I’ve had the privilege of seeing professional European bike races in person on a few occasions. The first time, à l'époque, was the Critérium du Dauphiné, when we rode our bikes to the top of Mont Ventoux and cheered on the cyclists at the last, horrifyingly steep hairpin turn. Next, when I was in school in Paris, the Tour passed just blocks away from my apartment on the last day. And finally, when I once came to Provence earlier in the season, friends and I watched a quick fly-by when the Tour came through our area. The Tour is traditionally held in the first 3 weeks of July. I am normally not here for it. I watch it, captivated, online every year, and it gets me terribly excited to be back in France.
But this year—given its 2020 and everything 2020 is a bit off—the Tour was no exception. In fact, there was a good chance it wouldn’t even exist this year. All the grand tours had postponed, hoping if they waited long enough, they could still make something happen. The Tour is the first of the grand tours to run this year, which started August 29. So late, but luckily it meant I’d be here for it.
As with everything this year, I wasn’t super excited about it, feeling it would just be a smaller version of its usual glorious self. I was watching the stages and things were starting to get exciting. Jason asked if I was going to watch it somewhere in person. I really didn’t have an interest. But then I thought, well maybe I should look at the route more carefully. Originally, it seemed to me they wouldn’t be anywhere near me, so why would I bother. But upon closer inspection, there it was. They were passing by Nyons, which is about a 45-minute drive away. Hmmm. I supposed there really wasn’t any excuse, Jay would have killed me if I missed it as it was so close.
The Tour is usually pretty insane: lots of cars, fast bikes, fans, chaos. I wasn’t sure what to expect this year, but I didn’t want to get into the fray. So I made a plan to park in a town a bit further away, ride my bike over a lovely col and watch from the other side. It was definitely subdued, but there were still plenty of fans on the road. I scouted out a spot without anyone else and a good view. I called Jason hoping he could sort-of experience it with me. They whooshed by in 15 seconds, and that was that.
In the end, it’s always pretty exciting and I am glad I put in the effort. It was a bit chaotic getting back to where I parked, but there were lots of fans on the road cheering on anyone riding a bike. It still had a festive mood, which was a welcome sight. Well done Le Tour, you seem to always deliver a good show.
