Our tour begins today with an airport pick-up, Toulouse Airport at 1000. If you are already in France meet us at our team hotel at 1100 and lets get ready to ride.

On arrival Phil and Pat will help you set up your bikes and with introductions over we will indulge in lunch before we think about our first ride.

Leaving town we head south east between pastures abundant with sunflowers.  We will progress through classic French roads and over rolling hills before returning along the Canal du Midi.

Tonight we will all gather for our first formal meal, the traditional welcome dinner.

If you have just arrived in France, welcome and enjoy settling in to the relaxed hours of the Tour de France pro.  

Le Tour gets up and running later in the day and so we like the pro’s will linger over breakfast and ruminate on le tour to date. 

We are riding in the Provence of Occitania and will ride to a small town for lunch before we experience our first taste of le tour 2020 and riding through a France resplendent with yellow. 

Replete we will continue our ride to the stage finish town of Lavaur. A stage finish of le Tour is an experience.  The anticipation of the crowd builds and builds until the flash and noise of the peleton is heard over the roar of the crowd.

We will re-group and head home to reminisce over a beer or wine and contemplate the Pyrenees.

Today we have the obligatory transfer and according to custom there is much to fit into the day.

Phil has convinced the Ride team that we can transfer, ride, spectate at stage 8, ride a little more and continue on to our new base in the heart of the Pyrenees.

We will tick off an iconic climb, some will start sooner than others and its race on to the top of Port de Bales, where we intend to intersect the Tour de France as the peleton comes stampeding up the first of the Pyrenean climbs.  The main contenders will be trying to whittle away any threats to the title and we expect it to be select bunch that summits first.

We descend to the vans together before finishing our journey and where, once we have settled in, dinner is on the house.

A classic Pyrenean ride is on the cards today, small roads, unexpected guests.  We will skirt around the peaks above us navigating roads on the valley floor before turning onto the small roads that herald a road less traveled, unless of course it is in Tour de France time.

We plan on riding to and ascending the Col de Marie Blanque and though not high it is deceptively tough.  We however do not have to continue racing over Pyrenean Col’s so you can give this climb your best shot.  We plan on intersecting with Le Tour to spectate at the top before regrouping and descending to the waiting vans.

Back at our hotel not to late there will be time for ales and tales, Phil is always ready to tell a story from the folklore of the Tour de France.

A rest day is on the cards for the Tour de France Carnivale.  We on the other hand will earn our rest after ticking off some bucket list climbs.

We have a more relaxed day all the same, the only agenda item other than our ride is what time we make it back to base to watch the stage finish at the bar!

Col d’Aubisque is one of the legendary climbs of the Tour de France, having been climbed on over forty occasions in the race. We will climb from Argeles-Gazost, arguably the most picturesque route to tackle this monster. Col du Soulor first where you may choose to end your ride with a warm down on the spectacular Cirque du Litor,  a false flat before the final pinch to Col d’Aubisque does offer spectacular views on its own.  The mountain goats may push on but we will re-group on the Soulor to descend for home.

What a day with dinner again on the house.

Today we tackle a giant amongst mountains. The Col du Tourmalet is the highest road in the Pyrenees (2115m) and has been part of Tour de France legend since first featured in 1910. The first to cross the summit that day and eventual stage winner, Octave Lapize, was forced to walk much of what was then a dirt road, and afterwards famously accused the Tour organises of being “assassins”

Today we will make our own ascent of the Tourmalet, a 19km climb with an average gradient of 7.4%. This will be a tough climb and a long day in the saddle but we have enough time for you to create your own legend status or if you have been before, a PB.

Tonight is our last formal meal together, Le tour moves on and so must we.

For those of you continuing your Tour de France experience with us, we are moving on to Provence, there’s another big hill to climb!

Today is the end of services from Phil Anderson Cycling and Ride International Tours.

Drop off at Tarbes Train station at 1000 if you wish.