Grand Tour France: "Ride Every Kilometre" Week 1- Grand Départ Brussels to Albi

We'll welcome you at Brussels airport and shuttle you to our hotel in the centre where we will be staying for your getaway. Once settled in, we'll discuss the programme for this unforgettable weekend. Our team will help prepare your bike, and then we'll attend the Official Team presentation at the Grand Place, and take some photos of Froome, Porte, Dumoulin and the other pros who will be following our lead !

What a way to start our ... Our first day of riding starts in the city of Brussels, with a 192 km ride. With only 800m of climbing this stage is designed to be a crowd pleaser! The Mur de Grammont begins at km 43, and with memories from the 1969 Tour where legend Eddy Merckx won his first yellow Jersey. It will be difficult to stop yourself from trying to rewrite history .. but be sure to pace yourself, with one stage down there is still 9 to go and we will be practically be pedaling the length of France!

An easy day on the bike, although this depends on how hard we want to ride the Team Time Trial! We'll practice our teamwork as we ride this 28km stage early in the morning. Departing from the Palais Royal this scenic yet technical time trial will see us quickly wind our way around the wide streets of Brussels centre. We will then transfer North to the Belgian city of Binche ahead of tomorrows stage that will finally take us into France.

As we depart Binche and arrive in to North Eastern France, we will wave goodbye to Belgium. Now in the heart of the Grand Est region, we'll keep stretching our legs on todays long stage, with today's route featuring some gentle rolling hills, it will be no surprise if this stage is windy. So teamwork will be a priority, and after yesterday's stage we should be getting used to riding as a team. It's another day for the sprinters amongst our group as we enter Epernay and head to the finish line.

Ahead of tomorrow's mountain stage, it's another chance for the sprinters to take the lead as we ride from Reims to Nancy. This stage featured back in 1985 where Belgian rider Ludwig Wijnants took the Malliot Jaune - did we mention it's the 100 year anniversary since the introduction of the yellow jersey and Frenchman Eugène Christophe became the first rider to wear the race leader’s yellow jersey in 1919.

We're up early and head into our first mountain stage. We will ride two categorised climbs on our way to Colmar: Cote du Haut Koenigsbourg and Cote des Trois-Epis, both climbs are approximately 10km in length and with a gradual gradient it's a nice introduction to a mountain stage - not forgetting to mention the beautiful views we'll get at the top of Haut Koenigsbourg, looking over the Vosges mountains. It will be a fast finish in Colmar as we arrive on a flat finish.

The shortest of the three mountain stages this week but not without intensity, challenge and skill. It has five categorised climbs, including the Markstein, the Ballon d'Alsace and the Col d' Chevreres ... and after the first 17km there are virtually no flat sections all day. The final climb, 5 km in distance, averaging at 8.2 %, and with sections maxing at 14% will see us arrive in the ski resort of Les Plance des Belles Filles ... It's a tough order after a big day of climbing, especially as the final km of the day will be a new addition to the tour : a dirt-road and 20 per cent finish.

Do not fear ... after yesterday short but testing stage today we are treated with a flat stage but it's the Tours longest stage, a whopping 230km in distance ! We'll start early to ensure we have plenty of time for breaks, photos opportunities, and lunch. Our pace inevitably picks up in the afternoon after a well deserved refuel. It's hard to imagine that the peloton will soon be passing the same roads- 170+ cyclists traveling at 45kph+ is an exciting one!

Following on from a more relaxed stage, today we will be faced with 5 classified climbs, 199km and over 3,800m of climbing! We will enjoy a pleasant start as we ride through the Beaujolais vineyards, before climbing the Croix de Montmain, Croix de Thel, Croix Paquet, Croix de Part and Cote d'Aveize. Along this stage we will continue to travel south towards the Pyrénées - which feature in the following week.

Today we will be riding up and down with barely a flat km along the course to Brioude, home to French cyclist Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale). The big question is will he try and go for a stage win, in his home town on Bastille day ? While we are enjoying a well earned rest day we will kick back and see how the stage unfolds. Especially with the tricky final 13kms, including a steep climb up the Cote de Saint !

The final stage of the first part of the race, with tired legs we will peddle this flat stage from Saint Flour to Albi where we celebrate our incredible achievement, retreat to our hotel for a well deserved dinner and good rest.

Unless you are joining us in the Pyrénées for Week 2, you can enjoy a well deserved rest day, and watch the pros sprint into the city in the late afternoon. Albi is a great picturesque city to spend the day, especially with the excitement of the race coming through. It's time to say good bye, as we take home memories and photos of an epic week of cycling.