Carcassonne (France) | Au Revoir Le Tour

At 9 am, I head out the door and cross the little bridge that spans Canal du Midi. I will cover this UNESCO site while in Toulouse, France in a few days. Once across the bridge, I can see the parade of vehicles leading Le Tour lining up. Le Tour resumes today with a mountain stage from Carcassone to Foix, Stage 16. The procession is scheduled to leave town about 2 hours ahead of the racers.

E Leclerc is a grocery food chain in France and sponsor of the King of the Mountains Red Polka Dot Jersey. They drive these large shopping baskets in the parade.

FDJ is Française des Jeux, the national lottery in France. In addition to the floats like those above, they also have a trike in the parade.

The types of vehicles and sponsors supporting the race are pretty diverse.

Away from the official start line, the remaining support vehicles and teams are getting ready for the 1240 pm start. I got close enough to the neutral Shimano car to take this photo; notice the 6 bikes and 6 spare wheels in the back of the roof rack.

These are the other two Shimano cars that follow the Peleton. Their job is simple, keep riders going if their teams' cars are unavailable to assist them.

Then the helicopters get airborne. The tour has two helicopters that follow the Peleton from start to finish. This is part of the TV broadcast, and they share views of the French countryside. This morning they are flying over La Cité before the race starts.

On the other side of the bridge over the River Aude, Avenue du Général Leclerc, the team busses are lined up to unload some unneeded cargo.

Team buses are like giant super comfortable motorhomes. After 3 days, 9 riders, the sewage must be unloaded before moving to the next town of Foix. Another part of Le Tour that doesn't make it to our TV screens. lol!

The UAE Emirates bus proudly displays the four plush LCL Lions in the window. One for each day that one of their riders was in the Maillot Jaune this year.

It is now 1220 pm, so I make my way across the River Aude to catch the Peleton as they head out of town. Leading the way are the motorbikes. Some of these are police; others, like the one to the right, are passenger reporters that cover the tour.

Then the Peleton arrives. Le Tour starts each race with a neutralized start. The Peloton effectively parades through town to give fans one last chance to see their favorite riders or teams. Notice Jonas Vingergaard (Maillot Jaune) and Woot Van Eert (Green Jersey) both from Jumbo-Visma. It is customary during the neutralized for the race leaders to be up near the front.

This is what a Peleton of around 200 riders looks like. The riders in the middle of Peleton benefit from the aerodynamics of the group and are hardly peddling.

Just like that, the Peleton moves on, leaving Carcassonne behind. Today, Stage 16, is a difficult hilly day.

Team cars follow the Peleton out of town. Once they reach the 8 km (5 mi) mark, the race officially begins. The neutralized start is great for fans and gives ricers a chance to get warmed up.

Last to follow are the medical vehicles. This is the convertible medical car I wrote about a couple days ago. A doctor rides in the back and bandages riders if needed after they've resumed cycling. Although the team cars assist downed riders with getting going again, they do nothing to treat their injuries. If a rider can continue, the team usually gives him a new bike or replaces a wheel. If he cannot, the team cars pick up the debris, and the rider climbs into the back of the medical van.

Today's Stage ended in Foix, with Hugo Houle, a French-Canadian rider who rides for Isreal Premier Tech winning the Stage. Houle and his Canadian teammate, Michael Woods, broke away from the Peleton early in the day. They carried the lead to victory and finished 1st and 3rd. A HUGE day for Canada and Isreal Premier Tech! This is only the 2nd time in 109 years that a Canadian racer has won a stage. In addition, Jumbo-Visma successfully defended both jerseys today and inch another day closer to wearing the colors in Paris.

About 30-minutes later, I make my way back to the starting line. The crews are hard at work dismantling the starting line. The finish line crew is already set up for today's finish.

Crowd barriers are being removed with excellent efficiency.

I spend the next several hours wandering around the new Carcassonne. I really enjoy this city. It is clean and has a great vibe and plenty of greenery.

The River Aude is on the east side of the city. It divides La Cité and new Carcassonne.

Le Pont Vieux, Old Bridge, connects the two parts of Carcassone over the River Aude. Initially built in the 11th century but was destroyed in subsequent wars. It was rebuilt in its current form in the 14th century. Below Le Pont Vieux is a giant Maillot Jaune on display for the helicopters.