|
Botero |
Merckx |
Ullrich |
|
Caravane |
Caravane |
Astarloza |
|
Col des Limouches |
`Go Mayo - Gros Plateau' |
Col de la Bataille |
|
Gorges de la Bourne |
Bovine peloton |
Gorges de la Bourne |
see the London Review of Books, 19 August 2004 (`Diary').
|
Accommodation: Book 9 - 12 months in advance. Hotels usually require a week-long booking if near a stage start or finish. Additional campgrounds do spring up in arrival and departure towns but it would still be safer to book in advance unless you are happy camping rough along the route. Camper vans begin to arrive at least a week in advance so they can park in a good location. Eating: Surprisingly and most pleasantly, the French do not increase prices because their town or village is going to be overrun by hundreds of thousands of tourists - they just bake more bread and make sure there are sufficient supplies. Queues in shops were not bad and there was no shortage of any item. You would probably do well though to book popular restaurants in advance. Watching the tour: The one problem with watching the tour "live" is that you don't know what is going on unless you have a portable television with you, or you are near the giant screen at an arrival village. The atmosphere is very much of a village fête and there is more not watching the tour, than watching the tour going on amongst the officials, many of the journalists and most of the audience. Families are enjoying picnics, there is local entertainment in advance of the Tour, there is the publicity caravan throwing out small goodies. There are dozens of other distractions, including hundreds of cyclists out on the roads which are closed to regular traffic. Going to a departure village on the time-trial day is a perfect opportunity to see the riders up close while they are warming up. It is possible to take photos, and if the rider isn't too famous, you can probably get an autograph or have a chat. Finding a place in an arrival village is easier than we thought it would be. Our first priority was shade, but even so we were able to find a comfortable spot which gave us a full view of the podium and the finishing line. Of course, the landscape helped since at Villard-de-Lans there was a natural amphitheatre immediately above the roadway. Best place if you are finding a spot along the route is about 1 kilometre beyond a "feed zone" (zone de ravitaillement), or just as a climb gets very steep, or near a sprint since that often divides the peloton and makes it easier to locate individual riders. French television stations 2 and 3 take turns covering the Tour. There are no commercials. It often starts with a movie about a "cycling legend" (e.g. Eugène Christophe) and ends with the "Vélo Club" in which one or more of the winners of the day are interviewed. Buy L'Equipe for newspaper coverage. Travel: We took a bus from the UK into France. It would also be possible to take selected trains. Too many people drove to within 5 - 25 miles of the Tour, then parked the car/van, unpacked their bike and cycled to their destination. It is certainly faster than trying to drive all the way, especially since roads are closed in advance. In some cases, 48 hours. The traffic jams after the Tour are amazing. Miles and miles of cars, buses and vans going 4 mph. Cyclists ride down the inside lane between the traffic at 15-20 mph and get to their destination much faster. Many cyclists were on the Tour as part of a holiday package. These must have been expensive judging by the cost of the bikes they were riding. Clothing: More than half the cyclists were wearing team kit and/or very expensive kit. Camping cyclists were a rarer breed, as were women (10%). I wore a Brioches la Boulangère hat and was cheered on by the French, especially since the Brioches rider Thomas Voeckler was wearing the yellow jersey. It also helped clear my way on the traffic clogged roads. |
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