Tour de France Spectator Tips

These are my favourite Tour de France Spectator Tips.

These help ensure you don't waste time on the day arguing with gendarmes, getting there late, or forgetting things you'll need.where's

And hopefully they stop you looking like an idiot on international television.

You can read these Tour de France Spectator tips in more detail in the Cycling in France Guide.

Have internet on your phone

So you can get race reports, Twitter your friends back home (who are drying their eyes with a kangaroo, probably) and so on.

(You get a super cheap prepaid France SIM card from VeloNomad: France Prepaid SIM)

Get there early

Here's where “get there early” is important:

• Stage starts: not so much
• Stage finishes: important if you want a good vantage point
• Mountain stages: crucial

Perhaps the best advice I can proffer for mountain stages is this.

• If you plan on riding up a mountain stage from the other side of the mountain (i.e. riding up in the opposite direction to the race), and it's a long climb, allow 4-6 hours from the bottom.
• And if you plan riding up in the same direction, allow yourself 3-4 hours, depending on the climb.

Whilst this might seem like a long time, by the time you reach your vantage point, the caravan will be approaching and the gendarmes get very strict with ensuring people are off the road.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

And if you're in a town nearby, go do the climb the day before and early that morning.

Stay off the route as the race approaches

Avoid riding along the route too close to the riders arriving. In 2009, we rode back along the route too close to the riders arriving.

The gendarmes pulled us off the road, helpfully about 20km from our car, but 4 hours before the riders arrived.

We managed a workaround but it was nearly an utter fiasco. Read more about that here.

Keep your eyes open

You never know who you'll meet!

Me and Didi. Chillin.

Choose your vantage point carefully

Clambering your way up the Tourmalet or Alpe d'Huez with thousands of other spectators might sound fantastic but it's not.

And if the climb is the last climb of the stage, here's what happens. You set off early, to get a good spot. Even if you're really early, chances are you'll have to walk up the summit (2011 Plateau de Beille).

People walking up

After hours of interminable waiting, the leaders pass and you're stuck wondering who won.

Your best better is to pick a climb earlier in the stage. Get there early, watch the peloton go past, then hotfoot it off the mountain to watch the rest on telly.

The bigger the stage, and the earlier in the stage the climb is on, the more riding and watching on telly you can do.

And if you want to take photos, try and pick a spot without lots of people.

Stay out of the riders' way

The scene: Arreau, 2011. The gentleman shown below was actually on the road as the peloton arrived. As you can see, 'twas a near miss.

And closer

Oblivious

This was closer than it looked

And the TV coverage is riddled with clowns getting in the way of riders. Who can forget the idiot in the Giro who “helped” push a rider along, only to cause him to dismount and miss out on a possible stage win.

Bottom line and key amongst my Tour de France Spectator tips: don't be a twat, stay out of the way.

By all means, run alongside them, have fun and yes even make funny videos (see below), but don't be a dickhead: keep out of their way.

Gear list

If you ride to your Tour de France vantage point you'll need to pack some things for your day out. Remember, if you're in the High Alps or Pyrenees, storms can hit you from nowhere and you'll be on the road for hours.

• Baguettes and croissants and things to go on them
• Rain jacket and something warm
• Running shoes or something else to walk around in
• Chalk (to write on the road with)
• A flag or identifiable costume so your friends can see you on TV. Our boxing kangaroo flag stood out like a sore thumb in 2009 on Stage 16 and Stage 17, with many of our friends seeing us on TV for an extended period. I even made it onto the Team High Road DVD from that year's tour. Fun!

A cheese knife is also handy. I think the image below shows why. We visited a cheese cave (Cave du Fromage) but had no knife! A near-fiasco.

MacGyver-ing up some cheese cutting

Camera

I've taken a DSLR camera (two on some stages) and lenses to TDF stages and carrying that much gear is hard on the body.

So before you decide to take a bevy of camera equipment, read my article about taking your camera overseas.

In the image below I was carrying two Canon bodies, about 3 lenses and other accessories, up a 22km climb. I'd just done Etape du Tour the day before, and had climbed Mont Ventoux 3 times in 3 days. I was pretty tired. You can see how crooked my body is. This ascent caused permanent damage to my shoulder. Needless to say, you don't want this.

Riding 22km up the Col du Petit St Bernard with 8kg

Ride or drive

Whether you ride or drive to the stage depends on how far away it is.

I've ridden to vantage points points before, but these were generally within 30km or so.

Usually, I've driven to a town nearby, parked, then ridden the rest of the way.

Remember, you'll likely have a long day on the road, so a big ride home might not be the best idea.

Tour de France roadside reports

I've been to quite a few Pro Tour events including Grand Tour stages. I've seen it all from successful days to missing seeing anything.

Here's some recounting of my experiences and insights, to whet your appetite.

• All my Tour de France trip stage reports – click here
• 2013 TDF Vantage points (this is how much planning I put into watching TDF stages)
• How to plan a cycling trip part 5 – the Tour stage
• How to outflank a gendarme at Le Tour

If you're heading to the Tour de France, check out my Cycling in France guide which covers the Tour stage.