Welcome to France!

Our hosts will collect you from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at either 09.00 AM or 3.00 PM and we will transport you to a 4* hotel next to the Gare du Montparnasse. You will have a one-night stay here with breakfast included.

On arrival our hosts will assist you with loading your bike box and any luggage you wish to forward onto our tour vehicle. Our tour vehicle is a comfortable air-conditioned 50 seater coach with special bike trailer to transport your bike for the duration of the tour. Your bike will go ahead with our coach, as we will be taking the high speed TGV train tomorrow to the Pyrenees.

This evening our team will hold a welcome meeting at the hotel and the evening is free to eat dinner in Paris. There are many restaurants nearby if you wish to explore Paris, and the hotel has its own restaurants if you would prefer to rest after your flight.

After breakfast we will assemble in the hotel’s reception at 09.30 and we will walk across the road to Paris Gare du Montparnasse train station. We should be relatively unburdened with luggage. We will board the TGV train to Lourdes in the Pyrenees.

On your arrival in Lourdes you will be taken to a hotel in nearby Argeles Gazost, close to the Col du Tourmalet and the climb to Hautacam.

Here we will spend the next two nights with daily breakfasts and dinners included. This location is ideal for accessing great climbs in the area like the Col du Tourmalet.

For those who have booked bike rental, these will be available for you today.

This afternoon we have time for a warm up ride in the area.

Toulouse arrival

This afternoon we offer an airport transfer at 15:00 from Toulouse Airport to collect those who have chosen to join the tour today.

Dinner at the hotel.

Today you will have various ride options from the hotel including to ride the Col du Tourmalet, which will feature on this year’s tour again.

Those without bikes will have the opportunity to spend a relaxing day at the hotel’s swimming pool or to visit Lourdes. It’s worth a visit so for those who are interested, the coach will provide transport today.

Dinner together at the hotel this evening.

After a leisurely breakfast we will organize a guided ride that will finish in Pau, where there will be a likely sprint finish today.

A great option is to ride from our hotel to Laruns, and to tackle the Col de Marie Blanque, before a long descent into Pau. This ride totals 68 miles.

Non-riders can explore the city of Pau today, before watching the stage finish live, then we will return to the hotel.

Dinner will be taken at the hotel.

Riders will head out onto the road and take on one of cycling’s most famous climbs, the Tourmalet. Ride up to the summit and be road-side as the riders come past on the climb. The summit of the Col du Tourmalet is just over 20 miles from our hotel, with 6,000ft of climbing.

Non-Riders will be able to stay at the hotel today and watch the riders as they come through Argeles-Gazost en route to the Tourmalet. 

Dinner at the hotel this evening.

Today’s stage will see the Tour move out of the Pyrenees with a stage from Loudenvielle to Plateau de Beille.

After an early breakfast we will travel to Loudenveille at the bottom of the first climb of the day, the Peyresourde, where we will find a good parking spot for the coach and watch the riders get ready for the start. After we’ve seen the stage start, we will offer a guided ride back to Argeles. An alternative is to ride yesterday’s stage in reverse, so return to the hotel via the Hourquette d’Ancizan and the other side of the Tourmalet. This long ride is around 60 miles, with 8,000ft of climbing.

Dinner at the hotel. Today is Bastille Day, the French national holiday, so we expect there will be celebrations in town tonight.

Today is a rest day on the Tour de France. After breakfast we move on to the next stop of our tour in Carpentras, Provence, near Mont Ventoux.

This afternoon we offer a guided ride in the area.

Dinner at the hotel.

Today we will ride the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux. From Carpentras, we are ideally located to ride the most popular side of Mont Ventoux, starting in Bedoin and passing through Chalet Reynard. It is 23 miles and 6,000ft of climbing from our hotel to the summit of Mont Ventoux.

Dinner at the hotel.

Mont Ventoux

Today we will have another day of exploring this fantastic area. We have the chance to ride the stunningly beautiful Gorges de Nesque.

Evening meal at the hotel.

We will move on to the next stop on our tour today. We move to Valberg which is a ski resort located about 90km north of Nice. We expect the transfer to take about 4 hours today. Our location in Valberg puts us within reach of such climbs as the Cime de la Bonette, Isola 2000 and the Col de la Couillole

This afternoon we can ride the Col de la Couillole, which is the final climb of Stage 19 of the Tour de France, from the hotel.

Evening meal at the hotel.

Today the stage finish is in Isola 2000 which is accessible from Valberg. Riders can ride the climb to the finish and spectators can use our coach to get there.

Dinner at the hotel

The finish is less than 10 miles from our hotel today. Guided ride and transport to watch the stage finish.

Dinner is at the hotel this evening.

After breakfast we will move to our final hotel of the tour, in Vence, just outside Nice. After getting checked into the hotel, we will make our way into Nice where we can watch the finish of today’s stage.

The Tour de France will finish in Nice and not in Paris for the first time in history as the French capital adds the final touches to its preparations for the Olympic Games. The time trial course will run from Monaco to Nice on the stunning Côte d’Azur.

Once we have checked into the hotel, we will travel to Nice to watch the final and potentially deciding stage of the 2024 Tour de France.

After breakfast we offer transfers from the hotel to Nice airport at 07.30 AM and 1.00 PM.

We also offer the option to take the TGV back to Paris where we can book an airport hotel near Paris CDG airport. Please contact us for a quote.