lucky enough to see a couple of the stages of the Criterium du Dauphine – you get to see most of the riders of the Tour, but a fraction of the crowds. And if you are at the stage finish, the ability to wonder around the buses, and watch the riders cool down is a must
The piece was long enough but other races offer plenty, including more access. The Dauphiné is a good one for the interesting roads, there can be new bikes yet to be spotted and you get a field with a lot of big names. For this aspect stage races can be good as at the finish more people are waiting around, warming down etc.
Lombardia and the Giro dell’Emillia are good for one day events, the Japan Cup is excellent with the weekend format and fans as good as the Cauberg or Eibar. The worlds can vary, it probably depends on the circuit and organisers and if you’d like to visit the place to start with. Of course Paris-Roubaix and Flanders stand out as cultural experiences almost.
I would just add that the roads are often closed off at 1 or a few km from where they pass. So what I’ve done in the past is taking my bicycle along with the car. In that way, last year I saw everyone at the start + 3x along the course in the cobble stage without much rushing (if you plan upfront).
iPad with me to follow the race itself in between, in bits and pieces 🙂
Top tip: If you’re going up the Alpe to watch the stage they came up it twice, probably best not to fill your bidon with red wine.
(wasn’t me, and she did make it back to the house eventually)
Amigo, that’s properly funny