The Tour de France  - 2014

With British cyclists winning the Tour de France for the last two years, all eyes will be on the 2014 Tour to see if British riders can make it a hatrick. Will Chris Froome or Bradley Wiggins pull it off again? Or will the 101st Tour be won by an Australian rider, or an American rider? Or even – as was so often the cas in the past – by a French rider?
    And will the event be marred again in 2014 by doping scandals? Hopefully not; in 2013, 443 blood texts were carried out on riders before during and after the race, and none tested positive for forbidden substances such as steroids. Is it safe to say that the age of riders pumping performance-enhancing products is now over?
    Now in its second century, the "Tour" goes on, and it is difficult to imagine how it could not. This mega sporting event is worth millions of Euros in advertising, sponsorship and worldwide television rights, attracts millions of spectators, and is one of Europe's great media circus acts.
   For the hundreds of thousands who turn up to line the route, the cycling is actually only a tiny bit of the show: While the time-trial races may offer a more long-drawn-out cycling experience for spectators, with competitors taking part one by one, on normal race days the riders may go past in just a minute, especially in the earlier part of a day's leg, before the participants have become more spaced out. But then, the actual race is just a small part of the show. Starting some two hours before the race, the "Caravan" is a cavalcade of floats, decorated cars and other vehicles that moves along the route, throwing out goodies and free samples to the spectators; it is a massive advertising stunt. The advertising caravan, made up of the Tour's official sponsors, is followed by a long line of official cars, technical vehicles, media and motorbikes, lights flashing, horns sounding, all warming up the spectators for the actual event itself. Then, at last, the riders come by - and are gone again as quickly as they appeared, pounding uphill or downhill at speeds that can reach 50 mph or more. A bit of an anti-climax.... And with that, the day's excitement is over.
   Anyone wanting to watch the race in a serious manner would be well advised to do so on television; but for a day's outing, with all the fun of the crowds, the waiting, the caravan, and the atmosphere, watching the Tour go by is as good as many other events, and what's more it's free.
    The Tour can be watched all over France, and each year the route is different, taking in at least one leg in another country.
      If you go to watch the Tour, specially with kids, take care! Don't let children stand too close to the road, and never cross the road while the caravan is passing.
     Tourists wanting to book holiday accommodation along the route are advised to do so early.
Click here for holiday cottages or for bed and breakfast accommodation in France.


Visit the Official site of the tour de France

Tourist attractions in France, by region :

France in general:
The main historic monuments and tourist attractions in France   

Follow these links for a more detailed list of major tourist attractions in the following regions:
Paris tourist attractions
          Things to see and do in Languedoc-Roussillon
           Tourist attractions in Champagne
            Tourist sites in the Midi-Pyrenees region
             Tourist attractions in Nord-Pas de Calais region
              Tourist sites in Lorraine

    A brief introduction to the regions of France
    

Accommodation for the Tour de France
All hotel rooms in and around the start and finish points get booked up very fast by the teams and the media.
To avoid disappointment, check out available hotel rooms as soon as possible,  using the major online portals  booking.com  or Hotels.com,