How to Plan a Cycling Trip to France Part 5: the Le Tour stage

In this part of the How to Plan a Cycling Trip to France series, we look at the ins and outs of how to successfully watch a Tour de France stage.

The main point I want to make is that you absolutely must get to your vantage points early.

The French are completely inconsistent and unreliable in regard of road closures.

Stage 13 Debacle
During 2009's Stage 13, we got to the final climb of the day very early, got parked, and went for a ride. We rode down to a small town and back to our van, some 6-7 hours before the tour was slated to roll through.

We had loads of time so headed back down the road again. At the turn around town, we saw some gendarmes arguing with some people at a blockade, and I knew if we kept going we'd be stopped from heading back up the road.

We stopped around 100m from the barricade and quickly made to turn around, but the gendarmes were onto us.

We were pulled to behind the barricades and I went beserk – the Tour was at least 5 hours away, our van was 45 mins ride up the road. I was not happy.

Other people were outflanking ze gendarmes and walking up the road, others were a mere 50m away and mounting their bikes; clearly there was no consistency to what was going on, which maddened me further.

There was no way around this town, so Michael began looking for a way around. We eventually ran up a very steep hill to a house under construction, and into a vineyard, through blackberry bushes.

We eventually had gone around the barricade and worked our way about 200m past the barricade.

Next challenge? Getting back down the hill to the road.

We had to get through a row of blackberries, then get down a 8ft vertical wall, into someone's backyard, then down the side of their yard, where we were faced with a 20ft sheer drop.

In cycling gear, and in cleats, we had to shimmy along a wall that was only about 5 inches deep, so we had to go along it, holding our bikes in one hand and holding onto the fence with the other hand.

The inhabitants of the house were on the front verandah, looking at us with, I think, a sense of bemusement and confusion. I was just saying “Je suis desolee!”. I jumped down a 5 ft drop to their driveway, stamped the mud out of my cleats and ran to the road.

I jumped on my bike and got going, just to get going.

Michael caught up with me, and away we went.

Crisis averted.

In Stage 16 and 17 which left from Bourg St Maurice, we got on the road by 9AM and were positioned with plenty of time.

For Stage 17, we actually got halfway up the Cormet de Roselend before I thought we should turn around, as there were a heap of multiple switchbacks affording really good photo opportunities, plus the weather was coming in and I thought being atop a high peak in a storm would be folly.

Again, an enthusiastic gendarme stopped us from heading down, an hour before the caravan was slated to come through. To be fair, it was a safety issue, but nevertheless, beware.

Ignore the Gendarmerie
Having said all that, my main point is ignore the gendarmerie. They're big toothless, cuddly teddy bears. France relies on inefficiency (apart from you, Mr TGV), so the gendarmes have to at least look like they're doing something.

Lessons Learnt
Here are the lessons we learnt from this debacle.

• Know some French. Had I been able to say “Notre voiture est seulement 10 minutes loin, pouvons-nous aller le passé? ” (our car is only 10 minutes away, can we go past?”), it would have helped.
• Be prepared for ANYTHING. That means being blocked from going back to your car, causing you to be stuck in a town for several hours.
• Get to your vantage point several hours before the tour is meant to come through. Seriously. Hours.
• Be prepared to roll the dice and completely ignore the gendarmes. Square your shoulders, gather yourself, and go forward with a sense of purpose, ignoring all whistles.

Here's a question from reader Paul, which many people seem to have. Paul sent me this during the 2011 TDF.

The best thing to do is check out the official TDF (R) page for the complete time schedule, then plan accordingly.

Other Points
If you're at the top of a mountain, you can pretty much head down after most of the peloton goes past and have a blast descending with hundreds of other people amongst the cars (be careful!).

Check this joker out riding his mountain bike up on Stage 16 of the 2009 Tour.

People can, and will, ride up the hill and on the course mere moments before the lead riders come through.

It seems there is a game of cat and mouse where the motorcycle gendarmes will direct riders off the road, and ride off, at which point the cyclist, having solemnly sworn to not keep riding, promptly alights his bike and keeps going until he is nabbed again.

So, you can roll the dice and play games with the gendarmerie, if you wish.

Further Reading
If you want to explore this topic more deeply, I highly recommend you check out the Guide to Cycling through France where this issue is addressed in more depth.

In the last couple of posts in this series, I'll cover equipment lists, whether to take your own bike or not and some key tips and tricks.