Tour de France

[cpzilliacus]

Watched some of the Tour de France (airing on NBC Sports Channel), and the race strategy is interesting at times, but the French roads and streets over which the race operates (and the land use along same) is much more of interest to me!  Unfortunate that all of the race that I have seen is on arterial-type routes and not along the Autoroute network (perhaps in part because most Autoroutes are toll roads operated by private-sector concession owners who are not going to give up any toll revenue for a partial shut-down to allow the Tour onto their roads (though a segment over the Millau Viaduct would be extremely cool)).

What's not interesting are all of the crappy cable TV-type commercials, including the ripoffs like car repair insurance and Gerber  life insurance for babies - and the nearly endless ads by contingent-fee lawyers (especially the Goldwater law firm - the guy that does some of the selling looks like he runs a dealership for worn-out used cars and has a law practice on the side).

[lordsutch]

You can usually spot a few Autoroutes, although usually just in the helicopter shots. Over the next week in the Alps, they usually have a fairly long part of at least one stage parallel to one of the valley Autoroutes in that region (engineering on a par with I-70 in Colorado); I forget which one it is (A49 maybe?).

This year they're also going around the Étoile at the Arc de Triomphe several times during the final stage, which should be impressive; usually they turn around partway up the Champs-Elysées from Place de la Concorde but this year they're doing the whole bit as part of the 100th Anniversary Celebrations.

The only real disappointment from the armchair roadgeek perspective is that this year's tour was an all-French affair. Usually it's fun to spot the subtle differences in the neighboring countries (Spain and Italy usually get a visit in the Pyrenees and Alps, respectively; a few years ago they did the Netherlands and Belgium, and next year it'll include the UK for three days for a whole different look).

[cpzilliacus]

Wall Street Journal column on the Tour de France: The Awkwardness of the Tour de France

[D-Dey65]

An eight year old thread, but I had to reply -- I saw a segment of the Tour de France earlier last week (2021), and I'm considering a GSV of the course. However, I found myself going from thinking this has to be the coolest ride ever, to thinking people are seriously taking their lives in their hands whether they're on two wheels or four.

[Roadgeekteen]

Why would there be bikes on Autoroutes? Cycling is better where there are fewer cars.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

An eight year old thread, but I had to reply -- I saw a segment of the Tour de France earlier last week (2021), and I'm considering a GSV of the course. However, I found myself going from thinking this has to be the coolest ride ever, to thinking people are seriously taking their lives in their hands whether they're on two wheels or four.

In fact back then there was no Sports subforum... or maybe it was already there, IDK. Anyway, I've done several editions of the Tour in GSV (2018, 2019, finished this year's while they were halfway through), and while initially I decided not to do last year's route due to you know what, I felt I needed a (virtual) trip around La France and ended up doing it in January.