As the daughter of an avid cycling fan, I Tour de France For as long as I can remember, I’ve been watching highlights of races on TV, and while the televised version of “La Grande Boucle” dominates the conversation about the race, after watching it live for the first time this year during the final sprint stage in Nîmes, it became clear to me that watching it in person is an entirely different experience – getting to grips with the support staff, journalists and even the riders themselves.
“I may have only seen a moment of the race, but spending a day at the Tour de France was a unique experience in itself.”
Stage 16 from Gruissan to Nimes was the last sprint stage of the 2024 Tour. With Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) confidently wearing the Yellow Jersey, it didn’t seem like this stage would cause much upset in the overall standings. However, the Nimes stage still promised excitement as British sprinter Mark Cavendish (Astana Kazakhstan) would compete to break the record for stage wins he set at the beginning of the Tour. This won’t be easy with stiff competition from Jasper Phillipson (Alpe Saint-Deceuninck) and current Green Jersey holder Biniam Guillemay (Intermarche Wanty). In the words of broadcast journalist Gary Ihnrach, with no stage in Paris this year, “this is basically the Champs-Élysées transferred to the south of France”.
Danish supporters were particularly keen to be photographed during the live broadcast.Varsity’s Evie Selby
We arrived in Nimes at 11am, 2 and a half hours before departure. Grand Depart There were only six hours left until the riders reached the city. Still, the activity level was already high and spectators were starting to line the course. We secured a spot at the barrier 30 meters from the finish and within 30 minutes, all the other spots around were taken. The Danish supporters were there in full force, many hoping that Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) still had a chance to overtake Pogačar and take the yellow jersey. Their flags, bright red outfits, rock music (there was even a song about Vingegaard) and enthusiasm for taking photos for the live broadcast made for an entertaining first hour.
Even at 11 a.m., spectators had already secured spots near the finish line.Varsity’s Evie Selby
As the journalists arrived and began their broadcast, I got close enough to Gary Imlach, who has reported on the Tour since 1990 and is the face of ITV’s coverage, to ask him his predictions for the day’s race. He said he expects Mark Cavendish to “win his 36th Tour de France in what is effectively the final sprint of his career,” but that “it’s going to be a big race.” He believes Pogačar will definitely wear the yellow jersey and “will keep pulling away from everyone, just like he did in the Giro, which he won in May this year.” He doesn’t expect any dramatic changes in the rankings in the Alps, and he claims that if Vingegaard tries to take the top spot, he will “provoke” Pogačar and “the gap will get even wider.” Luckily, none of the hopeful Danish fans were nearby to hear our discussion. Reflecting on his experience on the Tour so far, his favourite moment was “Cavendish on stage five”, a historic moment that interrupted the usual “blurry views of service stations and bags of crisps”.
A conversation with Gary Yingluck about Tour de France predictionsVarsity’s Evie Selby
Excitement began to build as the live coverage was beamed onto the big screens above the finish line at 12:00 (another perk of having a spot so close to the race). Around 2:00pm the real show began. Despite the sweltering heat, morale was boosted as sponsoring teams paraded along the barriers, handing out free drinks, food and merchandise to the crowd. Yellow Tour de France caps, free soft drinks, tote bags and even “The Laughing Cow cheese” t-shirts were popular and we were soon caught up in a fight for the various giveaways that were being thrown into the crowd. With Coldplay blaring from the speakers, it was easy to forget the real reason we were there.
Sponsors’ mascots paraded along the barrier and handed out prizes to spectators.Varsity’s Evie Selby
About an hour before the cyclists arrived, the infamous Tour de France caravan rolled along the route, giant floats decorated with figures of the cyclists and mascots from major sponsors like the LCL Lion. More unexpected appearances included Haribo sweets, Laughing Cow cheese, and supermarket deli characters. I was beginning to feel like I’d wandered into a Disneyland-like fever dream.
The Tour de France floats were decorated with mascots, statues of cyclists and other characters.Varsity’s Evie Selby
As 5pm approached and the peloton approached Nimes, attention turned back to the race. With less than 2km to go, news of a crash involving Biniam Ghirmay raised tensions. Was this Cavendish’s chance? Within a matter of seconds, the cyclists had reached the final sprint, hurtling down the course towards us. It was a “blink and you miss it” moment. Sprinting at 70km/h, they passed us so fast that we barely managed to see stage winner Jasper Philipsen cross the line following a perfect lead-out by world champion Mathieu van der Poel. The rest of the field sprinted past us. We were so close we could have reached out and touched them.
Jasper Philipsen overtook us and crossed the finish line in first place.Varsity’s Evie Selby
Biniam Ghirmay is helped across the finish line by his teammates after an accident.Varsity’s Evie Selby
Unfortunately, Cavendish finished 17th, missing out on a 36th stage win. Now that he has achieved his goal of breaking the Tour de France stage win record and becoming arguably the greatest sprinter of all time, his next target will be to complete his final Tour safely and cross the finish line safely in Nice in a few days’ time. It would be a great end to a great career.
Mark Cavendish emerges from the team bus for the post-race press conferenceVarsity’s Evie Selby
As soon as the race finished, fans gathered on the stage to see the day’s stage podium and jerseys. Afterwards, we were free to wander between the team buses. I was about a metre away from Mark Cavendish, who showed up for his post-race interview. He looked remarkably calm after a long day of cycling and intense competition.
I may have only watched a moment of the race, but a day spent at the Tour de France was a unique experience in itself. I came for the cycling, but stayed for the free t-shirt.