Start or finish?

term1te

I’m in the fortunate position of living pretty much half way between Colmar and Besancon, the 14th stage of this year’s tour. I’m planning to take my children to see the tour, the question is, will we get more of the spectacle of the whole event at the start or finish? I’m not sure they would be too impressed seeing the race en route, a couple of hours waiting for 30 seconds racing probably won't hold their attention.

Thanks

Philip S

Depends what you're after. If you want a lot of time watching the pros, perhaps speaking to them and getting autographs etc then the starts the place. If you want some tension and racing, then the finish - there'll be a big screen showing the race unfolding and you'll see the sprint for the line, but they're going so fast that they will whizz past in a blur and the riders tend to get out of there almost immediately, apart from those involved in the podium presentations.

Watching them on route can be good fun as well - there's a carnival atmosphere with spectators lining the road with picnics, garden furniture etc, the caravan's usually a good laugh for its sheer ridiculousness and then you get a good build up as various outriders head through and you hear the distant sound of the TV helicopters. The hairs stand up on the back of your neck and then the peleton zooms past. If you stand on one of the climbs, they may even be going slow enough for you to pick out individual riders! Then pop home to catch the finish on TV.

Anonymous

I'd go for the start...

Kléber

Go for a picnic, pick a nice spot and enjoy the day out. The kids will love the caravan, with the strange vehicles, music and even water pistols, they can scrap for free goodies too. Oh, and there's a bike race on too but don't worry too much about this.

micron

I vote finish with kids - the caravan hands out all the green hands, hats etc over the last kilometre as that's what gets shown on TV so your kids should profit handsomely from the free goodies. And you still get the opportunity to see riders and get autographs - my nieces and I once got Jens Voigt's autograph on a banner they made for him outside the doping control. Make sure you know exactly where the finish line is and be prepared to shove for the barriers - however, kids are usually a great weapon for getting a good spot at the front And take a picnic - though you can generally do pretty well out of free bottles of water and Cochonou sausages. Their hats are the best - have been trying to get one for years without success so I wish you well in your freebie gathering endeavours

If you want to keep kids interested, I also recommend a good post Tour crit - my son absolutely loves 'the lads' as he calls them because I took him to see one in Poitiers with a host of decent riders who we got to chat to in the car park and look at their bikes - atmosphere is very relaxed and riders approachable. Equipe usually has details of when, where and who in the days after the Tour.

takethehighroad

micron wrote:

Make sure you know exactly where the finish line is and be prepared to shove for the barriers - however, kids are usually a great weapon for getting a good spot at the front

If you do use this tactic, remember, and I'm sure you know already, that the French are experts at this art, and their children are forced into the smallest spaces by parents pushing them forwards.

top_bhoy

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

micron wrote:

Make sure you know exactly where the finish line is and be prepared to shove for the barriers - however, kids are usually a great weapon for getting a good spot at the front

If you do use this tactic, remember, and I'm sure you know already, that the French are experts at this art, and their children are forced into the smallest spaces by parents pushing them forwards.

The real pain is that you could be standing there for a few hours having had pre-emptied the situation and then along come a lazy adult or two and try to push themselves and kids in, well it doesn't work with me......if the kids can get in without spoiling my enjoyment of the race fair enough they'll get in - the parents can bugger off.

Some people lose their sense of courtesy at times.

If this is for you, I'd go for finish if only to get the sense of drama and excitment as the race closes. If its for the kids, then the start as its more relaxed.

micron

Having taken kids to both, in my experience, they loved the finish because of all the drama, noise, colour, free stuff - the only thing being stopping them leaning out over the barriers during a sprint finish. But it also depends on the age and stamina of the kids - going to the start means you can leave and do something else with the day, though I have found myself fleeing round the countryside trying to catch the race elsewhere with suddenly Tour crazy kids

richa

How old are the kids?

With Kids I would say the start. Plenty to see and no waiting. At the finish, to get a good spot you need to be there v.early. That will mean hours of waiting for something to happen.

Kids will love the start,enjoy the caravan, play with their goodies the rest of the day.

term1te

Thanks for the advice. My daughter is 9 and my son 12, so they can still just get away with the cute factor when pushing through crowds. They are both into le Tour, especially after my daughter came second in a kid’s cycle race and was interviewed by French TV, she refused to say a word though, but her moment on the podium has left an impression; and my son hasn’t taken his father’s Marmotte tee-shirt off all week.

I may see what the weather will be like, and if it is conducive to waiting for long periods at the finish.

knedlicky

I’ve seen two Tour stage starts and two Tour stage finishes.
At the starts, it was good being able to get up close to the riders as they appeared from their hotels, but though some gave autographs, none were interested in talking. Good was that at the hotels, their bikes had been parked waiting in the hotel courtyard and one could inspect and briefly ‘manhandle’ them under the eagle eye of a support team member.
But if you’re around the hotels when the riders emerge, you’re also usually too far away from the start line, with too little time left till the official start time, to get there and find a good spec. In that case, maybe settle for somewhere in the first streets they cycle through (if you're on the right side of town)? Or forget the hotels and go earlier to the start area, the atmosphere is good.
Warning - at the starts, when the riders have gone, you might have a sense of anticlimax - for you the Tour has gone, although still on today!

Tour finishes are also very crowded and it’s hit and miss whether you’ll get a good spec. However, there’s the feeling of anticipation and excitement as the riders get closer (there’s usually live commentary so you know what’s going on up the road). And when they’ve finished for the day, you know you’re not missing them somewhere else that day, rather there's a sense of completion!
At the starts, I found there’s little caravan atmosphere because it’s in a hurry to get a head’s start on the riders, so doesn’t linger much, and at the finishes, I’ve not seen the caravan at all - presumably it turns off a little beforehand.

If Besancon is within striking distance of home, so must Pontarlier be. So you could consider Besancon finish and Pontarlier start next morning, overnighting between? I can imagine Besancon, as alrge town, good for finish atmosphere but Pontarlier good as start, because it’s small and you’d almost certainly encounter the riders in the morning and get a good view of the start.

I prefer seeing them en route where we leisurely spend the day lounging with a picnic, experiencing the atmosphere of the caravan, and hopefully seeing them go by in groups (thus best in the mountains). And we try and pick just near where someone has set up a tent with beer and food and a TV so we can watch before they arrive and after they’ve gone. In your case, maybe at the Cote de Blamont?