See the Tour de France
Pick a stretch of road, arrive early, and watch an ordinary roadside turn into one of cycling’s biggest stages. Hours before the riders arrive, spectators gather with flags, picnics and folding chairs; the publicity caravan rolls through first, then team cars, motorcycles and finally the peloton itself. On a flat stage they can flash past in seconds. On a major climb, the riders slow enough for you to see the effort, hear the crowd building further down the mountain and watch the race unfold almost within touching distance. The Tour de France has been running since 1903 and now covers 21 stages over three weeks, mixing flat racing, mountain stages and time trials. Watching it live is very different from television because you experience the scale of the event around the race itself: closed roads, decorated villages, fans arriving from across Europe and long mountain roads lined with spectators. The roadside experience is generally free, although hospitality areas and grandstands are separate ticketed products. Choose the stage carefully. A summit finish or famous climb gives you more time with the riders, while a start or finish town offers team buses, presentation areas and a fuller event atmosphere. Road closures mean you often need to arrive several hours early, and the most popular mountain locations can require walking or cycling the final kilometres. The Tour normally takes place in July; the 2026 edition, for example, ran from 4 to 26 July. Add this to your list and experience the Tour from the roadside, where the gap between spectator and race can be only a few metres.