Watching the Tour de France this year? Should be a lot of fun. Where would you go to see it?
I’d go to undiscovered Saint-Flour.
On Sunday, July 10, 2011 the tour passes through the Massif Central on its way to finish in Saint-Flour. It’s not a mountain climber stage, but it’s hilly. They call it a medium mountain stage.
The “high town” of Saint-Flour sits on an extinct volcano. You can see the beautiful landscape for miles around. It seems to me that this would be a great opportunity to spend the night before the tour as well as the night after the racers arrive (if there are hotels available: Check Saint-Flour Hotels).
And if you stay until the next weekend you can actually race the route! Yes, l’Étape du Tour Mondovélo offers you lycra-wrapped cyclists the opportunity to run the Issoire / Saint-Flour stage. There are 1604 places left, out of a 10,000 limit. Act now.
Read more on Saint-Flour.
Here’s a thumbnail map map of the Tour de France:
Click the map for the full 2011 Tour de France course map PDF to see or print.