Will roads be closed for Tour de France?
 

I leave for France in four weeks and had no idea that I would be in France for the end of the Tour de France. I will arrive in Bordeaux on the same day that the tour will be in Bordeaux. Kind of cool I guess. I am picking up a rental car and should cross the route for the race at 11:30 a.m. Does anyone know if I will be able to cross? I would think that they would have the road blocked. The Tour's Web site indicates that there will be cyclists from 10:30 until 16:00 at that crossing. What does that mean for me? Should I go around Bordeaux to the south instead of the north?

Check out Bison Fute - http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr - nearer the date.

Peter

The cyclists themselves are not that spread out, so that is probably just the estimated time of road closure. the advertising caravan probably starts coming through around noon, and the cyclists will be there at 14:30-15:00 in that case.

There is no using or crossing the roads with a motor vehicle once they are closed. However, if you are talking about the Tour inside the Bordeaux city limits, the closures will be briefer, not to mention the fact that there are expressways with overpasses and underpasses that remain in service.

We had the Giro d'Italia go through our town in May. The roads on the route were closed from 3-4 hours before the peleton were expected and remained closed until nearly two hours after they had actually gone through. The lead group was some 25 minutes ahead of the peleton when they came through here though the gap had closed by the end of the stage, but the peleton was then split into several smaller groups.

There were clearly marked diversions for road users. I would expect something similar with the Tour.

The last time I waited along the road for the Tour de France, the gendarmerie reopened the road (going in the direction away from the Tour only!) quite quickly after the "voiture balai" -- I'd say within 15 minutes.

the July 24 stage is an individual time trial. That means the 180 or so cyclists go off at 1 or 2 minute intervals so the road will be closed for several hours for the cyclists as well as the set up before.

I would find a route that does not cross the tour route.

Thanks for all of the info. The road I take goes all the way around Bordeaux so it will be just as easy to go south around the city to avoid the race.