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Our friend Ed asked a couple of questions about a typical day at the Tour. I'll try to answer them here...
How long do the cyclists typically spend on their bikes each day? ... The cyclists spend anywhere from four and a half to seven hours on their bikes each day. It depends on the length of the stage (discounting the time trial stages where they ride individually all-out for 30-60 minutes), the difficulty of the terrain, and the speed of the peloton (the main group of cyclists). If I remember correctly, the longest stage this year was around 230km, but it was mainly over flat(ish) terrain and for the most part they completed it together. The stage ending at d'Huez saw the cyclists spread over 45 minutes from the first to the last (the last guy that day was outside of the time limit and cut from the Tour even though he completed the stage). Once the riders start going they can't stop except if they wreck, have a mechanical issue (i.e., flat tire) or need to take a "natural break". If they stop riding, it usually means that they are about to drop out of the race.
How do you follow the race since you can't drive along with the cyclists? ... The official Tour de France website posts the information for each stage (you can find the link to their site in the sidebar). For each stage, they show the topography of the stage, where the feedzones, sprints and climbs are located. They also provide a detailed descriptions of the towns (and roundabouts or carrefours) covered by the race. At each point, they list the time when the caravan will be passing by (it typically starts an hour and a half before the first riders) and three different times for when the riders are expected to arrive at each location (something like if they average 40km, 42km or 44km). The roads care closed to the public anywhere from two to eight hours prior to the cyclists rolling by.
For each stage, we look at this information to find what we think would be most interesting place (usually the mountains since the riders typically are going slower and towards the end of the stage are probably spread out -- this is why these locations are often some of the most crowded). Other good points, and also usually crowded, are the feedzones. The cyclists pick up the bulk of their food for the day in these locations and discard waterbottles and musets to the fans (read souvenirs).
The gendarme shut down the roads in relation to how many people will typically be attending in a given area and how many access points there are to the area. For d'Huez, the roads closed at around 8:30AM, depending where you were on the route. The last stage we caught, the roads didn't close until 1:30PM, even though prime locations (shade, steep part of climb towards the end) still went early.
How long do the cyclists typically spend on their bikes each day? ... The cyclists spend anywhere from four and a half to seven hours on their bikes each day. It depends on the length of the stage (discounting the time trial stages where they ride individually all-out for 30-60 minutes), the difficulty of the terrain, and the speed of the peloton (the main group of cyclists). If I remember correctly, the longest stage this year was around 230km, but it was mainly over flat(ish) terrain and for the most part they completed it together. The stage ending at d'Huez saw the cyclists spread over 45 minutes from the first to the last (the last guy that day was outside of the time limit and cut from the Tour even though he completed the stage). Once the riders start going they can't stop except if they wreck, have a mechanical issue (i.e., flat tire) or need to take a "natural break". If they stop riding, it usually means that they are about to drop out of the race.
How do you follow the race since you can't drive along with the cyclists? ... The official Tour de France website posts the information for each stage (you can find the link to their site in the sidebar). For each stage, they show the topography of the stage, where the feedzones, sprints and climbs are located. They also provide a detailed descriptions of the towns (and roundabouts or carrefours) covered by the race. At each point, they list the time when the caravan will be passing by (it typically starts an hour and a half before the first riders) and three different times for when the riders are expected to arrive at each location (something like if they average 40km, 42km or 44km). The roads care closed to the public anywhere from two to eight hours prior to the cyclists rolling by.
For each stage, we look at this information to find what we think would be most interesting place (usually the mountains since the riders typically are going slower and towards the end of the stage are probably spread out -- this is why these locations are often some of the most crowded). Other good points, and also usually crowded, are the feedzones. The cyclists pick up the bulk of their food for the day in these locations and discard waterbottles and musets to the fans (read souvenirs).
The gendarme shut down the roads in relation to how many people will typically be attending in a given area and how many access points there are to the area. For d'Huez, the roads closed at around 8:30AM, depending where you were on the route. The last stage we caught, the roads didn't close until 1:30PM, even though prime locations (shade, steep part of climb towards the end) still went early.
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