The Tour de France is the world’s greatest bike race. The 112th edition in 2025 will cover 2,086 miles in 21 days with 52,500m of climb at an average speed of @26mph.

I first saw the Tour de France, live, in 1989 when 6 of us cycled over to see the final stage in Paris. Little did we know that it would be the most famous finish in the event’s history when Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon in the time trial to win the race by just 8 seconds, the smallest winning margin ever. Strangely, given that 4 of us were at the start of the time trial and there was no internet or video screens and our French was poor, we didn’t know the result until we returned to the Youth Hostel in the evening.

Thirteen of us returned for a similar trip in 1990 to watch a procession around the Champs Elysees, as the first non-combative, coronation of the yellow jersey. Since then, I have seen the TdF on many occasions, with many great memories, including a very fleeting appearance on the Channel 4 highlights, watching it on Alpe D’Huez, before getting drenched from a thunderstorm on the way down.

Therefore, when Ross (one of the 6 from 1989 and the 13 from 1990) and his wife Marie (one of the 13 from 1990) suggested to watch Stage 8 near their place in France, it had to be done. And given that they would be on a tandem, why not dust ours down and go with my wife Cissy (who I had taken to Paris for a weekend in 1998……which coincided with the final stage of the TdF).

Finally a word about tandeming. While it’s a great way of balancing abilities, it can be hard work. Most of our 6,000+ miles have been in the flatlands of The Netherlands where the cycling infrastructure is probably the best in the world with dedicated cycle paths, direction / distance signs everywhere, very courteous drivers (who are probably all cyclists anyway) and where cyclists have priority. However France would be more undulating and potentially hotter hence I had planned the 4-day trip to average @ 45 miles/day.