So what’s all this about? For many years now, and especially since living in France I’ve been visiting stages of the Tour de France. Sometimes staying overnight and taking in a couple of stages, sometimes cycling in, sometimes just one stage, but I’ve never been to the final stage on Champs Élysées. So a crazy plan bubbled away - why not go to Paris ? Why not take in more stages ? Why not see ALL the stages in one year ? It took my stepson David to point out to me that there’s no reason why I shouldn’t do that. I’m retired, I live in France - there’s nothing to stop me. Thankfully, my wonderful wife agreed too, and so 21 Étapes was born. A plan to see every stage of one Tour de France, live. It’s grown slightly to include the Team Presentations beforehand - so truly a complete Tour de France. 2024 wasn’t possible because a start outside France complicates travel - I will have to travel the same distances that the whole circus around the riders travel. But far more importantly, for...
Seven days to go A week today I’ll be in the middle of a trip of over 700km, driving from the Bordeaux area to Lens in the NE of France in preparation for the 2025 Tour de France Grand Départ. Things are falling into place. All my accommodation is booked - I’ve got a total of ten nights in Airbnbs, of which four places are double-night says; nine nights in B&B Hotels in three different places; two nights in different Ibis hotels; four nights in other hotels. Out of 25 nights on the road around the whole of France, I’ve managed seven multiple-night stays in accommodation, which feels like pretty good going. Packing is also going well - still a bit of work on the bike, still a few things to buy, but it’s largely finished, as are the jobs around the house I need to finish before leaving for nearly a month on the road. The main development is that I’ve managed to get hold of a copy of the Tour de France 2025 Media Road Book. Only published a couple of weeks before the start of the...
Tour de France 2025 Sunday 6 July: Stage 2 Lauwin-Planque - Boulogne-sur-Mer By car: 42 km By bike: 0 km ☹️ Tat: Haribo sweets, La Vache Qui Rit cap, FDJ ‘lucky 13’ lotto ball bag, E.Leclerc biscuits.
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