2022 GC Classic – Tour de France

Welcome to France, settle in on the shores of Lake Annecy.

Our staff will meet you at Lyon-Saint Exupery airport at 10 am, a convenient starting point for reaching the French Alps. You may arrive by TGV or plane, with many domestic and international services. Arrive a day early and acclimatise, adjust your clock, and be ready to make the most of your trip with us. Book your flights early and contact our booking team to arrange accommodation at our pre-trip hotel in Lyon.

Your luxury coach and professional staff will transport us to Annecy, recognised as the French Venice. Set on an expansive lake under the backdrop of the dramatic French Alps, our hotel maximises access to the Lake, the village and the rides that we have planned over the next few days, including seeing the Tour de France.

Join us for dinner tonight at a local restaurant as we meet our fellow guests and importantly your guides who will help you maximise your experience with Bikestyle Tours at Tour de France.

Ride stunning climbs of the pre-alps and explore a popular French village

It is a rest day in the Tour de France. Today, we plan to ride early and maximise our afternoon in one of France’s most beautiful villages. Savoie is famous for its cheese, but the ice cream in Annecy is also worth testing.

Find a French cafe or restaurant near the cool flowing waters that flow from Europe’s cleanest lake. Grab yourself a pre-dinner aperitif. You may like to just grab an ice cream and sit on the shores of the lake and enjoy the myriad of recreational activities on the water. This is how we should always wind down from a morning on the bike, climbing French mountains.

Tonight you are free to choose a restaurant in the village and enjoy sampling the French cuisine.

See the mountain stage finish to Megeve, under the backdrop of Mont Blanc

Today is about the fanfare of the Tour de France on one of its summit finishes. This is not the most challenging finish but riders may preserve their energy for the next two punchy stages. But riders, teams and sponsors value any stage win at the Tour the attacks will be prolific.

Our riders finish in Megeve, so you can leave your bike securely with our transport and explore the ski village and join in on the Tour de France festival. Don’t forget to get your swag of publicity caravan gifts for friends that have missed out. Go on, rub it in a bit more.

Ride Alpe d’Huez at your pace, with the cheering crowds before the race comes through.

With so many options before us today, it was a tough choice as to what to do. We’ve carefully considered your options and given you the best chance to experience the famous switchbacks – like a professional.

Whether you’re riding or a spectator with us, going up the Alpe with the cheering crowds is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You need not race it today, but take in every aspect of the festival that is growing on each corner and count them down, from 21.

Arrive at our hotel this afternoon in time to watch the race go over the final climbs and finish on the very tough Col du Granon. Today’s finish was made famous by the battle between Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault in 1986. The Col is long overdue to host another dramatic stage of the Tour de France.

We will be here for 3 nights, soaking up the atmosphere of the Tour de France and enjoying our private balcony to watch the race pass.

Arrival of Tour de France on Alpe d’Huez, on Bastille Day.

Colours will be a big theme today, honouring patriotism, revolution, and dedication. The village will be a mass with french flags, as the celebration of Fete Nationale is recognised throughout the day. The proud red, white and blue supporters will be hoping for their own to take the honours on this significant stage. 

Millions of spectators around the world, on the couch peloton in the early hours of the morning, or developing nations where cycling grows, yellow is the theme of these three weeks. It celebrates the leader’s jersey and was adapted from the colour of the newspaper that advertised the first Tour in 1903 for the purpose of increasing readership during the French holidays. And, of course, dutch-corner will make sure the orange is also a prominent colour that we see today.

If you feel like an adventure this morning before the race arrives, take the gondola up to Le Pic Blanc at 3330m for a panoramic view across the Alps, including Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. The race comes through this afternoon with private viewing from our hotel’s terrace.

Final day in the French Alps with a favourite climb or stage start.

Stage starts are a wonderful fanfare as every rider is required to sign on for the day’s stage. Each rider makes their way from the team bus to the podium to sign on and may be interviewed by the compere. See the riders and bikes up close, watch teams make their final preparations for the stage having settled on their best opportunities for today’s course. Then find a position on the road as they roll out in a procession as they ride the ‘depart fictif’, under controlled conditions of the commissaire.

If you’d prefer more time for yourself to ride today, we have a long ride challenge, where you can collect 2 more cols for the day.

Moonscapes are synonymous with Mont Ventoux and Gorges de la Nesque is WOW!

We have a few hours to transfer this morning to Provence, and we go directly to our hotel at the base of Mont Ventoux. We will rest in our luxury coach on route before conquering one of the biggest climbs in France. A day on Ventoux is always adventurous, I have never had identical days on Ventoux, so we will manage the elements on the day and give you the best advice.

If you are riding or taking the scenic supporter option, it is a fun day to see the moonscape between Chalet Reynard and the summit and cheer other riders on.

Experience the sunflowers, villages and history of France.

Our transfer today takes us within sight of the Pyrenees. We will watch the race along the stage, possibly at an intermediate sprint. We will await the final itinerary schedule to give you the best viewing option on the day. It will be a great opportunity today for the sprinters to bag a few points for the battle for green before the peloton returns to the mountains.

Home of Laurent Jalabert, and highlights of our home area in France

For about 20 years, Bikestyle has been stationed in the southwest of France. It’s an area that has a rich trade relationship with Australia. The main industry has been serving the haute couture or high-end fashion design industry producing incredible fabrics and leathers. The treatment of skins requires an abundance of water, and it is something that this area is rich with. Many of those skins were sourced from Australian Merinos, where the very best quality was chosen. Only a couple of factories still operate today, but at its peak, there were well over 100 in operation.

The Montagne Noire divides the departments of Tarn and Aude, where yesterday’s race unfolded. The mountain range has dense forests of pine and oak, and on its lower slopes supports vineyards and olive groves. The mountain range continues to supply the water for Canal du Midi, allowing the locks to function year-round.

This evening you can wander into the village centre and dine at one of the restaurants on the river Agout.

See the stage twice, including a stage finish into Foix

We make the short drive to the Ariege department for today’s stage to Foix, a popular finish town for the Tour de France. Our itinerary will be simple: arrive early, take a ride before seeing the race a first time and return to Foix to watch the lead riders race for victory. If you’d like a day off the bike, visit Foix castle this morning.

Tonight we return to Castres, minimising on transfers and you can venture in and try that other restaurant that controlled your indecision last night, or maybe you will just grab a woodfired pizza before a good night’s rest after a day at the Tour de France.

Watch the Tour de France in the Pyrenees.

We depart southwest France and track further west toward the Atlantic where the Pyrenees mountains start to dominate the landscape. We will stop at the spa town of Bagneres de Bigorre and ride to watch today’s stage as they start their second climb.

We will be at our hotel at a reasonable time tonight to prepare for another big day at the Tour de France tomorrow for the last opportunity for the climbers.

Our home for the next 3 nights will be in the heart of the Pyrenees. We are lucky for some incredible riding over the next couple of days.

Ride the most ridden climb of Tour de France, Col du Tourmalet, and see the race on a summit finish.

We will complete our trio of climbs today. Ventoux, done. Alpe d’Huez, done. To complete your set of Tour de France climbs you need to complete Tourmalet. Today is your opportunity. Sorry to those at home. I now understand the FOMO. We can head off early in the morning and get a good warm-up before starting the ascent. You can then return down the valley, enjoy a fuelling lunch, and stop off to see the summit finish up Hautacam.

Our final day in the Pyrenees is scenic splendour

The Tour de France starts making its way toward Paris. We will catch them again on our high-speed train journey after we finish our business in the Pyrenees. 

One of the most spectacular roads in France is the balcony connecting Col du Soulor and Col d’Aubisque. The race ventured over it yesterday and added another climb in the middle, just for good measure. We will have a lot more time to meet the locals (mostly sheep and horses), but most importantly, enjoy the view along Cirque du Litor. There are no time pressures today, so we can pause for lunch at the summit before returning for lots of photos.

Take the pleasure way to Paris, comfort and without luggage.

Our team will transport your bike and luggage to Paris, while you can take the more comfortable, and much faster way on the TGV. Reaching speeds over 300kph, France’s high-speed train network revolutionised their connectedness for business, family and leisure. They have created a network that is the envy of many other nations.

We will arrive in Paris this afternoon, for you to be able to watch the important time trial at a local Paris bar, in the niche village of Paris-Bercy where our hotel is located.

Tonight we will celebrate our Tour de France trips with a private Bikestyle Tours function, where all of our guests across our trips can share their stories of triumph, despair, and new friendships. Welcome to the Bikestyle family.

Rise early for the Paris Sights bike ride, and celebrate the arrival of the Tour de France.

Our morning starts with a bike ride. Before breakfast, we will set off through the city enjoying the iconic landmarks that draw people from all over the world. There are few places more iconic than Paris. There is no better way to see the city without the crowds, in our ride along the Seine. Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower are all on our course.

We return for a long breakfast, to fuel us for the day. Later in the day, we will set off to watch the Tour de France. Our staff will help you with the French Metro system so that you can return at your own leisure.

We will see the opening stage of the inaugural Tour de France Femmes event before the finale of the 3-week Grand Tour is finalised. Who will win the famous stage on the Champs Elysees?

Why not extend your trip and follow the Women’s tour through the Champagne region and in the Vosges mountains, completing a spectacular circumnavigation of France with incredible riding, exciting racing and great friendships.

All trips must come to an end, farewell – only until next time

We are delighted to host guests every year on our trips, whether it is fulfilling dreams, doing in honour of someone, as part of your annual holiday, or just because. We truly share your journey and do our absolute best to help you achieve what you want most from your cycling holiday in France. Sadly, our 2022 TDF GC Classic has come to an end for another year. We’re excited to be on the road again. Welcome back and if you haven’t travelled with us before, welcome to the Bikestyle Family. 

You are free to leave the hotel at any time today, contact our team if you’d like to stay for any extra nights. For transfers to other hotels, the airport or train stations the hotel staff will be able to assist you.