jsgoldbe

Hello fellow FT'ers. I am forvever indebted to you all for the great info this community provides.

I will be seeing the July 9 and 10 stages of the Tour de France. These are the stages ending and starting in Gerardmer, respectively. The Gerardmer - Mulhouse stage (July 10) is the first mountain day for this year's Tour. I need some advice on:

1) What is the best way to see these stages? For the flat stage, is it worth it to try and follow the stage, stoping in multiple locations, or just plan on seeing the finish? For the mountain stage do I need to get up the final climb early on the day of the race or before? How should I plan on getting up the climb; walking, driving, ???

and

2) Recommendations for some places to stay in the area of Geradmer in the class of pension-type accommodations.

Thanks in advance.

Helena Handbaskets

jsgoldbe, I'm sorry I cannot offer you any useful advice, but I have a general interest in the ins and outs of what's involved with witnessing TDF legs in person. It seems a significant challenge and one for which the right foreknowledge could be of great value. So I wonder if I could request that once you've gained the benefit of experience, you either post that experience here or send me a PM message to let me know what you encountered.

If you want to see the final leg in Paris, I do have a suggestion for you, but I expect it's probably too late by now to do you any good.

dhuey

I watched parts of the tour in the Pyrénées last year; this year I'll be in the l'Alps. These are cycling trips arranged by Trek Travel.

The best place to watch the Tour is on TV. I'm not kidding. If you want to see the Tour in person, and I strongly recommend it, understand that you will see a relatively brief flash of motorcycle cops, sponsor cars, support cars, riders, more support cars and a few more motorcycle cops.

The fun of being at the Tour is the festival nature of it. Millions of people lining up along the route, often with some wine, bread and fruit.

For the flat stage, you might try to watch the stage start. Get there early for a good vantage point. Be creative -- last year, I hung from a 10 foot high railing to watch the start. Yes, my arms were tired. After the start, you could set up a picnic along the route somewhere.

For the mountain stage, set up your picnic on one of the climbs -- the steeper the better, since that will slow down the riders and give you a better view. The stage finish would be fun to see, but thousands of other folks have the same idea. The logistics can get very difficult at the finishes. I'd skip the finishes unless you're just dying to see one.

Enjoy!

dhuey

As for accommodations, start working on that now. I understand from the folks at Trek Travel that this is a HUGE challenge. This isn't like Vegas with ten billion hotel rooms -- these are relatively small towns. The trip planners are on the phone moments after the Tour route is announced the previous October.

I suggest that you plan on staying far from the route.

jsgoldbe

Thanks for the advice so far. ^ ^ ^

I am very familiar with the ins and outs of bike racing; I'm an avid fan and competitive cyclist in the US. My only experience so far with watching a bike race in Europe is the Amstel Gold race in Holland. We picked one of the climbs on the course that the riders would pass over three times that year. When the riders were elsewhere on the course we had a beer (and some pommes frites ^ ) in one of the local pubs and watched the race on TV. When the riders were approaching, everyone moved outside to the race course, cheered while the riders came by, and then went back into the pubs to watch the rest of the race.

For watching the two stages I plan on seeing, I do need to get the accommodation reserved ASAP, as I see that rooms are scarce. Are there recommendations on towns to stay in the areas of Gerardmer to Mulhouse? We'll have a car while in France, so being near a train station is not a consideration. (Perhaps I'll need to start a new thread on this?)

To HH: I am sorrry I won't be able to see the last day in Paris, but I'll try to update this thread with my experiences when I am done.

dhuey

Sorry for the unnecessary intro. material, jsgoldbe. Are you going to bring/rent a bike? I'm just about to start my back-to-back training. My Trek trip will feature Alpe d'huez, Ventoux and other climbs. The rides will be 100-120 km with elevation gains of 2000-3500m. I can handle such rides now, but not three in a row.

monahos

Hello from a fellow cycling fan! From my experience, following a Tour stage is nearly impossible, especially in areas where the Tour is using the only roads, which will be closed many hours before the caravane goes by (I have tried and failed).

For Pforzheim-Gérardmer I would probably go for TV, plus securing a good spot in the final straight, which is bound to feature a mass sprint, either for the stage or for green jersey points. Then, walk around the team busses checking out the bikes, there is always some cool yet-unavailable stuff around (got my first glimpse of STI on Panasonic team bikes in GVA in 89).

For Gérardmer-Mulhouse, the 1st category last climb is probably the best place to be, but it isn't hard enough, and too far from the arrival, to be a major battleground. Probably a few échappés, a stretched out peloton, and some Cipo-wannabes bringing up the rear .
I doubt you could attend both the departure and that climb (some 3:30 later), given travel time and the road's closing time. If you wish to do so, consider a combination of car+jogging, or car+bike, with a detailed Michelin map of the area. Many people do ride/drive out in the morning to watch the climbs (you can usually park on the road on all but the last part of major cols); others camp out the night before, but mostly in the Alps.


As for housing, the few hotels in Gerardmer (population 9,573) are probably all already booked by the teams. The Gérardmer tourist office site does list a number of B&B's and such; that those are not online is probably a plus, regarding availability. At worst, you'll have to look for accomodation as far as larger Colmar (33 miles away) or Mulhouse (48 miles) itself.


P.S: French TV channel France 2 has extensive coverage of every stage, usually non-stop all afternoon, and is indeed the best way to keep tabs on a day's action.

dhuey

Ah, happy memories. Last year, after a long day of riding, our group took over a small town pub and its TV with about two hours left in the day's stage. Let me tell you, there was no anti-Americanism among the staff there. A couple dozen Yanks getting tanked and tipping generously even by USA standards.

I was the lone Yank cheering on Voeckler.

Inga

Having seen Le Tour 4 times now and going again this year, here's my 2 cents trying not to repeat some of the excellent advice you have already received -

1) Roads will close anywhere from 4-12 hours ahead of the race. Best option is to have a bicycle. The roads will close much sooner for cars than bicycles. This is especially helpful if you desire to see a mountain stage. In 2002, the roads to Mt. Ventoux were closed very early in the morning to cars. I rode my bicycle to the top starting somewhere in the late morning. It was a blast to see all the people (crowd estimated at 500,000) and have them cheer you on. Beware of drunks though. Last year, I went by Alpe d’Huez a few days ahead of time and realized that terribly crowed, crazy, drunk scene wasn’t for me. Instead, I stayed at the hotel and watched the race from the plasma screeen TV in the hotel bar.

2) Be prepared for more people, cars, RVs, etc. than you can imagine. Le Tour is one, big rolling carnival. Also be prepared to stand around for long periods of time where basically nothing is happening. Bring your own water and food also as you might not be near facilities. Stores and restaurants, if available, can be jammed and run out of things early.

3) Le Tour website currently lists route details including road numbers, start times, and estimated times at locations. This is a most helpful tool in planning your day.

4) In terms of where to watch the race, a finish, a start, a mountain top, and feed zone will all provide plenty of excitement. If you’re not going to wait at the finish, try and hang out somewhere where there’s a bar so you can see the finish on TV. I’ve seen local folks set up their own viewing tents complete with folding chairs and TV. After the race passes by, everyone rushes into the tent to continue following the race.

5) Hotel reservations are quite difficult at this time. I made my reservations last summer. Your best option is (per monahas) to find a larger town nearby (which might be 100 miles away) and drive as close as you can very early in the morning. This will make for some very long days.

6) I’ve done organized trips as well as trips on my own. My impression is that if you need some handholding and have the pocket book to throw around over $500 per day on an organized tour, go ahead. You’ll be taken care of but you’ll need to respect the group dynamics going on to avoid unpleasant situations. If you have a sense of adventure and like meeting new people that probably don’t speak much English, doing it on your own can be a rewarding experience.

You’re going to have a blast if you know what to expect and go with the flow. Enjoy!

dhuey

What's your plan for this year, Inga?

Inga

Le Tour viewing this year will be near or around Courchevel, Luchon, Pau, and Paris. Planning to be at the finish in Courchevel and possibly Pla-d'Adet. All depends on what the race situation is like. I was very lucky in guessing part of this year's route. As such, I have reservations in Courchevel and Pau on the exact days Le Tour will be there.

chrissxb

for hotels i'd consider colmar (which is only 50 km from Mulhouse) in the Rhine Valley (I live in this area so just PM me for details) maybe you can find a cheap hotel at Epinal.

monahos

Oh, if you see the devil you'll know you've picked one of the best spots to watch the race. Plus, F2 always shows him on TV. IIRC on flat stages he hangs out in the middle of nowhere.

He didn't speak much English last time around, but will graciously pose for a picture with you

henwood

Only by chance I will be in Paris for the finish and staying near the finish line.
We are going to try to catch the finish if possible.
I am up for any advice you can give.
Thanks

jsgoldbe

From what I hear, either he or the devil suit doesn't see much washing. Still, he is quite a character to watch for on TV.