You’re reading about a past BikeStyle Tours trip to the Tour de France. You can also view photos from this trip, see preliminary details of our 2008 trips, and register to receive full details of the 2008 Tour de France when they are released.
TRIP DETAILS:
Duration: 8 days (7 Nights)
Dates: Wednesday 11 July 2007 to Wednesday 18 July 2007
Start-Finish: Paris
Accommodation: 3 and 4 Star Premium Hotels
Group Size: Maximum 20 people (4 Staff)
Cost: USD* $7022
Our Burgundy and Alpes VIP trip will include:
- Ride a stage of the Tour de France (fully supported) from start to finish prior to the pros!
- Official Tour de France outfit.
- A photo on Podium after completion of the stage.
- VIP viewing afterwards in one of the most exclusive areas, the “Izoard”.
- Access to the VIP Zones where you have the opportunity to meet Tour Sponsors, Riders and Legends of past Tours in the Start Village.
- Access to VIP Grandstands for chosen stages.
- Access to the Technical Zone and Press Room for chosen stages.
- A TDF welcome package (Backpack, T shirt and cap) for each participant.
- A discount in the TDF store for each VIP participant (20%).
- Official road book, Tourist guide and
- Accommodation guide for each participant.
- Tour de France celebrity meetings (with the help of A.S.O officials) at the village.
Wednesday 11 July 2007. Stage 4: Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny, 190 km
There will be someone to meet you at the Airport and assist you to your transport which will transfer you to our 4 star hotel close to the Airport. We recommend a mid morning to early afternoon arrival to prevent the possibility of having to wait for your room to be made ready.
We have found from experience that the first thing most cyclists want to do is to have a short ride to shake out the cobwebs after the plane trip. The area around the airport provides a good base for this.
The first job will be to assemble your bike and Bikestyle staff will be available to assist if you have any problems. Alternatively you may have chosen to rent a Bikestyle Tours bike to save the hassle of transport and assembly.
As a result of tighter luggage restrictions and the difficulties of travelling with a bicycle, Bikestyle Tours has a range of hire bikes available for rental. They are equipped with both Shimano and Campagnolo and we have a variety of sizes on hand. For more info see our Bicycle Hire Page.
If you’re not too tired (and you have arrived in time) it may also be possible for us to go and see the race at a point near Paris in the afternoon.
Tonight there is a welcome dinner where you can meet the staff who will be looking after you on the trip and of course your fellow travellers with whom you will be spending the next few days.
Thursday 12 July 2007. Stage 5: Chablis - Autun, 184 km
This morning we will leave Paris and head down to see the race today. On our way we will offer a ride probably along part of the course towards Autun. It’s beautiful country so the ride will be memorable. Now you are ready for your challenge tomorrow.
The Burgundy wine region starts just south of Dijon at Marsannay-la-Côte and runs southward to just short of the city of Lyon. Burgundy is home to some of the most expensive wines in the world, including those from such famous houses as Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Domaine Leroy, Henri Jayer, Emmanuel Rouget, Domaine Dugat-Py, Domaine Leflaive and Domaine Armand Rousseau.
Autun was one of the most important cities in Roman Gaul. It has retained remnants of its theatre, temple and traces of it’s Roman fortifications.
After seeing the stage we will go to our hotel for the night. The Tour de France Organisation have provided us with a hotel near the start so we won’t have far to go in the morning.
Friday 13 July 2007. Stage 6: Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse, 200 km
Bikestyle Tours chose this stage because of its beauty, distance and its achievability for the “normal” person although there is no such thing as an easy 200km!
This morning it’s up bright and early, today is the day… Your Day…
The day you get your chance to feel what it’s like to be a Pro in the Tour de France.
We will leave the hotel early and begin our stage from the Start Line in Semur-en-Auxois. We will have an Officially accredited Bikestyle Tours lead vehicle and a following vehicle and an ex professional riding with you to offer assistance and advice. After a photo on the start line you will head off looking (and feeling) like a Pro Tour Team in your Bikestyle Tours outfit along the Tour de France route.
Your stage will travel through the beautiful Burgundy region passing through idyllic countryside of exquisite vineyards, rivers, villages, forests and into the Beaujolais region with its hillside vineyards and stunning scenery. Unlike the pros you should have a moment to soak this up!
Our Bikestyle Tours vehicles will be available to help you through the day in any way you need including a little helping hand if needed although the closer you get to the finish the larger the crowds will get and the bigger the lift. You will feel like someone has their hand on your back pushing you along.
An Official Tour de France vehicle will meet us for the last part of the route to escort us into the finish, the crowds will be huge now, cheering you on, one kilometre to go, 500 metres, 200 metres you pass under the Finish Banner where in just a few hours the Winner of the Stage will raise his hands in victory. You will then get to mount the same podium the winner will mount and have your photo taken by an Official Photographer.
A Very Special Experience - one you will never forget!
After we freshen up and have a celebratory drink we will watch the finish of the stage.
Stage Analysis
Jean-Michel Monin, regulator, Olympic team racing champion: “After the first few hilly kilometres, the peloton will cross the Mâconnais to reach the plains of Bresse. This stage will be the last opportunity for the specialists in the final sprint to shine before the peloton sets out to take on the mountains.”
After the stage we will travel to our magnificent 4 star hotel, the Imperial Palace on Lake Annecy for the next two nights and some more celebrations and reviews over dinner.
There should be fireworks tonight to celebrate the 14th July tomorrow.
Saturday 14 July 2007. Stage 7: Bourg-en-Bresse - Le-Grand-Bornand, 197 km
The 14th of July is Bastille Day and it usually brings out the best in the French cyclists who see it as a great honour to win on their National Day. This year there is a change in tradition from the usually difficult but not mountainous stage to a dedicated mountain stage. The race will finish at Grand Bornand but only after climbing the Col de la Colombière in the final kilometres.
This morning we will have the unique privilege of visiting the Start Village as a VIP guest of the Tour de France and on the 14th July!
With our special vehicle accreditation we will be able to park close to the start village.
Inside the village there are many displays and exhibitions of sponsors. You can collect a few souvenirs, have your photo taken with famous people and riders, try some of the snacks they have available, enjoy a drink and relax in this special environment that few get to enjoy.
An Official of the Tour de France will then take you on a visit of the rider’s enclosure where you will get close up with all the riders and get to take many photos that will be the envy of your friends back home.
For a cyclist this is Heaven on Earth!
We will then see the start of the stage before heading across to Grand Bornand to get a position for the finish there. It may be possible to squeeze in a ride on the way depending on time.
We will see the finish of the stage and then return to the Imperial Palace by bike or van.
Sunday 15 July 2007. Stage 8: Le-Grand-Bornand - Tignes, 165 km
Today completes the picture for your experience as a Tour de France VIP.
You are invited to be the guest of the Tour de France at the exclusive VIP finish area called the Izoard and a tour of the Technical Zone to see how it all comes together behind the scenes.
Today you may be feeling like a ride so in the morning we will organise a ride from the hotel before heading to the finish for our rendezvous at 3pm to tour the Technical Zone. During your tour it’s quite possible you will see some of those famous faces from television so have your camera ready! We will be driving the final climb of the race on our way to the finish giving you an insight into what the teams have to deal with every day.
After our tour of the Technical Zone we will go to our exclusive Izoard Hospitality Area just near the finish line where we can do what VIPs do: Enjoy a drink, have a snack served by the Tour hostesses, see the race on television and then get a view of the race finish from a very privileged position. Being a difficult mountains stage you will be able to soak up the atmosphere for a lot longer than you might on a flat stage, as the riders will be still coming in half an hour after the winner.
Our hostess will serve champagne after the winner has crossed the line so we can toast the occasion.
The Izoard is one of the top VIP areas at the Tour de France so who knows who you may meet.
Monday 16 July 2007. Rest Day: Tignes
This morning we can have one more ride in the Alpes before our trip ends. We anticipate we will be somewhere near the finish of yesterday’s stage probably at Val d’Isere so a ride to the high point of this years Tour de France, the mighty Col de l’Iseran at 2645 metres is likely. Another possibility is a ride up the famous Alpe d’Huez. It is a memorable ride.
Alpe d’Huez is probably the most famous of the mountain climbs on the Tour de France. The climb is 13.8km at an average gradient of 8.1% with 21 hairpin bends each marked with panels honouring the winners of each stage that has finished there. The Tour de France first finished a stage on L’ Alpe d’Huez in 1952 when the stage was won by the Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi. Whilst the race route varies from year to year, L’Alpe d’Huez has hosted a stage finish almost every year since 1976. Having finished there for the 22nd time in 2001 the authorities have had to start again at the bottom with a double panel honouring Fausto Coppi and Lance Armstrong. As the most legendary climb in recent Tour history, the Alpe has been the scene of chaotic crowds in the past 10 years. In 1999 Giuseppe Guerini won the stage despite being knocked off his bike by an over-enthusiastic spectator who stepped into his path to take a photograph (the photographer later sought out Guerini to apologize). The 2004 Tour de France route featured an individual time trial up Alpe d’Huez which became a chaotic scene crowded with nearly a million fans, some who could not resist pushing their favorite rider toward the top. Armstrong won the stage but his time was 46 seconds slower than the official record set by the late Marco Pantani of 36 minutes, 50 seconds.
After our “Rest” day we will go to our hotel in Grenoble which is ideal for our departure to Paris tomorrow.
Tuesday 17 July 2007.
This morning we will take the TGV to Paris to spend the day in Paris. Paris needs no introduction as a destination and no trip to France is complete without seeing Paris.
Your luggage will be transferred to Paris and will be waiting for you this afternoon at the hotel.
We will farewell you tonight with a dinner at the restaurant on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower with all of Paris below you where you can say goodbye to your new friends.
We sincerely hope we have made your experience a special one that will live long in your memory.
Wednesday 18 July 2007.
All good things must come to an end and it is time to say Au Revoir. Bikestyle staff will be on hand to help you back to the Airport for you journey home or perhaps you are continuing your holiday in Europe.
You’re reading about a past BikeStyle Tours trip to the Tour de France. You can also view photos from this trip, see preliminary details of our 2008 trips, and register to receive full details of the 2008 Tour de France when they are released.
