Luxury Final Week

Welcome to France! We will be picking up at the Avignon TGV train station in the early afternoon. Our 5-star hotel has a great location outside the city of Avignon in the heart of Provence.

The cyclists will get their bikes fitted and go for a ride through the vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape. This will be a mostly flat warm-up ride with a distance of 30km. The spectators in the group will have the opportunity to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site, The Pont du Gard. This ancient aqueduct is a masterpiece of Roman architectural technique.

After an afternoon of activity, the group will enjoy our 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 cycling guest will receive a jersey and water bottle. All the guests will receive a gift from Custom Getaways and from Tour de France. You will also receive a discount card for official le Tour merchandise.

Today we’ll hit the ground running with our visit to the Start Village.  It is said that “Stages that start in Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux are usually the scene for intense battles”. We will be there to see the racers as they prepare for Stage 17. 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.

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 and change into our kits to ride through the Vallon-Pont-d’Arc/Gorges de l’Ardeche region. This unusual region is where the Ardèche River has carved a dramatic canyon through a limestone plateau. The longer ride will be about 60 kms and the shorter ride about 45 kilometers. Elevation gain will be about 800m.

The non-cyclists in the group will have the opportunity to visit and have a tasting at a winery in the Chateauneuf du Pape area. You’ll learn why Chateauneuf du Pape produces some of the most appealing wines in France and the world.

Tonight you will be on your own for dinner. This is a good opportunity to sample more dishes and wines of the region.

This morning we start with a ride up the famous Mont Ventoux climb! Since there is close to 1,900m of elevation gain, this will be a shorter ride with the longer ride at about 50km and the shorter ride around 35km.

After the ride, we will have a quick lunch and make our drive to Nice. The spectators in the group will have time in the walled city of Avignon to explore before transferring to the French Riviera. Our 5* hotel is located in the hills north of Cannes. Grasse, is a town known for its long-established perfume industry and lavender fields.

We’ll be able to enjoy the hotel’s swimming pool and gardens before the chef prepares our group dinner. We will be sure to toast the victory we enjoyed reaching the Mont Ventoux summit.

Today’s ride and race viewing are unique. We’ll ride on the race course with the local fans cheering us on. This ride will be about 65 kms and 50 kms with several hundred meters of elevation gain. We will ride on part of the official course on our way to the Relais Etape venue.

Our VIP venue today is located along the course and serves an excellent 4-course meal for lunch. It also offers snacks, beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee, water and 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.

TV’s are located within the venue where we will watch the racers climb above 2,000m on three occasions, the biggest test being the climb to the summit of La Bonette, the highest road in France at an altitude of 2,802m. We’ll be on the rails as the racers and entourage pass us as they head towards the finish in Isola 2000.

Once the race finishes we will transfer to Nice. Our hotel, located on the Promenade des Anglais, a perfect location for the next few days of le Tour activity.

Today’s ride is another treat as we will ride on the race course once again. With the elevation gain today, we will have one distance of approximately 50km. There will be roughly 1,600m of elevation gain. We will ride on the official course and ride across the finish line of today’s stage.

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, located down the mountain from the finish line. TV’s are located within the Izoard venue where we will watch the racers battle as early as the climb to the Col de Braus. There will then be no respite on the climbs of the Cols de Turini, de la Colmiane and finally de la Couillole, the final ascent extending for 15.7km at an average gradient of 7.1%. We will watch as the race passes us on 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.

After the stage ends, we will transfer back to Nice where we’ll enjoy a farewell dinner with our new friends and views of the Mediterranean.

After a busy five days, you will have some free time this morning to enjoy the city of Nice. Old Town and the Port of Nice are short distances from the hotel. Vieux Nice (Old Town) is one of the most popular and vibrant places to visit in Nice with its cobble stone streets and the narrow alleyways. You will see some of the most famous and historical buildings while wandering around Vieux Nice, such as the Nice Cathedral, Palais de Justice, Cours Saleya, Henri Matisse’s former home, Place Rossetti, etc.

In the afternoon, we will meet as a group and walk to our VIP venue to view the final stage of this year’s Tour de France. This day is a very rare final stage time trial from Monaco to Nice, so it’s possible the winner will be determined today.

The Base des Anges venue is the best option is Nice and has gourmet French food, open bar, water, soft drinks and champagne to enjoy while watching the race on TV’s before the racers arrive in Nice and pass in front of us. There are tables with seating for each person and private restrooms for your comfort. The caravan will kick off today’s stage and we willl see all the riders pass our venue as they head towards the finish line.

You’ll be on your own once the race finishes. You can stay and enjoy the venue or stroll down the poplular Promenade des Anglais.

Check out of your hotel by noon or extend your stay in Nissa la Bella/Nice the Beautiful.

You are responsible for your transfer from the hotel.

Custom Getaways hopes you have amazing memories of this unique experience. We hope to see you again soon.

Au revoir!