I’m going to be in the Lot / Dordogne region when Stage 8 of the Tour comes through in a few weeks. I’m planning to take the kids to see the peloton pass through, which I’ve done there before and know the area (and backroads) well, so that part should be pretty straightforward.
However, I’d like to go for a ride earlier in the day and it would be cool to ride the route ahead of the caravan coming through, then park up to meet my family in advance of the caravan arriving. I’ve never done that part.
I know the roads close 3-4 hours before the race comes through (at least an hour before the caravan comes through). But can anyone share any experience in how far ahead of the caravan I’d need to be so as to be allowed to ride on the road without getting waved down and pulled over by officials / Gendarmes?
My ideal plan would be to get into the sweet spot between road closure and caravan - effectively getting a free ride on a closed road with the whole tour set up in place. And I know that can be done at smaller races no problem, but I suspect the tour is not quite as easy going.
Has anyone done this before and how close to the caravan arriving were you forced to pull over? I’ll need to err on the side of caution as I will not be popular if I’m stuck down the road with my family waiting further along.
Please let me know if you can share any experiences. Thanks in advance
I can only give you my advice from experience: leave earlier than you think you need to even if just to see the Tour rip by you while you’re sipping a Picon punch whilst at a café terrace.
In 2024 when I was based in the South of France and there was a stage that was going through some nearby towns south of Toulouse and I thought, if I leave with a couple of hours before the predicted passage I’ll be fine. Uh, yeah nah. Gendarmes told me NON, in the most polite French way, that it was not possible to go 50m to the cafe to meet up with people that I knew because I would soil the road that the Tour was going to use in two hours time with my crossing it on my American bicycle. So, dommage, I was stuck spinning back to home base to watch a stage on tv that was a mere 20km from where I was. I’d proven myself late to the Grande Boucle and lacking the necessary knowledge to plan appropriately.
I don’t think that you’d be able to find that sweet spot of riding that you’d like to with a race like the Tour. It’s just simply a security nightmare now and the Gendarmes are there to protect it forcefully, but with outstanding panache!
I wish you all the best and happy riding - enjoy France, but leave early! ; )
Thanks. I feared this would be the case but it’s good to have an anecdote to support that. Fortunately that area is well served by backroads which won’t be closed, so I can give it a crack early in the day and if I get forced off the road take an alternative route to where I want to get to.
Exactly this! That is why for the riding experience, the Giro is far more flexible (read: dis-organised) and laid-back, and also smaller tours like Tour de Swiss where I have been able to descend after stage finishes riding down with the pros!
Oh I don’t doubt it. I’m on a family holiday to visit my parents and the Tour is going past their door (just about), not making a trip to see the tour halfway through a sprint stage in week 2. There are about 100 bike races I’d travel to see before that!
When I went on a guided tour, the company didn’t hold any rides along race routes on race day. They said gendarmes can close them unpredictably and you can’t reliably say they will be open X hours beforehand.