INTERMEDIATE SPRINTS
Officials who plan the Tour’s route must consider not only appropriate start and finish towns, but also find spots for intermediate sprints. These hotspots liven up flat stages and count toward the green points jersey, and are actually bid on by host towns. A winning town makes a local holiday out of the event, hoping that tourist business and publicity generated by TV coverage will more than cover the cost.
PUBLICITY CARAVAN
Started in 1930 when a move to nationalised teams limited publicity opportunities for the team’s corporate sponsors (since reversed), the caravan became a beloved, permanent fixture. The spectacle consists of 200 or so giant rolling teacups, two-story high Credit Lyonnais lions and massive Cochonou sausages, providing a much-needed break from the tedium of waiting for the peloton and, of course schwag. Keychains, coffee, big green foam hands from the French sports betting organization PMU and daily papers are all among the 11 million items tossed yearly.
TEAM AND OFFICIAL CAR CARAVAN
With 21 teams allowed two cars each, and assorted official race vehicles, the caravan that follows the riders numbers more than 600 vehicles and can be half a kilometer long. Each team car has a custom bike rack on top that holds five or so spare bike frames and wheels. The most important cars in the caravan are the official fleet of Tour management, all Skodas customized with big engines, Continental high performance tyres, communications equipment and a sunroof in line with the rear seats so the commissaries can stand up and observe the race. They are colour coded by importance: Eight red Skodas are reserved for the race director and commissaries, official timers and the race jury, which adjudicate disputes. Four blue cars carry lesser Tour staff, and nine grey ones are reserved for VIP guests.
MOTO CAMERAS AND HELOCOPTERS
The Tour is broadcast live via wireless signals. Each of the motorcycle camera crews (25 – still and video – filming daily) transmits its feed to a helicopter overhead, which beams the signal to a truck at the finish. From there the signal goes to broadcast station France 2, which, with exclusive broadcast rights, provides virtually every bit of race footage seen around the world. The chopper’s signal range is limited, so that race must be close enough to the finish for the signal to reach, one reason some stages aren’t covered in their entirety.
BROOM WAGON
Today, few races who drop out opt for a ride in the broom wagon; team cars are the first choice. But la voiture balai, first used in 1910, still performs a role as the literal and figurative end of the race for ill, ill prepared and unlucky riders alike. The vehicle is distinctive for the broom whisks hanging off the front bumper, “sweeping” the race before it.
START VILLAGE
Catered for by the conglomerate Sodexho, the VIP start village covers 3 000 square metres and offers riders, Tour staff and team personnel one of the few access-restricted areas of the race, a place where they can chat over coffee, grab a bit to eat, call home for free, and even get a haircut, all courtesy of sponsors who pay for the privilege.
FINISH AREA
The final kilometer or two of a stage is fenced off to fans, using several kilometers of barricades. Add in trailers for the 2 000-plus members of the media, drug testers and administration, and each day’s finish is a mini-fortress which must be erected overnight and dismantled just as fast. Two set/breakdown crews leapfrog each other (the group from the finish of Stage 12 will go to Stage 14), using trucks to transport the show around France.
