Pyrenees & Bordeaux Hybrid

We will be meeting at our 4-Star hotel near the Toulouse (TLS) airport. We can’t guarantee this, but a couple of the pro teams have stayed at this hotel the last two times we have been here with our guests.

The cyclists in the group will receive help from your guides to fit your bike and get ready for the trip. The warm-up ride will be approximately 25km and will be a great way to check your bike fit and will help shake off the dust from traveling.

The spectators in the group will have the opportunity to tour the Airbus factory. The TLS airport is where Airbus is headquartered and they actually assemble many of their aircraft in buildings scattered around the airport. The tour is interesting and you will learn a lot from the guide.

Tonight we’ll enjoy a local and traditional 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.

Following breakfast, we will transfer to the start of today’s stage in Lannemezon. You will love the energy of the Tour as you’ll have access to the VIP Start Village with coffee, snacks, tour officials and merchandise tents. You will also be able to see the riders interviewed at the sign-in stage before they begin their ride.

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 the race 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! Today’s stage will showcase what the sprinters can do with today’s flat terrain.

After the start of today’s stage and a quick lunch, the cyclists will transfer south and ride the Col du Tourmalet! This iconic climb will be featured in this year’s Tour (as it is in most years). The ride will be about 45 kms with over 1,500 meters of elevation gain. The climb is tough, but you’ll be rewarded with beautiful scenery.

The spectators will head to Lourdes where we will tour the famous Basilica and Grotto before we have another group dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Mountainous Stage 6 is today. According to Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, “The most demanding of the Pyrenean stages combines the classic with the new. A showdown between the Tour’s big favourites is quite possible on the climbs of the Col d’Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet, assuming, of course, that they decide to join battle with more than 40 kilometres of the stage remaining. If they hold back, though, the day’s spoils will be contested by the best climbers in the breakaway in the sumptuous setting of the Cirque de Gavarnie, which they’ll reach after a long but rolling climb – 18.7 kilometres at an average gradient of 4%”. 

The cyclists will start the day with a very cool ride where you will enter the official course for several kilometers with the crowds cheering you on as you ride to our next VIP viewing of the race. The ride will be about 60 kms with approximately 800 meters of elevation gain.

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 entire group will meet at today’s VIP venue, Relais Etape. We’ll be there to watch the action on TV before the racers pass in front of us. Our venue 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.

We’ll watch live as the caravan parade passes 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.

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

After a hearty breakfast and hotel check-out, the cyclists and spectators will transfer towards the finish of today’s stage…Bordeaux.

The cyclists will ride approximately 50km, which includes along the banks of the Garonne river heading to the finish line at Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux. We’ll have the unique opportunity to enter and finish our ride on the official course. 

The spectators will transfer to Bordeaux this morning and will visit a winery if time permits. After lunch, we will transfer to the finish line area and meet up with the cyclists at the flamme rouge, one km from the finish line.

Once across the finish line, we’ll tour the official podium and have pictures taken individually and as a group.  Today’s stage viewing will be in the Izoard VIP venue. TV’s are located within the Izoard venue where we will watch what the racers before they pass us before the finish line. This venue is a great way to see the race with snacks, beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee, water, TVs and private restrooms. Champagne will be served to toast the stage winner.

The group will watch the podium ceremony before heading to our hotel in Bordeaux. A farewell dinner will be served at the hotel restaurant. A great way to finish an eventful trip.

We’ll drop the group at the Bordeaux train station (Saint-Jean) at 9am. This station has high-speed service to Paris and other cities.

Au Revoir!