[Garhel]

Hi

We’re off over to France to catch Stages 4 & 5 of this years tour.  We will arrive late morning in Calais on the day of the Dunkerque-Calais stage, and then have accomodation booked in Arras that same night before travelling to the next stage (Lille-Arenberg).  Any recommendations or tips on where to head for to get the best view / experience?  Keen to see some of the cobbled sections on stage 5,  and we should have bikes with us so we can move about a bit or get closer (or we could leave the bikes at the accomodation and walk a bit if that is going to be less restrictive due to road closures etc)…   First time we’ve done it, so any advice from old hands would be much appreciated…

Edited to add we are travelling over by ferry, so will have a car with us.

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[Shades]

I’ve done Tour spectating

I’ve done Tour spectating twice + a very random 3rd time where we flung the car into a motorway services (mid long journey across France), jumped over a fence, ran down a path and caught the peloton as it came through (A+ to my wife who was tracking the race and realised we very very close).  The TdF mag is essential for the timings; you need to do some homework on where is a good place to watch (Google Streetview).  Preferably where they’ve slowed down a bit with a good vantage point (poss where you can see the riders approaching from a few hundred metres or so), although it’s all over pretty quick anyway!  They close the roads (at least an hour I think) before the caravan comes through and the the Gendarmes ensure NOTHING moves on the road; not even a bike (they also don’t do negotiation).  That means a LOT of sitting around so if you can take some food, beers, books etc then that wiles the time away (can get hot as well).  If your car isn’t far away, that helps (bring more stuff) or being near a cafe/town etc, but be warned the French can turn up in force at popular places (with chairs, picnic, parasols, gazebos etc).  You could also find a side road (that connects to the route), park and then walk/cycle to the route which may allow you to just be there for the race.  My second time I managed to get the van parked on the actual route and, before the road was closed, cycled up and down (Cat 2 climb) to take in the atmosphere; by the time the road was closed it was full of spectators.  The caravan is a laugh; stand near kids as they have more stuff thrown at them.  Then you can trade caps, freebies etc and when the stuff flies onto the verge, it’s every man, woman and child for themselves (usually then at least an hour before the race comes through, heralded by the squadron of helicopters).  Getting discarded bidons or musettes is a real bonus.  Some traffic queues afterwards as they re-open the roads.  Anyway, most people would think it bonkers to sit for hours by the road waiting for a bunch of cyclists to pass, but for a cycling fan it’s a bucket-list activity.

[bobbinogs]

If you haven’t done so

If you haven’t done so already, getting the TdF mag is a very good start to the process as it helps with location planning (big map included) as well as getting all the predicted timings (caravan, fast time/slow time, etc):

https://magsdirect.co.uk/magazine/tdf22/

It is also available in most outlets and even M&S. 

[Author]

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