Tour de France

We finally realized a long-held dream this past weekend as we ventured west to watch the 2nd stage of the Tour de France. Funny....about this time last summer Andrea was researching this opportunity to work and live in Europe and we were joking how we would certainly make the trek to watch the Tour de France live. And now here we are.

The tour this year began in the Netherlands and snaked down to Belgium before finally reaching France. Lucky for us the 2nd stage travelled from Brussels to Spa (a little over an hour from where we live) on July 5th, a holiday for us but a workday for others....meaning less crowds.

The only downside to this stage was the weather. In our village that morning, the sun was shining and the temperature was about 25 Celsius (or 77 Fahrenheit). Towards the end of the stage however, the forecast called for rain and about 21 Celsius. Since the weather has been warm and sunny the past few weeks, if it rained, the course would be very slick. For those that follow the Tour saw that unfortunately the rain caused havoc by making the road liken to a sheet of ice coming down the Col de Stockeu.

Before we get to all of that, we should start at the beginning. We set out that morning with a map and a general idea of where we wanted to watch the race: up the slopes of the Col du Rosier, the last climb before the finish in Spa. Well the wonderful part of our adventures is that most of the time, we have not a clue where we are, where we are going, and whether we should turnaround. Good times. After finding our way to the side of the road outside the village of Spa, Belgium, we sought the advice of friendly passersby. Great idea....if they only spoke a little more English than we speak French. However, the universal hand-signs seemed to work and we quickly headed down the road to what we believed would be Col de Stockeu. After a few 'umleitung's' (German for detours), we found the village of Stavelot and noted a number of people parking their cars and walking in the same general direction. Seems like a good idea to join in. It didn't take long to confirm that watching a stage here in Stavelot was going to offer us a great opportunity to see the riders battle the narrow streets up close. Perfect!

This is one of the first corners the riders will be navigating once they enter the village.


Although this was not a stage known for the cobblestones, the riders were going to be navigating this type of road while winding through Slavelot.


Looking for the ideal location to watch the riders.....this hill offered a good vantage point.


A view looking back down the hill and village.

I never did learn of the significance of these masks, but I saw them throughout the village and noticed a few people wearing these masks.

We decided to take a spot about half-way up the hill.

Evidence that we were there. Note: the rider in the background is not riding in the Tour. A number of cyclists ride the stage well before the Tour riders arrive.

About an hour before the riders arrive, there is the traditional caravan of Tour sponsors that go flying by and threw out trinkets. Leading the pack is the Polizei (German for police).

And now, the caravan arrives.

These guys were rocking, which was funny to see: people harnessed in and bouncing around while trying to not let the rain in the face dim their smile.

I have to admit that I was impressed by the engineering involved with the floats. I have never seen a larger than life newspaper mounted on a car going at least 30kmh.

Of course they would honor Gummybears. Who doesn't love Gummybears???

I loved this float. Even though she was sitting down, this girl was partying!

Pretty cool...until I was almost taken out by a hoof as it passed by.

A break in the caravan, which was typical. Since there were no ropes or fences to hold back the crowds, the spectators were allowed to get close to the action.

A fun part of the Tour is the fellow spectators. This French fan arrived early and was FULL of energy for the many hours we were standing there leading the crowd in the France national anthem and a few cheers.

After the caravan passes through, there is a lull in the action and the waiting game begins. When will the riders arrive? Are they close? A sure way to tell when the riders are on their way is the multiple helicopters slowly flying closer. At first we counted just two helicopters. Once the riders arrived, I counted no less than 5 helicopters, all jockeying for a great vantage point.

Before the leaders come through, first comes the escort.


Here are the leaders, Chavanel and Bouet. Chavanel would end up winning the stage by dropping Bouet on the final climb before the finish in Spa.

A close up of Bouet.

Normally the breakaway riders would be followed by the main pack of riders in the peloton. Not today, which confused us at the time. The downside of attending a stage is that you normally do not have an idea of what has taken place earlier in the stage. Several minutes passed before we saw the chase group of riders and all of them were covered in mud and some were torn up and bloody. The reason behind all of this was the major crash that occurred while descending the Col de Stockeu. The leaders managed to navigate the descent without a trouble however when the main group arrived, the lead rider went down and chaos soon followed. It was believed that a motorcycle may have crashed along with the first rider and spilled some oil on the road. When the riders arrived zooming down the hill at over 40kmh, they had no chance of staying on their bikes. All the main contenders went down: Contador, Armstrong, the Schleck brothers. No team or rider was spared. The effects of such a wreck were brutal. We saw Tyler Farrar, the young rider from Wenatchee, Washington, go by riding with only one arm as the other arm dangled from his body covered in bruises and blood. Even though he was noticeably injured, he finished the race and raced the next day on cobblestones! These riders are animals.

The days overall leader (as noted by the yellow jersey), Fabian Cancellara.

The peloton arrives in small packs of 5 to 15 riders.

Lance Armstrong a bit dirty after the crash. I missed taking a picture of his bloody leg and elbow.

Once the riders are through the team cars speed by to offer support to those riders that may need it.

And just like that our inaugural Tour de France spectator experience was over. Given the days events that destroyed the organized peloton, our experience was perhaps different than normal. Then again, there is nothing normal about bicycle racing, especially the Tour de France.