Grand Tour France: Grande Finale "Experience" Alps & Paris

We will meet you at Lyon Airport, and transport you to our lovely hotel in the centre Chambery, where we will stay for 3 nights. Our team will help you unpack and build your bike, we'll hand out the team kit, and after lunch, we'll enjoy a warmup ride around the centre of Chambery. You'll have time to wander around the ancient and narrow streets of Chambery, once part of the Savoyard kingdom and was only annexed to France in 1871 and where the young Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived between 1736 to 1742. Back at the hotel, we’ll have an apero at our welcome meeting and our first dinner in Chambery.

Pack a day bag with swimwear and shoes – we have a special treat near the end of the day! We will start our first gentle ride to Col de Couz before descending to Saint-Laurent-du-Pont where we will watch the riders come through on their way to Col de Porte. The van will be found here, and a delicious picnic supplied. From Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, we will ride to the gorgeous aquamarine waters of Lac d’Aiguebelette (meaning ‘beautiful little waters’). We will stop here and enjoy a dip in the cool waters, before continuing along the lake edge. You can either jump in the van back to the hotel or ride up to Col du Crucifix (915m) and then down to our hotel. Tonight we will have dinner in the premier Belle Epoque town, Aix-les-Bains on the shores of France's largest natural lake, Lac du Bourget.

Today we will transfer after breakfast to La Chambre and ride up the ’beautiful but heartbreaking’ Col de la Madeleine (2000m). Just under 20km with an average gradient of 8% you will be ascending 1,522m! The col was first visited by the Tour in 1969 and has become a regular climb over the years. Crowds of fans will be cheering. Make sure to take photos and enjoy the festive atmosphere! At the col, we’ll find the best vantage point to watch the pros ride up and over and then we will roll down behind them and meet our support van at Feissons-sur-Isère or Albertville for the journey back to our hotel. We’ll have dinner in Chambery and then return to our hotel to pack for the next day.

The highlight of today we'll be witnessing the finish of Stage 18 at La Roche-sur-Foron! It's time to join the fans shouting their encouragement and applauding the riders and teams as they cross over the finish. But first we will face our biggest challenge of the week, the legendary Col de Glières. How legendary? With gradients of 13% and an average of 11%, reaching the end of the hairpins and the ‘flat’ section just before the summit will be a relief. However the adventure does not end here. Just before the col at Chez Regina, the patchwork route turns into Strade Bianche - a short well-maintained gravel road. After the hysteria at the finish, we’ll jump into the van and transfer to our next hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse where we’ll help you check in and rendez-vous for dinner.

An early start today. Breakfast, bags packed and check out. We’ll jump into the van to transfer to our starting point, Oyonnax. From here we will ride through the beautiful rolling foothills of the French Jura, and complete our journey at the Stage 19 finish in The Pearl of the Jura, Champagnole. There will be time to change, replenish ourselves with lunch and then cheer on the riders who have survived this tour so far. Back in the van and we’ll transfer and check into our hotel in the Dole Arbois Besançon area. Dinner will be somewhere special and we’ll retire to our rooms.

Today we’ll have the opportunity to see the riders each getting ready for the Individual Time Trial and watch them race. Although the course looks flat enough, right at the end is a 6km segment with gradients of 13%, 11% and ultimately at the summit, 20%!! It will be very tough and could end up being the decider of the Maillot Jaune. You may decide to enjoy a rest day or you may choose to join our guide for a short recovery ride after some big days in the mountains. Either way we'll watch the ITT and when the winner has been declared, we will reassemble at the van and start our long journey to Paris and a get a good night’s sleep.

Our final ride today after breakfast. From our hotel we’ll ride directly to the Champs Elysee to ride 1-2 laps of the city. Back at the hotel we will change and relax or explore Paris. There is the possibility to watch the riders do their final laps or find a great spot to view the riders conclude the 107^th Tour of France. You will have experienced how epic the event is and we hope that the memories of your challenges and experiences are also memorable.

Dinner will be memorable as we celebrate the end of the Experience tour.

After last night's celebratory dinner, this morning's sleep-in, we’ll tuck into a Parisian continental breakfast, we'll help finish packing your bike and transport you to Paris airport for your trip home.

You'll be taking home memories and buckets of photos, achievements and new friendships that will last forever.