LE TOUR

It was finally a reality, time to see it with my own eyes. Unlike past years I was not seated in my lounge-room, dressed in full cycling attire, Camembert cheese and wine by my side, longingly watching the colourful blur of athleticism that is Le Tour de France. This year I was there. I was armed with a car, a camera and a burning desire to get as close to Lance Armstrong as I could without being detained by authorities.


My favourite sporting event, my favourite athlete and a breathtaking backdrop. I knew that this would be one of the absolute highlights of my trip. It was in fact, one of the prime motivators for my trip. The logistics of bringing such a thing to fruition were challenging…

We rented a car in Paris and within minutes I found myself on the notorious roundabout that envelopes the Arc de Triomphe. White knuckles and girlish, shrill screams resulted. We pulled over and mapped out a route to the freeway that circumnavigated the outrageous roundabout. We made it out alive and drove many hours south to ‘Sud France’ to stay in a mountainside chalet. We had a rather pleasant view to wake up to…


The first stage we saw was in Annecy. It was the time-trial stage and the atmosphere was electric. The course consisted of a loop around a beautiful blue lake surrounded and humbled by breathtaking mountains. It was a very surreal place. We stalked the team buses, snuck a peak of Lance warming up and saw almost every rider fly past us in the aerodynamic position. We finished off the day with a meal at ‘Quality Burger’… It was not very high “Quality.”


The next stage took, via a night in Valencia, us to a little town called Bourg De Peage. We parked our car on the side of a road next to an orchard lined with peach trees and waited for the riders to fly past us. First the break-away group then the main peleton.


Mt Ventoux. Half-way between a sporting event and a music festival, this was my favourite stage by a mile! We drove as far up the mountain as we could manage and then set up our tent in a vineyard. For kilometres, the roads were lined with cycling fans waiting for daybreak so that they could begin the trek up the mountain to find a roadside position from which to watch the riders struggle by. We were determined to make it to the top, to see the best when they crawled up the final straight. 6 hours and 20 kilometeres later, we were not disappointed. Armstrong, Contador and Schleck came around the corner side by side. My heart practically jumped out of my throat. It was better than I could have imagined.

The trip back to Paris was an arduous one. We left in the evening when it was still light and drove until the daylight hours, 6 coffees were needed to facilitate such an ambitious journey but we made it in the end. The final stage in Paris was exciting but it was tough to find a good vantage point. Cavendish won in an exciting sprint finish.

I will definitely be making the trip again next year.

"Vive le Tour, forever." - Lance Armstrong (July 25, 2005)