{"id":1694,"date":"2016-07-09T21:11:59","date_gmt":"2016-07-09T12:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slingadventures.com\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2018-08-20T06:32:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-19T20:32:47","slug":"tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slingadventures.com\/destinations\/andorra\/tour-de-france","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France, Andorra"},"content":{"rendered":"A piper is playing an infectious and lively tune. Twenty\u00a0middle-aged men in lycra dance merrily on a hairpin bend on the road. A colourful mob of Columbians are adorned in the bright colours of their national flag. Names of Quintana, Froome and Sagan are sketched into the smooth asphalt with white chalk.\u00a0A helicopter is hovering low overhead. The\u00a0tension is building. The peloton is coming.\r\n\r\nThis is Le Tour. The Tour de France. It's been a\u00a0life-long dream to witness the iconic\u00a03-week cycling event. Le Tour, for me, is normally consumed through a television set on the other side of the world in Australia. I typically follow the event from a darkened lounge room in the wee hours of the morning in winter. This is \u00a0three-week marathon of living in two very different time zones. Going from the edge of the sofa cheering some brightly coloured cyclists up a hill at 2am. Then turning around and doing\u00a0full days work\u00a04 hours later.\r\n

Getting to Andorra<\/h2>\r\nErin and I meet the 2016 Tour de France in person in an unlikely Andorra. A small, mountainous principality in the Pyrenees\u00a0wedged between Spain and France.\u00a0We meet the tour on day 9. The 180 odd riders having spent an arduous first week heading south from Normandy through the mountains. The summit of Andorra Arcalis the final summit before a brief respite in the flatlands of the south of France.\r\n\r\nThis 9th day of the tour has played a pivotal role in a three week European adventure. And, it all started\u00a0with\u00a0a gamble. Once the Tour de France route is announced, accommodation gets snapped up quickly by tour groups and the prices skyrocket. Vague hints were left by the route planners prior to the 2016 announcements and it was surmised that Andorra was part of the tour and rumoured to be before the first rest day. The first rest day being normally after 7 days of cycling. \u00a0An Airbnb room was booked for the predicted 9th day and fortunately the route planners and I were aligned in our thinking!\r\n\r\nFlying in to Barcelona, Andorra is an easy and scenic three hour drive north from the Mediterranean Sea into the mountains. Andorra La Vella is the capital of this small nation and sits in a ravine bordered all around by high mountains. We park within the downtown area in the narrow, one-way, grid like streets. Alvaro, our Airbnb host meets us for a beer in a cafe before showing us to our room. Alvaro has just finished his shift as a chef in a Japanese restaurant a few blocks away.\r\n

Reconnaissance mission<\/h2>\r\nThe tour arrives tomorrow so a reconnaissance mission is had to check out a suitable viewing location. The road meandered up through a number of larger towns which were all cleaned, polished and dressed up for the big day ma\u00f1ana. Continuing, there were now just small villages\u00a0dotted at various intervals as the road got steeper. We were welcomed with lush green grass, brilliantly coloured flowerbeds set in the windows of stone cottages with\u00a0the imposing granite cliffs as a backdrop.\r\n\r\nWalking through town that evening it feels quiet, a little too quiet for the arrival of the word's largest cycle race the next day. It was the calm before the storm. The tour is a rolling caravan of buses trucks, support cars and media. Getting everything moving a few hours ahead of racing cyclists is a phenomenal feat of logistics. \u00a0We were unsure how far we could get up the mountain top finish at Arcalis the next day knowing that the convoy of support vehicles would start early.\r\n

Hanging on a hairpin bend<\/h2>\r\nAndorra may not be known for it's pastry items, however every little bistro in town stocked amazingly fresh array of croissants, apple danish and pain au chocolat. Washed down with a fresh barista coffee it was a great start to the day. We headed to the hills once again attempting to get as high as possible up the mountain to be close to what was looming as an action packed finish to the first week of racing.\r\n\r\nWe passed the familiar quaint towns from the previous day until the twisting switchbacks begun. Cyclists were ascending the climb as most do prior to stopping to watch the pros follow. Most roadside spaces had been taken so we begun to look for an opening to pull in. After 4 or 5 more hairpin turns a small gap appeared on a tight bend. Driving directly through the bend and on to some gravel and over a gutter and we were in! An amazing view back down the valley from where we'd just come. All manner of bikes and official vehicles clambering to the top.\r\n\r\nIt was fair to say we had some time on our hands. It was 4\u00a0hours before the peloton arrived. A small hotel had freshly made salami and cheese baguettes for sale. Inside a bar which was screening the televised coverage. The same coverage I would be watching from my darkened living room in Australia in the depths of winter. Here I am looking out across a vibrant green valley, the sun pouring in the window, a cold Stella Artois in my hand and a bar full of Europeans clad in lycra from their days cycling fixated on the screen.\r\n\r\nA group of Serbian men supporting sprint legend Peter Sagan have kept the crowds entertained during our afternoon on the mountain. A melodic pipe has been blown at regular intervals with a now familiar folksy tune setting them into action.\u00a0They dance with linked arms\u00a0in matching cycling gear, heckling the passing motorcades and generally warming up for the arrival of the tour proper. \u00a0These are joined in equal number by a Columbian cartel of Nairo Quintana supporters. They have painted the road with his name and have Columbian flags strung from every post imaginable.\r\n\r\n
\"Our

Our position on the roadside.<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n

The arrival of the Peloton<\/h2>\r\nRecreational cyclists are cleared from the road. Sponsors have sprayed out free merchandise from heavily branded vehicles. The frequency of Police motorbikes increases. These are all tell tale signs that the Tour de France peloton is arriving. The peloton being the main group of riders grouped together for the purpose of buffering themselves from the wind and saving precious energy. A helicopter slowly rises up the escarpment\u00a0with a pivoting camera visible beneath beaming the action to television sets around the globe.\r\n\r\nJust as this simmering sea of humanity was to boil into action the heavens opened and one almighty storm hit. Torrential rain, hail and lightening causing a cacophony of chaos on the mountain. Nothing would quell the enthusiasm of the crowd. The cheering and dancing continued in earnest as the lead trio of riders emerged through\u00a0the splashing raindrops pounding into the pavement. A narrow guard of honour formed naturally in the crowd allowing these athletes to push their machines\u00a0around the bend. Their eyes fixed ahead in steely determination to reach the summit.\r\n\r\nThe crowds parted and then reformed once again ast the next set of riders came through. This time in single file, followed by what remained of the peloton containing the biggest names in world cycling. Each eyeing each others wheel to see who will make break for the the run for home first. Froome, Quintana, Nibali, Porte how much did they have left after 4 hours in the saddle?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n

The race for home<\/h2>\r\nThe throng of the crowd swayed towards a large RV which contained a small television set. Gathered with 50 of my now closest compadres around this tiny screen we watched the action unfold further up the mountain. Meanwhile the Grupetto passed. The Grupetto containing the sprinters who are not built for hill climbing yet must endure these insane inclines under a time limit to be assured of continuing the next day. So they group together to encourage each other to the end. No one wants to see someone leave the tour prematurely.\r\n\r\nThe finish on top of Andorra Arcalis is the anti-climax to the passing peleton in real life. As the rain eased the results were published and it became the spectators race for home. Most traffic having been ascending throughout the day now descended, all at once down a narrow single-access mountain road. It was a long roll down into Andorra Vella.\r\n\r\nTo think this happens everyday for 3 weeks across France and at the front of the peloton the intensity of the awaiting crowd on the passing cyclists must be extreme. Like riding a wave of constant euphoria. It is questionable what is more draining on the riders physique as they retire to \u00a0their tour bus at the end of each stage? We certainly felt like we'd ridden through the Pyrenees after our long day on the mountain!\r\n\r\n
\"Peloton

Peloton of Tour de France ascending Andorra Arcalis<\/p><\/div>\r\n

How do I follow the Tour De France on my own?<\/h2>\r\nThere are many tour operators who will give you a decent hassle free trip and camaraderie of fellow cycling fans. However if you want to do it on your own and be free to drop in and out of the tour festivities it is easy. Consider the following:\r\n