tips for going to the tour de france 2010!

Tomred

Hi all
Am heading over to the tour this year for the first time, driving over to france and down to Pau Revel Tour Malet stages for about a week, am looking for tips and advice ? am heading with a mate and we are bringing roadbikes and mountainbikes to get us up the hills! planning to camp up the mountains as we are bringing a van. what are the do's and don'ts ? is it hard to get up the stage routes! when are the roads closed? what are the crowds like? any help will be much appreciated????
Tom

Garrigou

Maybe try camping on the Port de Bales (last climb on the stage into Luchon on the 19th July) from the 17th then hot footing it across to pitch up on the West side of the Tourmalet the next day (i.e. 2-3 days before the pros ride up there from Pau).
In a van, you need to get there ahead of the crowds. On the day or even the day before, you'll not have a great chance of finding a parking spot.
Off the Bales, there are plenty of good rides to do (Superbagneres, Peyresourde, Aspin, Mente etc) and similarly, from the West side of the Tourmalet you're in a good spot to ride Luz Ardiden, Hautacam & Aubisque.
So, camp early; ride for a couple of days to fill the waiting time; & then enjoy the Tour as it goes past.
All the climbs listed are Cat 1 or HC, so pretty tough. Aspin is the easiest (13km at 5.5%) and Port de Bales / Tourmalet are the hardest (19km each at around 7%).
Wear a Euskatel shirt and you'll probably make friends with 100,000 Basque people!

Faye

Try and find a spot on the climb as early as you can on the day. I arrived at a stage 8 hours early on a descent and the place was packed! And make sure you shout out loud at the publicity caravans if you want their freebies!

shawman

Garrigou wrote:

Maybe try camping on the Port de Bales (last climb on the stage into Luchon on the 19th July) from the 17th then hot footing it across to pitch up on the West side of the Tourmalet the next day (i.e. 2-3 days before the pros ride up there from Pau).
In a van, you need to get there ahead of the crowds. On the day or even the day before, you'll not have a great chance of finding a parking spot.
Off the Bales, there are plenty of good rides to do (Superbagneres, Peyresourde, Aspin, Mente etc) and similarly, from the West side of the Tourmalet you're in a good spot to ride Luz Ardiden, Hautacam & Aubisque.
So, camp early; ride for a couple of days to fill the waiting time; & then enjoy the Tour as it goes past.
All the climbs listed are Cat 1 or HC, so pretty tough. Aspin is the easiest (13km at 5.5%) and Port de Bales / Tourmalet are the hardest (19km each at around 7%).
Wear a Euskatel shirt and you'll probably make friends with 100,000 Basque people!

From what I hear from a friend who lives in the Pyrenees, going to the Tourmalet on 20th will be too late, they are expecting an enormous number of spectators (1,000,000 +) and the climb may be closed to vans and campers from the 16th or 17th. So by the 20th the only way up will be by bike or foot.

ccallana

Any thoughts about coming up the back side of the climb? (From the West?) on the second trip up the Tourmalet? The riders will be coming up the East side, and the finish is at the top.

Since the East side is likely to be teaming with folks all the way up, I'm wondering about trying to drive to La Mongie on Wednesday, or very early Thursday and then walking/riding to the summit from there?

Or are there going to be so many people left from the climb on Tuesday that it isn't even going to matter?

ryang

Hi There

I am looking at going to try and see one of the mountain stages as well. Is there any chance of getting a bus or some sort of transport from somewhere like Lourdes up to or near the tourmalet?


Ryan

bigjayuk

Went to the TDF last year (end of stage 19) into Bourg Saint Maurice. Take food and drinks, get there as early as you can, enjoy the good weather and absolutely great atmosphere. There will be signs around town the day before saying what time the roads will be closed (ignore these, like most things in France, they are subject to the gallic laws of 'we'll do it when we want anyway'). The roads into Bourg were due to close at 13:00, they closed at 11:00. If you are there early enough its a spectacle itself watching the faces of the drivers being told to bugger off!! The 'caravan' comes through an hour before the first rider and basically throws goodies into the crowd (be ready with big elbows to get the good goodies!!). From then on it'll take 20 minutes until the helicopters come into hearing/visual range, this was when the excitement kicked in, the atmosphere went up several notches. The roads open to everyone again about 1-2 hours after the last rider has gone through. Most of all enjoy!!