Tour de France 2016

Discussion in 'UEFA and Europe' started by Rukawa, Mar 30, 2016.

  1. Rukawa

    Rukawa Member

    May 2, 2014
    Has anyone been to the Tour here? My mate and I are thinking about checking out one of the mountain stages in the Pyrenees when there are no games. If someone has been, I would love to hear any advice - how early you have to camp out, best way to get to there (car, bike?) and what else we should consider.
     
  2. celtic67

    celtic67 Member

    Aug 28, 2013
    Australia
    Club:
    Celtic FC
    Yes, I went to a stage in the French Alps in 2012. Can't recommend it enough. If you're prepared to make the effort, the mountain stages are definitely the best to experience. You basically have to arrive at your "spot" the night before the stage as most roads will obviously be closed the day of the race. My friend and I got a train to the nearest French town then hitchhiked our way up the mountain with other spectators. A lot of the diehard fans are really organised and travel in luxury campervans complete with plasma TV's and satellite dishes on the roof!

    We literally pitched our €5 tent amongst all these massive campervans and would've looked like absolute idiots but it did us fine. Most of the finish lines are in alpine resorts so there will be a main street with a few shops and at least one pub or bar. One thing you do need to know is no matter how hot it is that day, the temperature on the mountain will be absolutely freezing overnight so take warm clothes as you will need them. One way to reduce your time spent shivering in a cheap tent is to spend as much as your night as possible in the pub which will be full of European broadcasting crews.

    Depending on the distance of the stage and where you position yourself on the course will determine how much action you'll get to see. Obviously if you stand close to the start line the peloton is likely to fly by in one colourful bunch. However, if you stand closer to the finish line, the time between the stage winner and the final rider could be over one hour. The final 2km is lined with crowd control barriers and certainly has the most spectators. I'd suggest walking downhill just past the barriers as you'll be a lot closer to the riders without the jostling crowds.

    Another important thing to research is the projected times that the riders will pass you by. The stage I saw was 148km and I didn't see the first rider until 6:00pm (5 hours after setting off) which you can probably guess makes for an extremely long day sitting on a hill! Be sure to pack a picnic and plenty of beer and wine to see you through the day.

    Sing out if you have any more questions, however there's likely to be people on here that know more about it than me. My mate and I plan on getting to a couple of stages this summer as well. You'll enjoy it.
     
    guignol repped this.
  3. Rukawa

    Rukawa Member

    May 2, 2014
    Thanks! This is very helpful. My mate and I were wondering what's the best way to approach a stage with multiple climbs in one of the mountain stages. Does the crowd get more spread out or is it just as difficult to get a good spot as other stages? good call on visiting a pub in a nearby town - do most of them stay open late given there are so many reporters/visitors in town?
     
  4. celtic67

    celtic67 Member

    Aug 28, 2013
    Australia
    Club:
    Celtic FC
    From what I can gather, the more difficult the place is to travel to, the less people that will be there. Yeah I can only go off the pub I went to in the Alps but they'd be crazy not to considering the number of tourists they have in town. This article will be able to tell you a lot more...

    http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/07/spectating-tour-france.html
     

Share This Page