see the Tour de France live

I watched the finish along the Champs Élysées in 2005. It was the last year that Lance Armstrong raced and won for his 7th consecutive year (unless he wins in 2009 after his announced comeback). It was amazing watching so many great cyclists and being caught up in the general atmosphere and excitement of the Tour de France. Would like to go back and watch another race, or perhaps watch some of the mountain climb stages. I am also considering trying to bike (not race) the course a few weeks before the race starts. The photo is of Lance after winning going on a victory lap.

in the town of Bagneres Luchyon, july 13-14th.

july 2007, london.
i had a vip pass for the beginning of the tour de france.
i loved every minute of it and will never forget that day.

I caught the finish of the 2007 TdF, Stage 10 in Marseille. It was a great time. I recommend catching the finish of a race because you can walk around afterwards and see the team cars, bikes, buses, riders, etc. Otherwise you can stand on the side of the road, see them whiz by, and then go back to your business.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lcdrmike/TourDeFrance2007Stage10TallardMarseilles

I love watching live cycling. I’ve really only been once. It was at the Olympics in Athens. It was fantastic. I really want to watch the Tour live, perhaps in the next few years I’ll have a chance!

amazingly enough, this year the tour de france started in london. the prologue was in the streets of london, while the first stage went from london to canterbury. about halfway on the second stage, the tour passed through the town of maidstone.

i’ve lived and studied at university in maidstone for the past three years!!

basically, i didn’t have to go to france to see the tour, it came to my doorsteps, just a few meters from my front door.

we saw it in the town centre, however. never have i seen so many people in maidstone before. the build-up was entertaining, and the experience of seeing the riders pass by was incredible. naturally it all happened very quickly, but i enjoyed every second of it. i saw both my favourite rides (thor hushovd (c.a.) and kurt asle arvesen (csc).. i’m norwegian) and shouted their names, although i wonder if they could hear it through all the noise. all in all, definitely worth it :)

will be repeated (properly, in france the next time, preferably with a roadside picknick w/ good friends)

We went to London for the Tour, saw the Prologue on Saturday. The weather was fab for once (even got sunburnt) and the crowds were huge & friendly & enthusiastic. We settled on a spot in Hyde Park so we could watch the big screen as well as the individual riders flashing by. It was an amazing event and I’m so glad we went but there is a big but – we couldn’t get to Greenwich / Kent to see the first stage of the race ‘proper’, so we didn’t get the spectacle of the peloton in full flight.

So I am marking this thing as ‘done’ and putting up a new thing – “see the Tour de France live again”. We’ll be looking at next year’s route to see if it co-incides with likely-looking holiday destinations …. ooh lookey lookey it starts in Brittany …

Our flights are booked – we’ll be in London for the Tour this year. Hurray!

on TV, never live.

:(

I’m joining the Sporting Tours Tour de France group in July, and I AM SO EXCITED! I’ll be in France for 15 days, visiting towns and villages, following the Tour. It will be a dream come true for me!