The organizers of the trip from Skoda offered to get acquainted with the Tour de France racing car firsthand, and I, sleepy, try to climb onto the frame of the Czech bicycle. Three times I have to ask the instructor to lower the saddle lower – he looks at me with regret and moves a narrow plastic wedge almost close to the crossbar. Explains the intricate system of gear shifting with multifunctional levers under the handle horns – on the left there are two main speeds, on the right there is an additional set, pressing yourself – brake. I go through 22 gears for a long time until I find my own, and with unexpected agility I fly forward. The lightest (about 8 kg) bike on finger-thick tires starts as fast as a car.
Having mastered the control, I begin to pay attention to the pain signals coming from the area of the fifth point. There is not a single shock absorbing element on the bike, and the slightest unevenness with a hammer drives the seat wedge into the muscles. For some reason, a thick foam diaper in cycling shorts doesn’t help. After 20 minutes, I give up and return the bike. I wonder why it was impossible to soften the seat, if they already made a soft lining in the shorts. The instructor shrugs: “The racing seat is always hard. Racing is generally tough. “
Breakfast at the hotel with the usual menu for a decent establishment: eggs, oatmeal, sausages, yoghurts and juices. I sit down with the driver of our car, in which we will accompany the peloton. As it turned out yesterday, Skoda has assigned to us the former British cycling champion Malcolm Elliot, who has been helping journalists to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the race for several years. Was in his career and Tour de France, in 1988 and 1989.
– Malcolm, what did you eat for breakfast before the race?
– Muesli, eggs, sometimes chicken. Carbohydrates and Protein. About what you see on my plate.
– And how do they have breakfast at the Tour de France now?
– The same thing, some people eat pasta, but I don’t like it. The main thing is to eat no later than 3 hours before the race, so as not to go with a heavy stomach. You know, then we did not have our own doctors, nutritionists, we just listened to our body – and intuitively came to the same decisions as graduates today.
We move out of our hotel near Chamonix towards Megeve, where the 20th stage of the Tour de France starts. We have an impressive cavalcade of a dozen Skoda Superb sedans and station wagons with stickers showing race affiliation. Our sedan is headed by the journalistic “peloton” – it is practically a limousine in the top-end Laurin & Klement, the two rear leather seats of which are separated by an impressive console with an ipad sticking out of it, a compartment, the purpose of which we have yet to find out, a radio receiver and a walkie-talkie from Elliot’s side.
The skoda windows display stunning landscapes of the region where the most popular ski resorts in France are concentrated. The road then dives into the forest, then goes to the slopes of the mountains with a picturesque panorama of villages and the snow-covered peak of Mont Blanc in the distance.
We are approaching Megeve. From time to time we go along the roads, where only yesterday the 19th stage of the cycling race (Albertville – Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc) took place, and the number of cyclists here almost exceeds the number of cars. People are clearly trying to follow the route of professionals on fresh tracks, and the range of types among cycling fans is impressive. Here, there are elderly couples, flocks of young people who have fun communicating during the trip, and whole families of bicycles in the same team outfit – a father, a mother and a brood of children on smaller bicycles, all pedaling with concentration, maintaining one distance one after another. At times, our motorcade has to accompany a lonely cyclist on the rise at almost pedestrian speed: it is not customary here to dangerously overtake cycling vehicles or drive them to the side of the road if a person decides to overcome a difficult section in the center of the lane. Closer to the city, the density of vehicles on the roads increases, the number of minivans and trailers with a variety of letters on the numbers is growing – people obviously travel from afar, from other EU countries.
At the entrance to Megève, the cars got stuck in a tight traffic jam, and we left Malcolm to reach the starting point on foot. But the first thing we meet on the way is a caravan of promo cars from the race sponsors. For the most part, they look cartoonish, as if they were designed for children: giant figures of long-nosed cyclists, bun cars, chicken cars … The caravan can stretch for 12 km, gushing with free samples of goods scattered from platforms, and deafening with pop music. It doesn’t matter that many of them have little relationship with sports and a healthy lifestyle: chips, sweets, convenience foods – the promo caravan has been part of the cycling race since 1930, and viewers cite it as the second most important reason for visiting the Tour de France.
Turning away from the caravan, we come out to a huge parking lot in front of the supermarket. Part of it is reserved for the teams’ buses, the second is fenced off – a temporary town with tents of organizers and sponsors, which is simply called a village, is erected there. The atmosphere here is reminiscent of a festive fair: crowds of people wander from counter to counter, attracted by free produce and food. Champagne and life-size puppets of advertising characters help distract from the abundance of gendarmes around – safety at the race was increased after the terrorist attack in Nice.
All new team buses in bright colors arrive at the parking lot. It’s like a military parade, with each bus slowly sailing into the parking lot surrounded by team-colored satellites with roof-mounted “launchers” of bicycles and spare wheels. Crowds of people gather at the buses of the most popular teams in the hope of seeing the star racers and getting autographs. Most of the fans are attracted by the black and blue transport of the British team Team Sky, the leaders of the race, and the light green and gray bus of the Tinkoff team. The stars of Oleg Tinkov’s team are Peter Sagan, the owner of the green sprinter jersey sponsored by Skoda, and the leader of the mountain stages Rafal Maika, the owner of the pea jersey.
On stage, the lead voice of a circus entertainer introduces the leaders of the race, while all the participants drive up to the tent with sports nutrition and hastily stuff their back pockets with cereal bars and carbohydrate gels. At 12.50 a preliminary start took place – the participants, under the applause of the crowd, set off for the zero kilometer of the race. We did not see the real start – we need to leave earlier to overtake the peloton.
Malcolm’s driving style has changed: on a road closed to regular transport, he drives like a racing car, cutting corners and sometimes braking sharply before closed corners. On a winding serpentine road, we maintain at least 80 km / h. “We have to get as far as possible from the peloton so that they do not catch up with us, and then we need to catch the helicopter in time,” explains the Briton. I ask if he took sports driving lessons. “Basically, there is a lot in common between fast cycling and a car,” says Malcolm, manually shifting the DSG gearbox of our Superb turbo diesel. “The trajectories on the road are the same.”
It is impossible to drive even hundreds of meters without seeing spectators with cars standing by the side of the road. Some have already laid out their tables and do not waste time waiting for the riders for a bottle of beer or wine. The appearance of our car evokes unexpectedly violent feelings – for the fans we are a sign that the peloton will soon pass by them.
At a wide intersection, the cars of the organizers, spectators and police gathered. A couple of press and gendarmerie motorcycles pass by, then a motorcycle with flashing lights – as if the presidential motorcade is to appear next. Instead, a swarm of cyclists appears, whirring softly, sweeping past like huge multicolored birds. They go very tightly – it seems that there are only a few centimeters between them. And very quickly – at least 80 km / h by eye. On long descents, a cyclist can reach up to 130 km / h, and we are just standing on the descent.
As soon as the race participants are out of sight, we run to the helicopters. These are lightweight Eurocopters with a transparent floor in the front of the cockpit. In the air, we fall into a cloud of rain, emerge from it and approach the road. Along the gray stripes of asphalt, multicolored threads of cars and people stretched. Then multi-colored drops appear on the gray, and even from a height it is noticeable how quickly they move forward. Having circled over them, we fly to the next city of the race and once again plunge into the cozy silence of the salon of our Skoda.
To understand what the Tour de France means for the French, you need to see with your own eyes how they are preparing for the meeting of the peloton. Alpine gingerbread villages have been removed as for a religious holiday – with yellow flags, flags hung on balconies, and handwritten banners. People climb onto rooftops to watch the racers for a few extra seconds.
We stop near one of these towns, and Malcolm lifts the lid of a huge trunk. A picnic in the Tour de France style awaits us: a folding table with cheese, sausages, herbs appears on the side of the road. Finally, the secret of the additional compartment in the Superba console is revealed – it turns out to be a container of ice, from which Malcolm retrieves a bottle of champagne.
We barely have time to put the remnants of food in the trunk when the crowd in front explodes with shouts and applause. “Allez! Allez! ” – even small children consider it their duty to urge the riders with such shouts. Again we take off, and this time we are driving practically in the middle of the peloton, climbing up the mountain. One of the racers moves for some time next to the car, and I have time to get a good look at it: a sunken face with scarlet spots on its cheeks has turned into a tragic mask with a half-open, motionless mouth and a glazed gaze that does not notice anything around.
We again broke away from the peloton and now get acquainted with the information about the teams in the iPad. Formally, there are two out of 22 Russian teams, but in fact only one Russian is taking part in the race: this is Ilnur Zakarin, who plays for the Katyusha team and even came first at the 17th stage. 198 participants from 35 countries started in the race, but Europeans are traditionally strong in it – Italians, British, French, Spaniards. The top three favorites for this year’s race were Briton Christopher Froome, winner of last year’s Tour de France (Team Sky), Spaniard Alberto Contador from Tinkoff and Colombian Nairo Quintana from Movistar.
Meanwhile, the weather suddenly deteriorated sharply, heavy rain began, the temperature dropped. Malcolm is concerned – there are a lot of steep descents on the stage, and if a rider loses control due to loss of traction, the consequences of the fall can be serious. “The markings become very slippery, the slightest dirt on the asphalt is dangerous. In such a situation, riders usually reduce the tire pressure – from 8 atmospheres to 6-6.5. It is almost imperceptible to the touch, but the contact patch with the road increases slightly, allowing you to drive a little more confidently on wet roads. But I’m not sure they prepared that way today. “
We let the peloton overtake us and are now approaching the finish line. People and cars have been standing along the roadside continuously, and more and more flags of other countries are seen – we have noted Japan, Australia, Colombia. In one of the bends, a bearded man in a devil’s suit with a trident in his hand jokingly pounces on our car. “Have you seen this? Malcolm shouts. – This Didi Zenft, the most famous bike fan! He appears on the last climbs before the finish of the stage ”.
The traffic is becoming more dense and erratic. Moreover, cyclists seem to be the most unhappy and powerless participants in it – wet and tired, they are forced to dodge the crowd waving banners and flags in front of their noses, and at the same time make sure not to get under the wheels of a motorcycle or an escort car.
Our Skoda turns to the side literally a hundred meters from the finish line, and we go to it on foot, having time to catch the last finishing racers. What is happening around is reminiscent of the final of the Olympics or the international football championship: people fraternize, argue, wave banners and flags, champagne flows like a river. The winner of the stage was unexpectedly the Spaniard Ion Issagiri from Movistar, but this did not change the general alignment: Froome, Barda and Quintana remained in the top three.
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