2005 Tour de France

John Metsy said:

I am keen to go and watch some of the 2005 Tour de France

I understand that this might be a good news groups where I can find out
about where are good places to watch. And just what is the best way to make
the most of a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Any feedback would be much appreciated

Thanks
John

Some tips from my travels last year....

1. If you are watching a mountain stage, try to get on a hairpin the
riers will be slow and you will see them coming up from a distance - the
only problem is everyone has the same idea! I would probably avoid any
of the really classic mountain stages as they are just a zoo of drunk
fans normally cheering a certain mr ullrich on.

2. Sus the route out in advace and get yourself near to about 500m to
1k out of a feed station - the riders slow right down to eat and they
often discard musettes/bidons etc....

3. If you want to get up close to the riders for autographs, the best
place is to get near to the sign on at the stage start. My wife got
Robbie McEwans sig in st flour last year that way , and Julian Deans at
the TOB. We got within inches of the likes of Armstrong, Virenque,
Echimov, Hamilton etc...

4. If you are planning to see the final paris stage, find a place at
the arc de triomphe end of the champs.... we were at the other end and
every group of people who had waited for 8 hours in the sun except us
were moved on about an hour before the race came through - we were lucky.

have fun

John Metsy said:

I am keen to go and watch some of the 2005 Tour de France

I understand that this might be a good news groups where I can find out
about where are good places to watch. And just what is the best way to
make the most of a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Last year some friends & I watched 3 stages. We picked a village with a
points sprint, the top of a Cat 1 climb and the middle of a reasonably
long descent. Each one had a different atmosphere and its own style, and
it's definitely worth trying something like this.

Finding the route is no problem at all, details are published on the TdF
website about a month before depart, and normal Michelin 1:175000 maps
(yellow cover) are fine to work out the exact route. Take care it
picking how you are going to get to your spectating point, where there are
several roads crossing the route they're open, but particularly in the
mouintains there may only be one way in and it's likely to be closed hours
before the race arrives, sometimes even the previosu day. Get there at
least two hours before the race arrives, there's an hour of fun to be had
trying to maximise your haul of goodies from the Caravan Publicitaire.
Take a picnic, the French organise themselves with table & chairs too!
And some wine of course ;-)

If you're on a bike you'll get rather more indulgence from the police than
in a car, and will be able to cycle along the route once the race has
cleared.

By the paper L'Equipe every day -- excellent coverage and it might help
your french a little too.

That's all I can think of atm.

Mike

John Metsy said:

I am keen to go and watch some of the 2005 Tour de France

I understand that this might be a good news groups where I can find out
about where are good places to watch. And just what is the best way to make
the most of a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Any feedback would be much appreciated

Thanks
John

Best way IMHO is to go on an organised trip such as Graham Baxters
especially if you want to ride your bike and not going with a family.
They do moving on trips which can be tiring with early starts and lots
of packing, but they also do trips based in one place such as Annecy or
Serre Chavalier which are ideal for Tour mountain stages usually. Best
way to travel around is by bike as always. I have been to the Tour 11
times since 1988, been on Baxters and others trips and been on my bike
and in my car. Doing it yourself may be cheaper and you set your own
itinery of course but you also need to find your own accommodation which
can sometimes be tricky and if you want to cycle you either need to do a
loop or have a driver who can meet you later. You might not get time to
do a loop as you may need to move on for the next stage which is why I
say wot make the most of your once in a lifetime experience (which is
probably will not be) an organised trip might be better.

Mountain stages are good with spectacular scenery and of course often
where the race is lost and won but you have to be very, very lucky to
see a move of significance. Riders are either all together not racing or
strung out all over the mountain. All mountains are crowded and getting
back down from a mountain top finish is a nightmare, the higher you go
the better the action but of course the harder it will be to get down.
Prologues are good as all riders are fresh and quite relaxed, often able
to see them warming up on back roads on the day or simply training on
the days leading up to the start.

If you can find out where the riders are spending the rest day you will
almost certainly be able to spot some out riding if it is not a transfer
day. The French may Mirroir de Cyclisme used to publish the team hotels.
We were joined on our ride out of Lourdes in 1994 by the entire Festina
Team who promptly blew us away on what was a fourth cat climb the
following day. We were is a bar which just happened to be in the Mapei
teams hotel, Tony Rominger was discussing something with a guy on the
table behind me, Rominger did not start the following days stage. We
also had a chat with Jesper Skibby in Lourdes, he was just wandering
around like us, 'admiring' the quality of the souvenirs.

I have seen prologues, time trials, including the final 1989 one, TTT,
moutain stages, sprint finishes, Champs Elysees and would favour the
mountains because with good weather and good form they are magnificent.
With rain they are horrid. Most of my trips have included lots of
pedaling too.

MSeries said:

John Metsy said:

I am keen to go and watch some of the 2005 Tour de France

I understand that this might be a good news groups where I can find out
about where are good places to watch. And just what is the best way
to make
the most of a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Any feedback would be much appreciated

Thanks
John

Best way IMHO is to go on an organised trip such as Graham Baxters
especially if you want to ride your bike and not going with a family.
They do moving on trips which can be tiring with early starts and lots
of packing, but they also do trips based in one place such as Annecy or
Serre Chavalier which are ideal for Tour mountain stages usually. Best
way to travel around is by bike as always. I have been to the Tour 11
times since 1988, been on Baxters and others trips and been on my bike
and in my car. Doing it yourself may be cheaper and you set your own
itinery of course but you also need to find your own accommodation which
can sometimes be tricky and if you want to cycle you either need to do a
loop or have a driver who can meet you later. You might not get time to
do a loop as you may need to move on for the next stage which is why I
say wot make the most of your once in a lifetime experience (which is
probably will not be) an organised trip might be better.

Mountain stages are good with spectacular scenery and of course often
where the race is lost and won but you have to be very, very lucky to
see a move of significance. Riders are either all together not racing or
strung out all over the mountain. All mountains are crowded and getting
back down from a mountain top finish is a nightmare, the higher you go
the better the action but of course the harder it will be to get down.
Prologues are good as all riders are fresh and quite relaxed, often able
to see them warming up on back roads on the day or simply training on
the days leading up to the start.

If you can find out where the riders are spending the rest day you will
almost certainly be able to spot some out riding if it is not a transfer
day. The French may Mirroir de Cyclisme used to publish the team hotels.
We were joined on our ride out of Lourdes in 1994 by the entire Festina
Team who promptly blew us away on what was a fourth cat climb the
following day. We were is a bar which just happened to be in the Mapei
teams hotel, Tony Rominger was discussing something with a guy on the
table behind me, Rominger did not start the following days stage. We
also had a chat with Jesper Skibby in Lourdes, he was just wandering
around like us, 'admiring' the quality of the souvenirs.

I have seen prologues, time trials, including the final 1989 one, TTT,
moutain stages, sprint finishes, Champs Elysees and would favour the
mountains because with good weather and good form they are magnificent.
With rain they are horrid. Most of my trips have included lots of
pedaling too.

I cant agree with your advice about Baxters - I did the etape last year
with them which included a weeks worth of following the tour - I felt
like I was on a school trip.

We had much more fun when we just took off on our own and did it at our
own pace.

turkeytickler said:

MSeries said:

John Metsy said:

I am keen to go and watch some of the 2005 Tour de France

I understand that this might be a good news groups where I can find out
about where are good places to watch. And just what is the best way
to make
the most of a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Any feedback would be much appreciated

Thanks
John

Best way IMHO is to go on an organised trip such as Graham Baxters
especially if you want to ride your bike and not going with a family.
They do moving on trips which can be tiring with early starts and lots
of packing, but they also do trips based in one place such as Annecy
or Serre Chavalier which are ideal for Tour mountain stages usually.
Best way to travel around is by bike as always. I have been to the
Tour 11 times since 1988, been on Baxters and others trips and been on
my bike and in my car. Doing it yourself may be cheaper and you set
your own itinery of course but you also need to find your own
accommodation which can sometimes be tricky and if you want to cycle
you either need to do a loop or have a driver who can meet you later.
You might not get time to do a loop as you may need to move on for the
next stage which is why I say wot make the most of your once in a
lifetime experience (which is probably will not be) an organised trip
might be better.

Mountain stages are good with spectacular scenery and of course often
where the race is lost and won but you have to be very, very lucky to
see a move of significance. Riders are either all together not racing
or strung out all over the mountain. All mountains are crowded and
getting back down from a mountain top finish is a nightmare, the
higher you go the better the action but of course the harder it will
be to get down. Prologues are good as all riders are fresh and quite
relaxed, often able to see them warming up on back roads on the day or
simply training on the days leading up to the start.

If you can find out where the riders are spending the rest day you
will almost certainly be able to spot some out riding if it is not a
transfer day. The French may Mirroir de Cyclisme used to publish the
team hotels. We were joined on our ride out of Lourdes in 1994 by the
entire Festina Team who promptly blew us away on what was a fourth cat
climb the following day. We were is a bar which just happened to be in
the Mapei teams hotel, Tony Rominger was discussing something with a
guy on the table behind me, Rominger did not start the following days
stage. We also had a chat with Jesper Skibby in Lourdes, he was just
wandering around like us, 'admiring' the quality of the souvenirs.

I have seen prologues, time trials, including the final 1989 one, TTT,
moutain stages, sprint finishes, Champs Elysees and would favour the
mountains because with good weather and good form they are
magnificent. With rain they are horrid. Most of my trips have included
lots of pedaling too.

I cant agree with your advice about Baxters - I did the etape last year
with them which included a weeks worth of following the tour - I felt
like I was on a school trip.

We had much more fun when we just took off on our own and did it at our
own pace.

It a matter of opinion of course. I responded to the OPs point about
making the most of his once in a lifetime opportunity. Whenever I have
been on a Baxters trip I have seen more of the Tour, done more cycling
and no driving. No worries about accommodation either. I agree that a
DIY trip gives one the flexibility to set the itinary but for me it
hasn't made the most of the available time, mostly because I have been
the only driver so could not do A to B rides, this mean't I couldn't do
all day rides as that left too little time to drive onto the next place.

Martin Newstead said:

turkeytickler said:

MSeries said:

John Metsy wrote:

> I am keen to go and watch some of the 2005 Tour de France
>
> I understand that this might be a good news groups where I can find
> out
> about where are good places to watch. And just what is the best way
> to make
> the most of a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
>
> Any feedback would be much appreciated
>
> Thanks
> John
>
>
Best way IMHO is to go on an organised trip such as Graham Baxters
especially if you want to ride your bike and not going with a family.
They do moving on trips which can be tiring with early starts and
lots of packing, but they also do trips based in one place such as
Annecy or Serre Chavalier which are ideal for Tour mountain stages
usually. Best way to travel around is by bike as always. I have been
to the Tour 11 times since 1988, been on Baxters and others trips and
been on my bike and in my car. Doing it yourself may be cheaper and
you set your own itinery of course but you also need to find your own
accommodation which can sometimes be tricky and if you want to cycle
you either need to do a loop or have a driver who can meet you later.
You might not get time to do a loop as you may need to move on for
the next stage which is why I say wot make the most of your once in a
lifetime experience (which is probably will not be) an organised trip
might be better.

Mountain stages are good with spectacular scenery and of course often
where the race is lost and won but you have to be very, very lucky to
see a move of significance. Riders are either all together not racing
or strung out all over the mountain. All mountains are crowded and
getting back down from a mountain top finish is a nightmare, the
higher you go the better the action but of course the harder it will
be to get down. Prologues are good as all riders are fresh and quite
relaxed, often able to see them warming up on back roads on the day
or simply training on the days leading up to the start.

If you can find out where the riders are spending the rest day you
will almost certainly be able to spot some out riding if it is not a
transfer day. The French may Mirroir de Cyclisme used to publish the
team hotels. We were joined on our ride out of Lourdes in 1994 by the
entire Festina Team who promptly blew us away on what was a fourth
cat climb the following day. We were is a bar which just happened to
be in the Mapei teams hotel, Tony Rominger was discussing something
with a guy on the table behind me, Rominger did not start the
following days stage. We also had a chat with Jesper Skibby in
Lourdes, he was just wandering around like us, 'admiring' the quality
of the souvenirs.

I have seen prologues, time trials, including the final 1989 one,
TTT, moutain stages, sprint finishes, Champs Elysees and would favour
the mountains because with good weather and good form they are
magnificent. With rain they are horrid. Most of my trips have
included lots of pedaling too.

I cant agree with your advice about Baxters - I did the etape last
year with them which included a weeks worth of following the tour - I
felt like I was on a school trip.

We had much more fun when we just took off on our own and did it at
our own pace.

It a matter of opinion of course. I responded to the OPs point about
making the most of his once in a lifetime opportunity. Whenever I have
been on a Baxters trip I have seen more of the Tour, done more cycling
and no driving. No worries about accommodation either. I agree that a
DIY trip gives one the flexibility to set the itinary but for me it
hasn't made the most of the available time, mostly because I have been
the only driver so could not do A to B rides, this mean't I couldn't do
all day rides as that left too little time to drive onto the next place.

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If you want a 100%
cycling focus, spent in the company of other (mainly) British people
then I would agree that Baxters is the way to go, and I agree it is
great not have to have to worry about looking after your bike etc... I
would have to add the I found the organisation of the Baxters Tour very
lacking in some respects - I heard from one of the coach parties the
night before the etape that their guide got them lost and they ended up
cycling 100k instead of the 50 planned.... also the hotel gave them
steak and chips on the night before despite promising pasta.

If you are that nuts about seeing the cycling you will see more if you
stay at home and watch it on the TV (or in a bar in France I guess). I
wasnt interested in doing any other cycling and the OP has not mentioned
it either.

Having ridden the etape - speaking for myself, I was quite glad to have
a break from the bike and just enjoy the atmosphere.

If you want to enjoy the Tour as the whole package and get a real feel
for France and the whole spectacle, including the caravan, the nightlife
- of which the actual cycling itself is only a part, you have zero
chance with Baxters who will likely have you holded up in a hotel
somewhere on the outskirts of town where you are treated and catered for
as a mass tourist..... fine if you want to spend your once in a lifetime
eating pasta for a fortnight....but not if you really want to make the
most of what France has to offer....

turkeytickler said:

If you want to enjoy the Tour as the whole package and get a real feel
for France and the whole spectacle, including the caravan, the nightlife
- of which the actual cycling itself is only a part, you have zero
chance with Baxters who will likely have you holded up in a hotel
somewhere on the outskirts of town where you are treated and catered for
as a mass tourist..... fine if you want to spend your once in a lifetime
eating pasta for a fortnight....but not if you really want to make the
most of what France has to offer....

Baxters trips vary alot. Perhaps in the last few years, perhaps due to
their popularity they have gone downhill. In 1994 I did the All
Mountains trip. We had a few days in the Pyrenees based in Lourdes,
which incidently allowed us to ride L'Etape du Tour, this was a bonus,
this was the second edition of the event and I hadn't heard of it before
the eve of the event. We gate crashed an rode unofficially. Anyway our
hotel was in the middle of Lourdes, that same hotel as Graham Watson and
a few other journos. We were round the corner from the hotel hosting
amongst others the Mailliot Jaune, M. Indurain and like I said we say
many riders wandering around the town on the rest day. I would never
have managed this had I been doing my own thing. In Avignon we were in
the centreville too, similarly in Grenoble and Annemasse I can't
remember the other places it was 10 years ago. In 2000 I did a Week in
the Alps trip based in Serre Chevalier for a week. No transfers, lots of
cycling in the mountains, similarly the year of the riders strike, we
were based in Annecy again within walking distance from the centreville.
Sure there were times we were on the edge of town, usually for one
nighters whilst in transit from one base to the next, thats the price to
pay for getting to see 8 stages. If I'd been driving I'd most likely be
staying in these sort of places all the time or camping a la ferme with
cows for company.

<snipped>

Quoted message said:

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If you want a 100%
cycling focus, spent in the company of other (mainly) British people
then I would agree that Baxters is the way to go, and I agree it is
great not have to have to worry about looking after your bike etc... I
would have to add the I found the organisation of the Baxters Tour very
lacking in some respects - I heard from one of the coach parties the
night before the etape that their guide got them lost and they ended up
cycling 100k instead of the 50 planned.... also the hotel gave them
steak and chips on the night before despite promising pasta.

Quoted message said:

If you are that nuts about seeing the cycling you will see more if you
stay at home and watch it on the TV (or in a bar in France I guess). I
wasnt interested in doing any other cycling and the OP has not mentioned
it either.

Quoted message said:

Having ridden the etape - speaking for myself, I was quite glad to have
a break from the bike and just enjoy the atmosphere.

Quoted message said:

If you want to enjoy the Tour as the whole package and get a real feel
. for France and the whole spectacle, including the caravan, the
. nightlife - of which the actual cycling itself is only a part, you
have zero chance with Baxters who will likely have you holded up in a
hotel somewhere on the outskirts of town where you are treated and
catered for as a mass tourist..... fine if you want to spend your
once in a lifetime eating pasta for a fortnight....but not if you
really want to make the most of what France has to offer....

I can't speak for Graham Baxters TDF trips.
However I can offer some insight to his Vuelta trips. These are now run as
"Premium Tours" which to us at first, seemed very expensive, but from
talking to the other guests and hearing of their previous experiences. in
fact offer very good value. compare it to the price of the tour Neil
Stephens leads, can't think of the Company name at the mo. On the past 2
Vuelta tours we very often stayed at the same hotels as them.Last year for 4
nights or so we stayed at the Alhambra hotel which ain't bad at all!!
I would estimate 25% of the clientele are British, The rest are mainly
American, with a few Australians and Canadians.
The Cyclists in the group are very well looked after, with Both Graham and
Marcelino leading the rides usually with a couple of distance options.
The trip content has improved drastically in the last couple of years for us
non cyclists, with accreditation passes being obtained for some of the
start/finish areas, arranging to drop us at good race viewing points etc.
Some of the Americans on the trip has also done the TDF with a Canadian
based company, which, so they said was very shoddily organised, the non
cyclists, having been promised that they would be looked after, with ample
race viewing possibilities and sightseeing. In fact found themselves very
much not being looked after etc.

Jan