We’ve also updated our trip comments section, so if you want to know what our clients think of Bikestyle, take a look!

In the meantime, take a look at itineraries for:

The Grand Depart - details coming soon

Brittany and the Loire Valley - 3rd - 10th July 2008. 8 days, 7 nights. Starts and finishes in Paris. See the first five stages, including the first Time Trial.

Pyrenees and Alpes to Paris

Follow the Tour all the way through the Alpes, its excursion into Italy and the finale through the Pyrenees and to Paris. 12th - 28th July 2008. 17 days, 16 nights. Starts and finishes in Paris.

Alpe d’Huez to Paris

See the final 5 Stages including Alpe d’Huez and the Final Time Trial. 20th - 28th July 2008. 9 days, 8 nights. Starts and finishes in Paris.

Etape du Tour

Secure your place on the amazing Pau-Hautacam stage, scene of this year’s Etape du Tour. Sunday, July 6th 2008.

Reserve your spot at the Tour now - Etape du Tour or one of Bikestyle’s Tour de France trips.

We’ll be publishing more updates over the next few days - keep an eye out for details of our amazing Exclusive Access Packages.

ASO has made some tweaks to the proven Tour de France course formula. The BikeStyle crew were on hand as the route was announced in Paris. So what’s different about the 08 Tour?

• 1st: something we already knew– no prologue (apparently this will make for a better first week as teams scrap for early yellow jersey glory).
• 2nd: No time bonuses for sprints or for winning a stage (this is probably to try and make the first week more competitive and to make for changes of the yellow jersey)
• shorter time trials — only 82km
• shorter transfers — better for riders
• anti-clockwise Pyrenees then Alps
• 5 mountain stages and 4 mountain top finishes (including the Tourmalet and L’Alpe-d’Huez — not in the same day :))
• 3,554 km total
• July 5th-27th

How will these factors change the way the race is ridden? We managed to get Cadel Evans opinion of the 2008 Tour de France route- He thinks that GC contenders like himself will concentrate even more on the second half of the race. He also made the observation that if there hadn’t been time bonuses in the 2007 tour he would have won! (so we can expect more attacking riding from Cadel in 2008?)

Lawrie, is busy sorting out next years tours — the start in Brittany has three stages in a compact area and offers beautiful towns, countryside and plenty of sprint finishes. The Alps and Pyrenees offer some great mountain top finishes and classic mountain stages. The sojourn into Italy over some mountains never before visited would be great to watch and perhaps ride after the race… Sign up for the Bikestyle Tours newsletter now and we’ll let you know how you can see the race with BikeStyle Tours. In the meantime, book your holiday time for next July and drool over the details of the 2008 Tour de France stages below:

That’s it from this year’s Tour presentation. We’ll post some more photos and look forward to hearing your opinions on the 2008 route in our comments, below!

Prudhomme is talking about the 2008 sponsors - no changes from the usual crowd that I can see. Prudhomme signs off with ‘Vive le Tour’!

The camera is panning across the crowd here and everyone looks extremely serious… No smiles at all!

Can’t quite work out what’s innovative about this route, apart from many long stages and a looong time to the first rest day! What do you think? What will be the decisive stages, will shorter time trials make for a better race, leave a comment!..

2008 Tour de France Route

Saturday, 5 July 2008 : Brest - Plumelec - 195km
Sunday, 6 July 2008 : Auray - St Brieuc - 165km
Monday, 7 July 2008 : St Malo - Nantes - 195km
Tuesday, 8 July 2008 : Cholet - Cholet - 29km TT
Wednesday, 9 July 2008 : Cholet - Châteauroux - 230km
Thursday, 10 July 2008 : Aigurande - Super-Besse - 195km
Friday, 11 July 2008 : Brioude - Aurillac - 158km
Saturday, 12 July 2008 : Figeac - Toulouse - 174km
Sunday, 13 July 2008 : Toulouse - Bagnères de Bigorre - 195km inc. Col des Ares, Peyresourde, Aspin
Monday, 14 July 2008 : Pau - Hautacam - inc. Tourmalet
Tuesday, 15 July 2008 : Rest Day
Wednesday, 16 July 2008: Lannemezan - Foix - 166km
Thursday, 17 July 2008 : Lavelanet - Narbonne - 168km
Friday, 18 July 2008 : Narbonne - Nîmes - 182km
Saturday, 19 July 2008 : Nîmes - Digne les Bains - 182km
Sunday, 20 July 2008 : Dignes les Bains - Prato Nevoso (Italy) - 216km, Prato Nevoso is 1440m altitude.
Monday, 21 July 2008 : Rest Day
Tuesday, 22 July 2008 : Cunéo - Jausiers (la vallée de l’Ubaye) 157km - inc Lombarde, Bonnette-Restefond (2802m)
Wednesday, 23 July 2008: Embrun - L’Alpe D’Huez - 210km - inc. Galibier, Croix-de-Fer
Thursday, 24 July 2008 : Bourg d’Oisans - St Etienne - 197km
Friday, 25 July 2008 : Roanne - Montluçon - 163km
Saturday, 26 July 2008 : Cérilly - St Amand-Montrond - 53km Individual Time Trial
Sunday, 27 July 2008 : Etampes - Paris - 143km

Director Christian Prudhomme takes the stage… Le Grand Depart starts in Brittany in 2008, as we know. We’re now welcomed by the president of that region. Get on with the good stuff!

Patrice Clerc, President of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), welcomes us.

First up is a stirring video review of the 2007 Tour.

11:30am sharp - it’s starting!

Bikestyle is in Paris, at the Palais des Congres - we’re waiting for the presentation to start.

We already know that it’s starting in Brittany on the 5th July 2008 and making a clockwise loop around France, but for the full details you’ll have to wait just a bit longer.

Sign up for the Bikestyle Tours newsletter now.

Reserve a place on a Bikestyle Tours trip now.

Can you get yourself to Paris on October 25th 2007 (that’s next Thursday)? If you live in mainland Europe or the UK and would like a free* ticket to the TdF Presentations in Paris, drop Lawrie an email (lawrie@bikestyletours.com) today with your request and a sentence or two about why you’d like to go, plus a mailing address.

* This ticket will give you entry to the TdF presentation only. Bikestyle Tours can not assist with transport to Paris, and can not refund travel expenses if the tickets do not arrive at your mailing address before 25th October.

Lance Armstrong about the Plateau-de-Beille in 2004

One of the great things about the BikeStyle VIP tours is that you get the chance to ride a stage of the Tour de France on the day that the Tour rides the stage. So, as you ride you get a sense of what the Tour de France is really like — what tv doesn’t quite capture — the pain of the climbs!, the wildness of the mountains, the exhilaration of the downhills, the roar of the people crowding the side of the road, and the satisfaction of finishing.

The BikeStyle Tours VIP riders (and the support crew with 2 cars) were up before dawn to ride Stage 14 of the 2007 Tour de France. I wasn’t as brave/crazy as the BikeStyle VIP riders and decided to ‘help’ Lawrie in one of the support vehicles (so generous of me!). One of the group, Ryan, was riding the longer route and the rest rode from the start of the Col de Pailhères (there was no short route today - both rides took in both the HC climbs!).

The Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beille stage was the first of the Pyrenees stages and was therefore very important for the GC contenders. The mountain climbers had to strike here or risk being gobbled up on the flat and in the final time trial.

Lawrie, Lucy, Jessica and I followed Ryan in the BikeStyle-Mobile (cunningly disguised at a mobile home). Ryan was making the ride a special challenge and raising money for a scholarship and had raised about $15,000. Now all he had to do was ride 2 HC climbs and about 100 miles in one day and all before 3pm when the course would be shut down! Meanwhile, I was enjoying a glass of cold coke from the fridge and hoping I could cram in enough calories to make it through a tough day in the comfy seats. It was beautiful driving through the half light of the morning and the vineyards as the sun slowly rose.

The disturbing thing about this ride is that the Pyrenees are always in view even before you reach them — a hulking great mass of granite looming over the flatlands; psychologically that’s tough because you keep saying to yourself ‘I have to ride over that’ or in my case ‘we have to drive a mobile home over that’. The straight roads that wound gently through the vineyards all too quickly gave way to jagged valley roads that zig-zagged between the peaks and cliffs traveling even deeper into the heart of the Pyrenees (perhaps I have been reading too much Joseph Conrad).

Col de Pailhères

The first climb was the Col de Pailhères:
Essential Details:
Col de Pailhères (2001m).
10.6 km, maximum gradient of 10.2%.
The Col de Pailhères as been the seen of some epic battles, not least between Ullrich, Basso and Armstrong in 2005.

This was my first real view of what a Pyrenees mountain stage was actually like. The scenery was challenging and the climbing was breathtaking (perhaps that should be the other way around). Although dawn had reached the plains around Carcassonne hours ago in these steep sided valleys the sun was just appearing over the peaks. It made for some spectacular scenery but I doubt Ryan and the other BikeStyle riders were really appreciating it. Towards the top of the Col de Pailhères the road thins down to a single lane and it’s difficult to pass a car through all the switchback corners and straights crowded with people. Caravans and mobile homes from all corners of Europe seem drawn to the Pyrenees like iron fillings to a magnet; pink T-mobile supporters (it’s Magenta they cry), bright orange Basque supporters, patient French hoping against hope for an unlikely French victory and crazy Australians carrying inflatable kangaroos. Most had been camped for hours (and perhaps days) and were tramping up the mountain to get the top or anxiously deciding the best place to stand or in the case of the more settled retired Germans whether to have another cup of coffee and Danish. Speaking of the Danes, Rasmussen’s amazing riding and even more amazing ability to stay upright on a timetrial bike the day before meant that the hill was covered in excitable Danes deciding where Rasmussen would make his move. It was a step difficult ride and quite chilly (it must have been a cold evening for those camped out on the bare mountainsides). The top of the mountain is grass and the sight of ski lifts and runs on the adjacent mountains gives an indication of the altitude. After the peak, there are often fans waiting with newspapers for the riders to put down their jerseys to keep them warm… although I forgot to bring a newspaper for any of the BikeStyle riders they all said they loved the next bit of the stage. The route took us steadily down for about 20km on nice smooth serpentine roads; a real joy to ride (I should have brought my bike along for this bit of the stage alone). But, what goes down must go up…

Plateau de Beille

The finish at Plateau-de-Beille is an amazing finish won by Lance Armstrong the last two time the tour has finished here. The climb is 17.9km at 7.9% and at the end of a long day should be quite a trial. If you want an idea of the finish have a look a video fly through of the finish Warning 16.8MB. The last finish in 2004 it was Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso shoulder to shoulder through the Basque crowds. Lance sprinted in the last 100m and won.

I remember watching the climb on TV but it doesn’t really capture what it’s like to ride it (even in a car) on the day of the tour. For one thing the crowds are amazing, for the whole 18km there are people lining the route and the excitement is amazing. It’s odd driving along the route after it has been closed to all traffic except the official Caravan people look expectantly at you — next time Lawrie should bring along some small cheeses or something to throw out at the crowds! The other thing TV doesn’t show is how bloody steep and unrelenting the climb is; until the plateau there are no flat sections and it’s up, up, up. I’m not sure the motor home will ever be the same again — its tiny engine was struggling against the incline the whole way. The third factor was the heat — When I’d stepped out of the Motor Home to get a coffee from the van at the top of the Col de Pailhère it had been quite chilly but on the Plateau de Beille it was baking hot (and we couldn’t even turn the aircon on for fear of the motor home not being able to get up the mountain). I know everyone goes on about how difficult it is to ride two HC climbs in one day but driving around in a motor home all day without aircon was difficult too

The last three km were special — all the BikeStyle VIP riders met up and they were the only riders allowed on this part of the course, and the crowds were at there thickest cheering us on (though we could have done with out the guy with electric generator-powered air horn). Finally, after at least 2466m of climbing they crossed the actual Tour de france finish line… I felt a sense of accomplishment and I’d just ridden it in a car. I’ve started training for next year, it’d be great to be able to say I’ve climbed the Col de Pailhères and the Plateau de Beille. The BikeStyle VIP riders all got official Tour de France Yellow Jerseys and their photo taken on the Tour de France Podium (No Yellow Jersey for me though, apparently all you get for ‘riding’ the 14th stage of the Tour de France in a motor home is a sore bum!)

We watched the race finish at about the hundred meter mark. Contador came in first at an amazing speed with Rassy on his tail. It was humbling to see how fast they were riding at the end; a real super human effort. Too quick for me to photograph well as they flew past a couple of feet from where we stood on the barrier. We clapped the rest of the riders through (they looked quite dead), watched the podium presentation from just to the right of the stage and then rushed back to the car. Being part of the Tour de France Caravan has its advantages we got in the queue of official vehicles just behind a teacup and ahead of a Ferry and then sped down the Plateau de Beille — the police just waved us along and for about 20 km we were flying along on closed roads, through round-a-bouts and traffic lights. A great way to finish the day, I felt sorry for the thousands of people who would be trying for hours to get off the mountain.

A great day but I was happy to be back in Carcassonne enjoying a beer and a nice big meal.

As we now know, Casar hung on, using every bit of his remaining strength to best a fading Boogerd, Merckx and Lefèvere for another French win. Meanwhile eight minutes back in the peloton, Discovery managed to fall asleep for long enough for Cadel to gain another three seconds on Contador. What’s that about? It could be a Tour-changing three seconds for both of them!

Keep your eyes on the prize Alberto!

The Maths

The Prologue
Contador was 1 second ahead of Evans in the Prologue. It’s hard to know what this means as serious GC contenders tend to try and stay out of trouble on the Prologue since it doesn’t contribute to the times of the Tour proper (indeed, next years Tour de France 2008 won’t even have a prologue).

Stage 13: Unlucky for some
The Albi time trial is probably the best indication of how Contador and Evans compare as timetrialists. Cadel came second first and was 1:04 ahead of Contador. The course was about the same length but was hillier than many time trials and the wet may have favoured Contador. Watching the riders prepare for the time trial we were all struck by how relaxed Evans was joking with some of the Australians (apparently we wanted to know how V8 results!). Contador wasn’t so approachable and had his earphones on and seemed very focused.

History

The 1989 tour was in a similar tight balance. Greg LeMond went into the final time trial 50 seconds down on Laurent Fignon but went 58 seconds faster in the time trial to gain the yellow jersey. It would be nice to see a real battle on the Champs-Élysées instead of Champaign drinking and the sprinters fighting it out.

So, my prediction? I think the accepted thinking is that Cadel Evans is just a little too far back. But I think Cadel is in really great form and is in the right frame of mind to put in the performance of his career, whereas there is a lot of pressure on Contador and pressure in time trials often results in mistakes and crashes…

At the end of the Stage 15 where Contador and Rassmussen battled it out on the Col de Peyresourde and Contador took 1:11 from Evans, I was lucky enough to be at the finish with BikeStyle Tours. Cadel has the misfortune to be stuck in a car in traffic and was nice enough to have a chat with me. Not being a journalist I didn’t ask the cutting questions, I just wished him luck and asked how he felt the stage went. His reply was interesting he said it was very hard and he was tired but he seemed to be very relaxed and I think he knew he was always going to lose time in the mountains to the super human climbers like Contador and Rassmussen but he knew perhaps his time would come in the time trial in Cognac. Time will tell. I wish I was there with the BikeStyle tour to cheer him on again.

Well I’m back in England being drowned by rain and having to watch the decisive stage of the tour on the computer (check out cyclingfans.com for links to video and audio feeds- it’s great, though it does make doing any work difficult). I left le Tour de France yesterday on the rest day and headed back to my ‘real’ job trying to forget that two days ago I was at Loudenvielle watching the race finish and drinking Champagne and not expecting to see the BikeStyle guys again but I did, along with another few million people. I’m not sure who it was but at 4.6km to go there was someone in BikeStyle kit cheering the riders on. What a spot to watch the race; Rasmussen and Contador were battling it out with Evans and Leipheimer just behind. AND, it was sunny… sigh, I wish I was there!

It’s very nasty. I think they should take it out. It’s a violation of our human rights. I love it.

Lance Armstrong about the Plateau-de-Beille in 2004

Mazamet > Plateau-de-Beille
July 22 2007 / 14th Stage / Distance : 197 km

Km 9 Côte de Sarraille Montée de 9 km à 5,2%
Km 146 Col de Pailhères Montée de 16,8 km à 7,2%
Km 197 Plateau-de-Beille Montée de 15,9 km à 7,9%

BikeStyle Tour de France Pyrenees VIP Experience

The BikeStyle VIP Tour that I’m lucky enough to be going on takes in the Pyrenees stages and the Albi time trial. This years tour is so finely balanced we are certain to see the decisive moments of this years tour. Apart from watching the tour and exploring the riders enclosure at Albi and enjoying finishes in VIP style there is some hard work to do! As part of the tour we get to ride a whole stage of the tour on the day that the tour rides it.

The stage we get to ride is the first in the Pyrenees and it’s a killer. The stage starts in the first time start town of Mazamet and just to wake the riders up immediately has a category 2 climb over the Montagne Noir. It’s a climb i’ve done and although not too steep it’s quite long and the riders who are still digesting breakfast might get caught out. Then it’s a nice downhill for 17k or so out of the Montagne Noir. Then the only way is up from Carcassonne to the Pyrenees.

To break up the monotony of the flat plain comes a hors category climb: Col de Pailhères (2001m). The Col de Pailhères as been the seen of some epic battles, not least between Ullrich, Basso and Armstrong in 2005. The climb the way we’ll do it is 10.6 km long and has a maximum gradient of 10.2% . This isn’t the last HC climb of the day so it might be where I’m grateful of the two support vehicles, they have promised a push if necessary. Down 30km then the HC climb of the Plateau-de-Beille to the finish.

The finish at Plateau-de-Beille is an amazing finish won by Lance Armstrong the last two time the tour has finished here. The climb is 17.9km at 7.9% and at the end of a long day should be quite a trial. If you want an idea of the finish have a look a video fly through of the finish Warning 16.8MB. The last finish in 2004 it was Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso shoulder to shoulder through the Basque crowds. Lance sprinted in the last 100m and won.

NASA has some great imagery of the finish including a 16 MB video fly through of the finish.

July 22 2007 / 14th Stage / Distance : 197 km

Km 9 Côte de Sarraille Montée de 9 km à 5,2%
Km 146 Col de Pailhères Montée de 16,8 km à 7,2%
Km 197 Plateau-de-Beille Montée de 15,9 km à 7,9%