Polka Dot Pyrenees

Welcome to France! We will be meeting at our group hotel at 13:00/1pm. The hotel is located at the Toulouse airport (TLS).

The cyclists in the group will get fitted with their rental bike. If you choose to bring your personal bike, your guides can help you set it up. The cyclists will go on a warm up ride to make sure the bike is a good fit and to help shake off the dust from travel.

The spectators in the group head out to visit the Airbus factory and will take a tour. We will take a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s leading aerospace company.

Tonight we’ll enjoy a welcome dinner in the hotel restaurant. In addition to meeting our fellow travel guests at dinner, we’ll go over the itinerary for our trip. Each guest will receive a gift from Custom Getaways. The cyclists will also receive a cycling jersey and water bottle. We can’t guarantee this, but every time we have stayed at this hotel during the Tour, a couple of the pro teams have also been there.

The teams banking on a bunch sprint won’t be hampered by any hilly terrain as they focus on their mission for the day. Our mission for the day is cycling and spectating!

The cyclists will have two ride distances this morning. The longer ride will be approximately 65km and the shorter ride will be about 45km. This is a rolling day with several hundred meters of elevation gain. We’ll experience riding on the course for part of our ride as we head towards the Relais Etape VIP venue.

Toulouse is the start of today’s stage and also the finish of today’s stage. The spectators will learn more about this unique city and why it’s called La Ville Rose, “The Pink City“. The spectators will make their way to the VIP venue to view the race.

Our VIP venue today is located along the course and serves an excellent 4-course meal for lunch. It also offers snacks, beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee and water. Once the race finishes, champagne will be served to toast the stage winner. Another nice feature of this venue is that it has TV’s to watch the race until the racers pass right in front of us.

The caravan parade will also pass in front of our venue prior to the racers passing. The caravan pumps up the crowds with colorful floats and the tossing of small prizes. Each Relais Etape guest will receive a gift from le Tour.

After the race ends, we will drive to Lourdes in the Pyrenees mountains. Lourdes offers many restaurant options within walking distance from the hotel. You will be on your own for dinner tonight.

Hautacam, here we come! According to Christian Prudhomme, “Any day the Tour tackles the Pyrenees is always going to be significant. The battle between the favourites for the overall title will have greater magnitude today, particularly over the final 45 kilometres when the peloton initially tackles the Col du Soulor via Ferrières….the Col de Bordères and the real moment of truth…the 13.6km climb to Hautacam, where the gradient averages 7.8%.”

The cyclists and spectators will get to experience the finish line and podium today. The cyclists will depart from the hotel on their bikes. We’ll ride on the official course and will cross the finish line. Today’s ride will be approximately 30km with an elevation gain of 1,200m.

The spectators will have a little free time in the morning before boarding the bus to the finish line. The hotel offers a spa and wellness center for anyone wishing to self-book a treatment. Another option is to visit the Château Fort de Lourdes. This thousand-year-old fortress, which has never been conquered, is a listed historical monument and a museum of France.

The spectators and cyclists will have the opportunity to tour the podium area and get pictures. After the podium, the group will enter the Izoard VIP venue, located near the finish area. This venue offers snacks, ice cream, beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee and water. Champagne will be served to toast the stage winner. A few other nice features of this venue include TV’s to watch the race until the racers pass live in front of us and also private restrooms.

Lourdes offers many restaurant options within walking distance from the hotel. You will be on your own for dinner tonight.

This morning we start with a race viewing before we cycle or sightsee. You will have VIP access to the Start Village with coffee, snacks, tour officials and merchandise tents. Another great feature of the start village is that you will have access to the team bus paddock. You can walk around the team busses and cars before today’s Individual Time Trial begins. However, you need to be careful as the racers will ride around you to get to the sign-in stage and to the starting line…a really cool experience!

You’ll have time for lunch and then after a quick change, the cyclists will make the climb up the famous Col du Tourmalet. This will be a shorter ride of around 40km due to the elevation gain of 2,100m.

The spectators will eat lunch and then head back to Lourdes and tour the world-famous grotto and basilica. The grotto is a short walk from our hotel.

Everyone will meet back at the hotel for our farewell dinner. It’s a perfect opportunity to review our trip with some new friends.

This morning, the cyclist will do another short ride of about 40 kilometers and a few hundred feet of elevation gain in the mountains around Lourdes while the spectators have some free time and grab lunch.

In the early afternoon, the race will pass through Lourdes and we will get a final viewing of the race in the crowds before our guides drop us at the Toulouse airport (TLS) in the late afternoon.

Au revoir!