Alsace & Alps Hybrid

Welcome to France! In the afternoon, we will be meeting at our 4-star hotel in Mulhouse, located in the Alsace region of northwestern France.

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 25-30km and will be a great way to check your bike fit and will help shake off the dust from traveling. The terrain in the region is mostly flat.

The spectators in the group will have the opportunity to tour the quaint village of Colmar. Colmar is a UNESCO-recognized protected town known for its cobblestone streets and colorful half-timbered buildings. There are canals that run through the town. This is where Colmar gets its nickname, “Little Venice”. This fairy tale village is always the favorite of our guests.

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.

Good morning and let’s get going! The cyclists will have the cool experience of riding on the official course today and riding across the finish line. We’ll ride approximately 50km with the last of that being on the official course. The ride will be approximately 800 meters of elevation gain.

Before heading to the finish line, the spectators will stay in town and will visit the largest car museum in the world. The Musée National de l’Automobile house one of the most beautiful car collections with over 450 exceptional cars. After lunch, we will transfer to the finish line area to walk across the official finish line.

Once across the finish line, we’ll tour the 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 before they pass us live as they head towards 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 head back to our hotel and you will be able to explore Mulhouse and find a place for dinner with some of your new friends.

Following breakfast, the group will head to the start of today’s stage, which is conveniently located in Mulhouse. We’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!

After the racers depart and after lunch, the cyclists will cycle towards Switzerland. The ride will be about 60 kms with 400 meters of elevation gain.

After the start of the race and lunch in town, the spectators will transfer to our next hotel in the Geneva area. We will stop along the way as our guides find interesting sites that are interesting sites.

You will be on your own for dinner at the hotel or head into Geneva for local cuisine.

Tomorrow is a rest day for the race but first, the pros must complete today’s 184kms of mountainous cycling. According to Tour director Christian Prudhomme, “The stage is set for a major mountain stage that’s likely to provide a definitive list of contenders for the Yellow Jersey. Battle will undoubtedly commence on the climb up to Le Salève via the Col de la Croisette, which features close to five kilometres of relentless ascent at an average of 11.2%”.

The cyclists’ final ride will be approximately 50 kms through the Haute-Savoie region…the foothills of the French Alps. We’ll ride on course for part of our ride as we make our way to the VIP venue.

The entire group will meet at today’s VIP venue, 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.

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.

Following the race, we’ll head back to our hotel where we’ll enjoy a farewell dinner.

Good morning. We’ll drop the group at the Geneva Airport (GVA) at 9:00am. If you need to be at the airport earlier or later, the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle, starting at 4:30am and operates every 20 minutes.

Au Revoir!