Mike Jacoubowsky
August 11th 03, 03:49 AM
> Does anyone have any good info and experience with travel companies that
> sponsor trips to France to see the Tour de France? I'm interested in
going
> and want to hook up with a good company/group. Please advise.
[This guy's looking for info I've been thinking about digging up for our
website anyway, so here's what I've run down this afternoon. Also, if
anybody has any experiences with any of these groups, please post in this
thread or via email to me ) so I can put the info
together for an informational page on our website.]
As you're probably aware (and the reason you're posting now instead of
later), France is going to be overrun by US folk in 2004, and tours are
going to be fully booked before they're even announced (meaning that people
are going to find ways to reserve spots on tours they don't even know the
dates of, locations, etc).
I just did a quick search and found a site that has some info, subject to
change, on how they think things are going to run (and their available tours
and costs) for '04-
http://www.experienceplus.com/tour_de_france.html
But I have no idea how good they are. I just got back from a 12-day
Pyrenees to Paris tour with the Graham Baxter group
(http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/letour/pyrenees2.html). Very reasonably
priced, got to see a lot, but it's possibly not the best for someone who's
never been to France before and might want a bit more hand-holding than they
offer.
TREKTravel got rave reviews from everyone I came across who was on a TDF
tour with them (we're a very large TREK dealer and have a lot of customers
interested in what they have to offer, so it made since to find out
everything I could), but they're basically oversold for '04 already, and
have told dealers to work on getting people interested in their other trips.
Backroads generally gets high marks from our customers; info on their TDF
packages may be found at http://www.backroads.com/cgi-bin/tripLister.py
Breaking Away is another popular, high-quality organization, with info on
their '03 offerings (which will give some insight for '04) found at
http://www.breakingaway.com/flash/home.htm
Butterfield & Robinson defines the high-end of cycle touring... $6k for
their July 20-28th trip for the '03 TDF, to give you an idea. More info at
http://www.butterfieldandrobinson.com/index.asp?navid=16&layid=236&csid=135&
csid1=1998&fid1=16
Bicycle Outfitters, a shop not too far from our own in the SF Bay Area, runs
tours in France, with info on their past '03 offering at
http://bicycleoutfitter.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=209. Reasonably priced and
good people.
VeloVacations (also known as VeloSport Vacations) is a group I've come
across frequently in my travels in France, and I found people generally
pretty happy with them. Their past '03 offerings may be found at
http://www.velovacations.com/tdf_res.html
Steve Bauer, former TDF racer, has another high-end touring company, with
info on their past '03 offerings at
http://www.stevebauer.com/performance_trips/tourdefrance3/
Velo Echappe looks interesting (they emphasize having big-name cycling
greats helping out, including Sean Kelly... wonder if his English is easier
to understand in person than on TV?), but I don't know anyone personally
who's been on one of their tours; info on their past '03 offerings is at
http://www.veloechappe.com/tdf_pyrs_itin.asp
Former USPS rider Marty Jemison has his own tour company, and briefly
touches on their 2004 plans at http://www.martyjemison.com/tdf.html
Inside Track Tours is another one that I'm not familiar with, but there's
info on their 2004 TDF plans at
http://www.insidetracktours.com/tdf_2004.htm. They do have an added bonus
of having Tyler Hamilton, 4th place in this year's TDF and found in the
dictionary when you look up "Tough as nails", as a general partner. For
many this may be an added plus, as there could be an assumed benefit of
being able to at least get an autograph from a real TDF contender!
Cycling Ahead runs trips during the TDF, but I know nothing about them and
am a little put off by a website that doesn't list prices; you have to fill
out a form on their website and they'll get back to you. Info at
http://www.cycling-ahead.com/TheTourdeFrance.htm
VeloVista is a general-purpose cycle touring site, with a great deal of
useful information, including info on the '03 TDF at this page-
http://www.velovista.net/tour_trip_03.htm
Bikestyle Tours, an Australian touring company, has info on their '04 TDF
plans here- http://www.bikestyletours.com/index.php/39 (this is another one
I have no references on)
Adventure Travel is another Australian touring company, this one with Phil
Anderson, former TDF great, riding along. Their info on TDF trips is at
http://www.tourdefrance.com.au/default.asp. I don't know of anyone who's
done one of their tours, but Phil's wife, Christine, speaks glowingly of her
husbands ability to entertain and take care of their guests (I met her in
Lourdes at the '03 TDF; details on my diary page at
www.ChainReaction.com/diaryfrance2003.htm#christine)
================================================== ==================
If anybody know of other tours not listed, please reply to this thread or
directly to me via email ).
One other thing I should add... if you really want to get into the TDF
action itself, it may not be practical to be cycling every single day.
Conversely, if you want to really get into cycling in France, it may not be
practical to see that much of the TDF! You'll most likely run yourself into
the ground, and possibly disappoint yourself because things didn't work out
quite as planned. The best way to have a really enjoyable experience is to
be flexible and recognize that your original plans might need to be altered
a bit, and try to decide ahead of time if you want to do everything, in
which case you'll probably need a vacation from your vacation when you get
back (personal experience talking here!).
Thanks!
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
> sponsor trips to France to see the Tour de France? I'm interested in
going
> and want to hook up with a good company/group. Please advise.
[This guy's looking for info I've been thinking about digging up for our
website anyway, so here's what I've run down this afternoon. Also, if
anybody has any experiences with any of these groups, please post in this
thread or via email to me ) so I can put the info
together for an informational page on our website.]
As you're probably aware (and the reason you're posting now instead of
later), France is going to be overrun by US folk in 2004, and tours are
going to be fully booked before they're even announced (meaning that people
are going to find ways to reserve spots on tours they don't even know the
dates of, locations, etc).
I just did a quick search and found a site that has some info, subject to
change, on how they think things are going to run (and their available tours
and costs) for '04-
http://www.experienceplus.com/tour_de_france.html
But I have no idea how good they are. I just got back from a 12-day
Pyrenees to Paris tour with the Graham Baxter group
(http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/letour/pyrenees2.html). Very reasonably
priced, got to see a lot, but it's possibly not the best for someone who's
never been to France before and might want a bit more hand-holding than they
offer.
TREKTravel got rave reviews from everyone I came across who was on a TDF
tour with them (we're a very large TREK dealer and have a lot of customers
interested in what they have to offer, so it made since to find out
everything I could), but they're basically oversold for '04 already, and
have told dealers to work on getting people interested in their other trips.
Backroads generally gets high marks from our customers; info on their TDF
packages may be found at http://www.backroads.com/cgi-bin/tripLister.py
Breaking Away is another popular, high-quality organization, with info on
their '03 offerings (which will give some insight for '04) found at
http://www.breakingaway.com/flash/home.htm
Butterfield & Robinson defines the high-end of cycle touring... $6k for
their July 20-28th trip for the '03 TDF, to give you an idea. More info at
http://www.butterfieldandrobinson.com/index.asp?navid=16&layid=236&csid=135&
csid1=1998&fid1=16
Bicycle Outfitters, a shop not too far from our own in the SF Bay Area, runs
tours in France, with info on their past '03 offering at
http://bicycleoutfitter.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=209. Reasonably priced and
good people.
VeloVacations (also known as VeloSport Vacations) is a group I've come
across frequently in my travels in France, and I found people generally
pretty happy with them. Their past '03 offerings may be found at
http://www.velovacations.com/tdf_res.html
Steve Bauer, former TDF racer, has another high-end touring company, with
info on their past '03 offerings at
http://www.stevebauer.com/performance_trips/tourdefrance3/
Velo Echappe looks interesting (they emphasize having big-name cycling
greats helping out, including Sean Kelly... wonder if his English is easier
to understand in person than on TV?), but I don't know anyone personally
who's been on one of their tours; info on their past '03 offerings is at
http://www.veloechappe.com/tdf_pyrs_itin.asp
Former USPS rider Marty Jemison has his own tour company, and briefly
touches on their 2004 plans at http://www.martyjemison.com/tdf.html
Inside Track Tours is another one that I'm not familiar with, but there's
info on their 2004 TDF plans at
http://www.insidetracktours.com/tdf_2004.htm. They do have an added bonus
of having Tyler Hamilton, 4th place in this year's TDF and found in the
dictionary when you look up "Tough as nails", as a general partner. For
many this may be an added plus, as there could be an assumed benefit of
being able to at least get an autograph from a real TDF contender!
Cycling Ahead runs trips during the TDF, but I know nothing about them and
am a little put off by a website that doesn't list prices; you have to fill
out a form on their website and they'll get back to you. Info at
http://www.cycling-ahead.com/TheTourdeFrance.htm
VeloVista is a general-purpose cycle touring site, with a great deal of
useful information, including info on the '03 TDF at this page-
http://www.velovista.net/tour_trip_03.htm
Bikestyle Tours, an Australian touring company, has info on their '04 TDF
plans here- http://www.bikestyletours.com/index.php/39 (this is another one
I have no references on)
Adventure Travel is another Australian touring company, this one with Phil
Anderson, former TDF great, riding along. Their info on TDF trips is at
http://www.tourdefrance.com.au/default.asp. I don't know of anyone who's
done one of their tours, but Phil's wife, Christine, speaks glowingly of her
husbands ability to entertain and take care of their guests (I met her in
Lourdes at the '03 TDF; details on my diary page at
www.ChainReaction.com/diaryfrance2003.htm#christine)
================================================== ==================
If anybody know of other tours not listed, please reply to this thread or
directly to me via email ).
One other thing I should add... if you really want to get into the TDF
action itself, it may not be practical to be cycling every single day.
Conversely, if you want to really get into cycling in France, it may not be
practical to see that much of the TDF! You'll most likely run yourself into
the ground, and possibly disappoint yourself because things didn't work out
quite as planned. The best way to have a really enjoyable experience is to
be flexible and recognize that your original plans might need to be altered
a bit, and try to decide ahead of time if you want to do everything, in
which case you'll probably need a vacation from your vacation when you get
back (personal experience talking here!).
Thanks!
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com