Never forgot my first time.
In '86 during a summer holiday road trip with my family from Denmark to the hotel town Le Grand Motte at French riviera, my dad bought l'Equipe as the first thing when we broke the boarder from Germany to Alsace. At a picnic in a grape field, I held the newspaper in hand for the first time. The front page showed Dane
Jørgen V. Pedersen in yellow, which he won after a long break (and weared the next 5 days). That was very surprising, since all Danish hopes were put on Denmarks big name Kim Andersen, who weared yellow 2 times in '83 and '85, riding for Hinault on La Vie Claire. But suddenly Jørgen V. Pedersen was brought into fame.
So of course, one week later or so, on a boring day at the beach at Le Grand Motte, my dad and I decided to see one of the etapes of the Tour. We decided to see the stage to
Nîmes. We drove for an hour or two. Found the crossing road, where cycling fans has settled for picnic in small groups. We went up the road, a slight uphill big lefthand curve, where we had a very good overview.
The caravane I will never forget. I know my dad should still have it on his 8mm cine film. That was so intense. The most extreme was a motor bike rider advertising for Michelin. He literally stood on his bike, as the Michelin-man he was, driving at a speed of well above 80-90 kmh, it was more like 100 kph round the corner. That was so intense. There were no driver, just him standing. Pure artistry. You will never see something like that today, I think.
That could have been way enough action for me that day.
After the caravane there were lots of talks in the small picnic groups and cozyness. But after some minutes I remember the silence. Nobody at the road spoke a word. What a tension.
Still with high adrenaline and my heart pumping, I was waiting for the riders. Hoping to see Jørgen V. Pedersen in yellow. You have to put in mind it was not internet times, though I as a 13 year old boy was dedicated sports nerd, I didn't follow the tour standings in l'Equipe everyday (some Italian/French girl took my attention
).
I remember, I didn't expect much to happen, since it was just an open slightly, left turn uphill road approx 50 km from the finale in Nîmes on a relatively flat stage.
But then, finally, the French géndarmes appeared on their motor bikes. At high speed. More motor bikes. It felt like ages, I remember I was just about to implode by exitement.
And then came the riders. What a race. The peleton was more or less in one piece seen from far distance, from my fathers and mine place you could see at least 3k's down the road (only slight downhill). And then, just 200m before the peleton passed me, some riders decided to go in a break. I remember seeing my big hero Claude Criquilion and I think it was Steve Bauer and 4-5 other riders. Wow all of a sudden the peleton exploded. The man in yellow was not Jørgen V. Pedersen I could recognize. But I wasn't dissapointet. Because the rider in yellow reacted on the break. Which had to mean that the riders trying to make a break had to be GC riders. I could see further forward, the break was quickly neutralized.
But wow! How lucky can you be as a boy?
And that was not all. The back end of the peleton had hard times. A rider just went down, totally exhausted, just in front of me and my dad. He sat on the asphalt with empty eyes, just empty. His team car had passed him. First man near him was a giant camera man. My dad has a priceless picture where the giant camera man stands with his giant TV camera just up the nose of the unlucky exhausted rider. I remember it took several minutes before he was assisted and put into a car.
That first time experience was way beyond what I had expected.
Since then, i've attented the tour more times:
In '87: Sorry don't remember the exact place, but some place in Massif Centrâle. This time my dad and I had my mom and sister with us. Unfortunately we came to late for the breakaway, which had about 10 mins to the peleton
The place was OK, though we coudn't see the riders before they where there, but at least we could see the riders after the passage in a few serpentine curves downhill and into a cipress tree like landscape. That was beautiful, but it was extremely quickly over.
Then it went 10 years.
In '97 the scene was l'Alpe d'Huez. I was on a holiday with friends. We rented an appartment on top of Le Alpe for 10 days doing mountaing walking and bike training. On the day of the race I suggested that we took place as attendants in the big "bowel" in the last corner before the steep passage up to the village l'Alpe d'Huez. That was a perfect place. From there you can see the 5k mark and up to the 2k mark which is just near the top of the last steep section before the town.
The crowds were MASSIVE. In that big "bowel" sourrounding the last corner before the village l'Alpe d'Huez I think at least 15-20.000, maybe even 25.000 ppl had taken place, enjoying their picnic. It was a real party. Not to forget the party you could hear during the night from the top of the mountain down the road. Boy those Dutch people are made of hard party stuff
The most unforgettable thing that year was actually not Pantani passing by and spoiling the record. It was the crowds reaction when Virenque passed. In 97' there were no fence to distinct the crowd from the riders before the 2k mark. So despite sitting at a high place in the "bowel" in the "last corner" you could not see the riders until about 100m before they passed the last corner.
But you could identify the position of the riders by the way the crowd was moving. And then you could hear thousands and yet thousands of Frenchmen all shouting in one cadance equaling Virenque's pedalling: "VI-RENque! - VI-RENque! - VI-RENque! -VI-RENque!" all the way from the 5k mark to the last corner.
That sound picture of one living 2.5k organisme shouting " "VI-RENque! - VI-RENque! - VI-RENque! -VI-RENque!" has just planted well into my memory. That was a massive experience.
Since then, I've attended Le Tour 2 times more; in '01 and '04, both times also at Le Alpe. The TT in '04 being the most embarrasing, as seen from the crowd. Though it was a nice weather for nearly 5 hours picnic
EDIT: (..and this is my oppinion..) Just forget about your smart phones and live-updates. Times, news about breaks and so on, you can see on the telly during the afternoon reprise. Is it something that really gives me the creeps those days is seeing all those smartphones at festivals, sport events and the like. The audience make itself very passive in that way, looks just like a lazy boy in his sofa, not participating in anything. Not funny. Live in the moment. Reach the moment. Luckily you see some cyclingfans still do that - and not only to put them selves in focus, like some cowards with no situational awareness
Act as a fan. Live as a fan. Be a fan.