Polka Dot Alps

Welcome to France! We will be meeting mid-afternoon in the lobby of our first hotel, ideally located in Clermont Ferrand. Our hotel will be home for three nights and is located near the race activities as le Tour is in town for four days. Your guides will help you fit your rental bikes before the group takes a short ride to shake off the dust from traveling.

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 jersey, water bottle, and a gift from Custom Getaways and from Tour de France. You will also receive a discount card for 30% off official le Tour merchandise.

Good morning and let’s get moving! We will have two distances of rides this morning. The longer ride will be approximately 65 kilometers and the shorter ride will be about 45 kms. This is a flatter day with only a couple hundred meters of elevation gain. We’ll experience riding on the course for part of our ride as we head toward’s the finish line.

As a group, we will ride across the finish line, tour the podium area and get pictures. After the podium, we will clean up and enter the Izoard VIP venue, located near the finish line. This venue offers snacks, water, soft drinks, beer, wine and champagne 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.

The racers will be coming off a well-deserved rest day yesterday. The stage route passes through the Chaîne des Puys and we’ll see the strongest riders in front before finishing in Issoire.

Dinner is not included tonight, so it’s a perfect opportunity to explore the town and find a cool place for local cuisine.

This morning we start with a race viewing before we cycle. You will have VIP access to the 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 stage.

After we see the racers depart, we will grab a light lunch and after a quick change, we will take a ride though the region and back to the hotel. The longer ride will be about 60 kilometers and the shorter ride about 45 kilometers. Only a few hundred meters of elevation gain today. For the non-cycling guests, you can choose to stay in town or schedule a trip to the summit of the Puy de Dôme on foot or via the panoramic railway.

We will enjoy another group dinner tonight where we can discuss the race and other events of the day.

This morning we will check out of our hotel and head towards the Alps and the Col du Grand Colombier. The rides will be a little shorter today at roughly 45 kms for the longer ride and 30 kms for the shorter ride. Elevation gain will be close to 1,500 meters with an average gradient of 7%. After our ride, we’ll find a place for a well-deserved lunch. Our next hotel is on the outskirts of Annecy, located on Lake Annecy. The outdoor patio bar will welcome you with breathtaking views of the lake and mountains.

You’ll be on your own tonight for dinner. There are some great choices within walking distance and it’s a perfect opportunity to explore with some new friends.

Today will be another day of cycling in the Alps! This will be a rolling ride at about 55 kilometers and 900 meters of elevation gain. This ride has gorgeous views and it is always fun to ride past the people on the side of the road. We will ride on the course for part of this ride to the Relais Etape VIP venue!

This venue is located along the course and serves an excellent 4-course meal with water, soft drinks, beer, wine and champagne. Another nice feature of this venue is that the caravan passes right in front and throws gifts to the crowds. After the caravan passes, you will be have a great view of the racers as they pass. Each guest will also receive a gift from le Tour.

You’ll be on your own for dinner tonight. Another opportunity to experience local cuisine.

We start today with a ride around Annecy. There is a bike path around the lake. We will ride on the path for a bit, then make the climb up to Semnoz. This smaller climb has great views of Lake Annecy and the mountains. This will be another shorter ride of about 45 kms and 1,000 meters of elevation gain. The non-cyclists can coordinate with their guides to explore and shop in Annecy.

This afternoon, we’ll enjoy drinks and a mountain view as we watch the finish of today’s stage, on TV, in Annecy. We’ll toast the winner of Stage 14 and share stories of our time together at tonight’s farewell dinner.

Your guides will drop you at the Geneva, Switzerland airport mid-morning.

We hope to see you again soon!