Who's ready for the most epic Tour ever this year?? Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you're inspired (or need some inspiration) to take a trip over there this year to witness it. In 2005 I had the opportunity to experience my first Tour de France with Ronan Pensec (6th place in '86 TdF, 7th in '88 and yellow jersey winner) and his tour group Ronan Pensec Travel. And it was more than I ever could've imagined! Ronan has been a friend since...great guy. What makes his tour trips unique is the unprecedented behind the scenes access to tour operations along with VIP seating and access along the race route. These few photos do a good job of explaining.
(NOTE: My photo-crazy-self happened to lose ALL my photos/videos of the trip due to a hard drive malfunction the month after the trip. Luckily friends passed along theirs so I hope they don't mind me showcasing them along with the experience here!)
Riding the race courses day of the race + David's photo op on the podium.
We were in the mix with the riders at the start and finish.
See me on the street at the start while everyone else is packed behind the barriers to get a glimpse :)
Access to the technical zone included hanging w/ the Versus crew: Bo's w/ Bob.
Finish line seats in Paris were the closest you could get to the podium.
I'm sure we didn't even need a zoom for that shot.
We were all giddy wondering how we got so lucky!
And...for the guys...Here's David hanging out with the pretty podium girls.
It's not a pure riding mileage trip. It's a mix of everything from riding parts of stages, to staying in castles with multi-course dinners and brunches to absolutely awesome behind the scenes access to the tour operations and technical zones (i.e. got to chat it up with Phil/Paul and the Versus gang in between takes.) Not to mention the front row access/seating to the start and finish lines (so much so that there were times when I had to back away from my access simply because I felt like I was in the way - even though no one else was telling me I had too!) and VIP seating in prime places, like at the finish on the Champs Ellysees in Paris. We had the closest seats you could have to the podium...WAY closer than even Sheryl Crow and John Kerry. All that while noticing everyone else vying for views along the course just to get a glimpse! We had it good...
For more info on this year's tour trips, check out: www.ronanpensectravel.com.
Vive le Tour!!
