Watching Le Tour

narbs

By happy coincidence we will be near Tours where stage 12 finishes this year and stage 13 starts.

In terms of soaking up the atmosphere would a trip for the end of a stage be better, or a stroll around for the sign on and associated stuff the following morning.

Part of our summer holiday so will be wandering with Mrs narbs and 18 month old daughter.

greasedscotsman

Both!

slim_boy_fat

Same question from me really, family holiday in Normandy so will be in the area for the TT to Mont St Michel and the following day stage from Fougeres.

Richmond Racer

Yeah, I'm with Greased on doing both, if you can persuade mrs narbs.

On the morning of the stage, there's the potential to see so much more - sign on, team buses, roll-out - although you might want to opt for alternative to buggy for getting narbs junior. It really is a bit on the mental side at the Tour, crowds-wise.

At the stage finish, I really enjoy being in town/MTF/whatever, for the the build up throughout the day, and finding a screen to keep an eye on the race till it gets near.

DeadCalm

Both obviously if you can but if forced to choose only one, I'd go to the start rather than the finish.

danlikesbikes

If you can do both would recommend it as they are both worth while. However as its a family holiday if you can't fit in both go watch the race, get their early to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy all the stuff that happens before the race as well as the action as the riders pass. You never know you might get a pass from the family to get to the start the following morning, or take them with you as a compromise and take them out to lunch afterwards. Its often the way I get my other half involved :-)

chrisday

Danlikesbikes wrote:

If you can do both would recommend it as they are both worth while. However as its a family holiday if you can't fit in both go watch the race, get their early to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy all the stuff that happens before the race as well as the action as the riders pass. You never know you might get a pass from the family to get to the start the following morning, or take them with you as a compromise and take them out to lunch afterwards. Its often the way I get my other half involved :-)

^ This.
Non-cycling fans are much more likely to enjoy the start, there's so much to see and the atmosphere is great, and you might get the pass as a result of them enjoying more than they thought they would!

greasedscotsman

Slim Boy Fat wrote:

Same question from me really, family holiday in Normandy so will be in the area for the TT to Mont St Michel and the following day stage from Fougeres.

TT is a bit different. Compared to a stage finish, there isn't really any build up. It's just a rider coming past every couple of minutes for 4-5 hours. A bit like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Miq5GNQOKQ

It can be good, find a nice spot in the sunshine and watch the riders roll by. Can be quite tedious as well.

narbs

Thanks all, really useful.

Plenty of time between now and then to earn some brownie points and squeeze both in!

danlikesbikes

I did a race last year with my other half, brother in law & his other half too. Managed to watch a stage the day before which they were all pretty bored with and as in the middle of nowhere they had not much else to do. The following day we went to the start and they really enjoyed it being able to get up close to all the kit and team buses, lots of people giving out stuff plus I agreed we would then sit in a cafe and have brunch/lunch which went down well, nothing of course to do with the cafe having a TV on with the race showing honest.