The Tour de France comes to Montpellier almost every year. If you are fortunate enough to be in Montpellier for a language immersion stay, summer courses in France, or just visiting during July, you are in luck! The Tour is a moveable party wrapped around a travel documentary, wrapped around a cultural festival. Not only can you see in person one of the most exciting and colorful sporting events in the world, but you will be completely immersed in the culture and history of France!
The history of the Tour de France
Believe it or not, the Tour de France began in 1903 as a publicity stunt for the French sports magazine L’Auto to help increase readership and beat out the competition, Le Vélo, for sales. In the beginning, only 60 to 80 French cyclists participated in the race. Today it welcomes around 200 riders and 22 teams from all over the world.
The publicity caravan was created in 1930 to fund the race and prevent the teams from taking too much sponsorship money. It has become almost as much of a draw as the race itself… it is estimated that 47% of the spectators are there just for the caravan. The caravan is around 20 kilometers long with over 16 million gifts given away during the Tour. From key chains to sausage to candy to cheese to non-alcoholic beer to hats and t shirts, every year it is a surprise to see what treasures you can go home with. People fight to get the treasures thrown out to the crowd and it becomes quite the spectacle. If you go watch the Tour in person while you are in France for a language immersion stay, try to score some of the goodies. You will have a story to recount to your friends and during your next French course.
If you are fortunate enough to be in France for a language immersion course while the Tour is passing by Montpellier, you may have many opportunities to see the caravan, the riders, and the spectacle of the Tour as it passes Montpellier across the southern stretch of France from the Pyrenees to the Alps. The route will pass many small villages as well as larger towns as it winds its way around France. No matter where you are able to watch the race, it is an interesting cultural experience that will add color to your language stay in France that you will never forget!!
The tour de France 2016
In 2016, running from Saturday July 2nd to Sunday July 24th 2016, the 103th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,519 kilometers over 21 stages.
- 9 flat stages
- 1 hilly stage
- 9 mountain stages including 4 summit finishes (Andorre Arcalis, Mont Ventoux, Finhaut-Emosson and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc)
- 2 individual time trial stages
- 2 rest days
The rider with the lowest aggregate time of all the stages is the leader of the race and gets to wear the coveted yellow jersey.
Green – Points leader
White – Best under 25 rider
Red and White Polka Dot – Best Climber
But don’t expect to see much of the actual race by being there. Sitting on the couch is the best way to do that. Plus, listening to the announcers is a fabulous way to learn new vocabulary, strengthen your listening skills, and pick up a lot of French patrimony and history all of which will enrich your language stay in France. The coverage on television is a beautiful travelogue full of culture and French pride. You can soak up an amazing amount of French language that will help in your French courses and conversations in French.
Actually being at the Tour is about being part of the show — you’re not there to necessarily see the Tour, you’re there to experience the Tour. Soak up the atmosphere and the excitement. Maybe even chat in French with the other spectators during the long wait between the caravan and the racers. What an opportunity to put the French you will learn in your summer courses or immersion stay into practice and gain some confidence and new friends. You can’t get that by watching the race on TV.
If you want to interact with the riders, the stage starts are better than the stage finishes. You get to see the riders casually hang out around the start-line for an hour before their departure.
Some of the Tour statistics that might add color to the discussions in your French course:
- A 20-km long parade
- 160 colourful and decorated vehicles
- 600 vehicles in the caravan
- 33 brands represented
- 16 million gifts given away
- 45-minute long procession
- 12 members of the republican guard
- 4 traffic regulator motorcyclists
- 3 medical cars
- € 200,000 to € 500,000 investment for each advertiser