Grand Depart Cycling

Benvenuto! We will be picking up at the Amerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR) in the early afternoon. Our hotel is ideally located on the outskirts of Florence, close to the centuries-old Thermal Park in Montecatini Terme.

Your guides will help fit your bike and the group will take a short ride in the area to check the fit of your bike and to help shake off the dust from traveling.

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 Grand Depart trip. Each guest will receive a gift from Custom Getaways and from the Tour de France. The cyclists will also receive a jersey and water bottle. All guests will receive a discount card to be used at an official le Tour merchandise store.

Good morning and let’s get going! After breakfast we will visit the Grand Depart Start Village in Florence. You will love the energy of this year’s Tour de France start village. Florence makes its first appearance on the race map for le Tour. 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 three week journey through Italy and France.

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!

Once the racers depart, we will grab a light lunch, make a quick change and take a ride though the rolling hills of Tuscany. The ride will be approximately 50km with a few hundred meters of elevation gain.

The spectators will have the opportunity to stay in Florence this afternoon and sightsee. Florence is the cradle of art, literature and architecture, the birthplace of the Renaissance and the Italian language. Florence is universally recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful cities, thanks to its many monuments and museums. With an abundance of sights to see, you’re sure to get your steps in today.

The group will meet back at the hotel for dinner, a great time to share stories of the day.

This morning we start with a drive towards Bologna, the finish city of today’s stage. The group will gear up approximately 50km from the finish area and will ride towards the finish line. The ride will be about 50 kilometers with an elevation gain of 200m.  Closer to the finish, we will enter the official race course and ride across 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 the racers pass us the way to 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.

Following the race, we’ll be able to sit back and relax as we transfer back to our hotel. The hotel chef will prepare another local cuisine for us tonight.

Today’s schedule is packed. We will check-out of our hotel and ride south towards San Miniato. The ride will be hilly with 30km and a few hundred meters of elevation. One of our guides is not only a former professional racer, but his family is owner of Daccordi Cycles…which specializes in Italian bicycles, handmade frames of steel, aluminum and carbon fiber. The group will have a private tour the factory. The bikes are excellent and the process is fascinating.

Our next stop will be in Pisa. You’ll have time to explore the Cathedral Complex with the famous Leaning Tower.

This afternoon, we’ll transfer to Turin where we’ll have dinner at our hotel. Today was the last day of fairly flat rides….the French Alps start tomorrow.

After a hearty breakfast, we’ll get an early start and say goodbye to Italy and set our sights on France as we transfer to the village of Alpe d’Huez in the Alps.

We will stop and get ready for our ride on the official course to our next VIP, called Relais Etape. The 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. Another nice feature of this venue is that it has TV’s to watch the race until the racers pass right in front of us. The caravan parade will also pass 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.

Today the pros will tackle the 2,642-metre Galibier. This will be the first opportunity for the race favorites to test themselves in the high mountains. We will also tackle the moutains but on a smaller scale. Todays’ ride will be around 40km with an elevation gain of 800-1,000m.

Once the race finishes, we will continue to transfer to the village of Alpe d’Huez. You will be welcomed to this ski resort and cycling haven with it’s amazing views. You’ll be on your own for dinner tonight. There are many restaurant choices or enjoy the hotel restaurant…considered one of the oldest restaurant in Alpe d’Huez.

Today’s ride is the world famous Alpe d’Huez climb. We will start with a descent of the balcony road, then do a loop in the valley before starting the ascent of the 21 bends up the face of Alpe d’Huez.This ride is about 40 kilometers with 1,400m of elevation gain.

After the ride, we will have free time in the mountain village to relax at the local pool or book a massage at a local spa.

Tonight we will have our farewell dinner at the hotel restaurant and celebrate our accomplishments from the week.

Your guides will drop you at the Grenoble train station in the morning.

We hope to see you again soon!